Page 51 of Special Agent Raven

Her words seemed to tickle him mightily. “Yo, princess,” He laughed again, “My dream of having you at my mercy is the only thing that kept me alive these past weeks. Now stop talking. I want to remember this moment and make it last.” He swung away to the table. “Dale’s going to get another drink, and then it’s time to have some fun.” He lifted his whiskey bottle and let the alcohol pour into his throat. Booze slopping down his face, he wiped his mouth with his arm and dropped the bottle down hard.

Obviously knowing she had one, he called out to her Alexa device and demanded a loud, hard-rock tune. Music with a thudding beat that ripped through her tense body and made the nightmare much worse filled the room and her head with every wicked beat. Circling the furniture, dancing and humming along, he stopped for another long slug from his whiskey, holding off the coming nightmare for seconds before he turned her way.

Grinning like a cat who swallowed the canary, he crouched down and reached for her legs. That’s when she kicked out, catching him on the side of the head. Realizing the asshole had removed her shoes, she soon understood she had nothing solid to use as a weapon. The memory of her martial arts instructor’s voice from Quantico suddenly sounded in her memory. “Get his neck in a hold between your legs and squeeze hard and twist fast.”

She tried. But he seemed to know exactly what she intended and kept her from moving by using the weight of his own body, sitting on top of them to hold her in place. Then he could hit her without her being able to do a thing.

Not only did he slap her face hard, first one side and then the other, he watched her reaction like a scientist with a specimen. And while she swallowed the blood from the cut that opened from the force – choking and recoiling from the pain – he smiled, revealing discolored teeth with the added stink of filth and whiskey that made her gag.

Taking his time, he wrenched at the buttons on her blouse and bit her neck, ripping at her skin as if he wanted to eat her flesh. His giggles turned to groans of glee as his hands snatched at her bra.

That’s when all hope fled. Raven wanted to die rather than have to bear this assault by a madman. Hate consumed her… black and breathtaking. Cries held back finally escaped and they goaded him on to forcing his disgusting mouth over hers.

***

And that was the moment Cane broke into the room and attacked.

Crazed with anger, he lifted the animal off her like he weighed nothing, and when Dale turned, he drove his fist into theasshole’s belly like a pro fighter with a punching bag. Once Dale’s legs sagged, Cane punched him in the face and following him to the ground, he hit him again… and again.

Blood poured from Dale’s nose and mouth, but inflamed and wanting to kill the monster, Cane seemed to lose all control. It was Noah who hauled him off the fucker, held back his arm, and yelled loud enough to be heard. “Enough. We don’t want the attorneys to get him off because of excessive police violence.”

Dropping Dale like the sack of garbage he was, Cane staggered to his feet and left the bastard cowering on the floor while he reached in his pocket for his knife. He rushed toward Raven to cut the plastic bands off her wrists and gather her close.

Noah, after calling in the incident, bent over to grab at Dale and try lifting him to his feet in order to secure his arms. Shocking everyone, the sneaky bastard grabbed for Noah’s gun. And with an unexpected jerk, he swung it free and aimed it at Raven.

***

As if she sensed what was coming, at the same second that Dale made his move, Raven opened her eyes. If Dale hadn’t of stumbled, she’d have lost. But those few precious seconds enabled her hand to reach for the weapon she’d seen Cane thrust back into his underarm holster – the one he’d unlocked when they’d first arrived.

Adrenaline throbbed inside her body – created from the most terrifying moment she’d ever faced – and became her driving force. Drawing from that enormous power, she took aim and shot the armed prick in his head just seconds before he pulled the trigger. The sound of the bullet mingling with the wild, deranged music didn’t even register.

That’s the same moment a crazy thought popped into her head. A smile hovered but it hurt too much to form. Son of a bitch… she’d gotten payback using Dale’s own style of assassination.

Then she dropped the gun and fainted.

Chapter Forty-one

Separated for hours, Cane and Noah were questioned by the police and made to go over the details from the time they arrived to the shooting incident where a man was killed. Having nothing to hide, Cane explained everyone’s actions that led up to Raven’s reaching for his weapon and firing it.

Finally satisfied, the detective in charge gave him permission to meet up with Noah in the hospital waiting room where they were waiting for the newest update on Raven’s condition. The officer slapped Cane on the shoulder and spoke kindly. “Relax man, she’s doing great. You’ll be able to see her soon. If you think of anything you might have missed, take my card and call me.” The older man turned and spied Noah heading their way. “Ahh, your buddy has been released too and can wait with you.”

Cane gave a little wave in Noah’s direction and continued to pace the hospital hallway until Noah finally made him sit down. “Man, chill. Raven’s fine. Just exhausted. The police havefinished their questioning, and the doctors are almost done with the tests. We’ll be able to see her soon.

“I know. I just can’t forget the horrified expression on her face when we broke in. I’ve never seen a woman that scared.” The appalling scene reappeared in his mind of her crazed appearance at the moment they’d arrived. He’d seen her wild hair mussed like a curtain of blackness haloing her head. Her clothes ripped off registered, but the blood pouring over her face and naked chest hit him in the gut, almost doubling him over. Only there had been no time. Action had to come first.

Noah’s voice softened. “We got there before he went too far, bro. He hurt her but not in a way that makes it impossible for her to forget.”

When Cane glared at him, he quickly explained his meaning, “He didn’t rape her.”

Visions faded that he’d been funneling along with the what ifs. “You’re right. I need to let it go and just thank God we saved her from the worst.”

“Look, she’ll probably suffer from nightmares. Considering what she went through, killing a man and the tremendous fear she experienced before it came to that, I’d expect no less. And that’ll take time and a lot of patience from all of us to get her through it. But my sister is a strong woman. She’ll deal, I have no doubt.”

Cane stiffened and swung to look at Noah. “Your sister? You mean because of your similar backgrounds?”

“No. Because we share the same mother. Oh, right, you don’t know this yet, but I found out earlier that she’s legally my half-sister.”

Stunned, his legs weakening so much he was forced to sit, Cane reached out to Noah. As they side-hugged like men do, he exclaimed, “Your sister. Now isn’t that the best news I’ve heard in a long, long time. Raven will be thrilled. But how come youjust found out… I’m taking it for granted that you didn’t know before.”