Page 15 of When He Fights (Protector & Defender #3)

Chapter Eight

Ana wasn’t dead.

Ana wasn’t floating in some watery grave. She hadn’t been stabbed. He hadn’t found her cold, lifeless body.

He’d gotten to her in time.

But it had been a freaking near thing.

Kane’s fingers were shaking. He stared at them, surprised by the break in his control.

Normally, he was always rock steady. Didn’t matter where or when or what was happening, Kane remained cool under fire.

He’d had bombs detonating around him, and his fingers hadn’t quivered.

He’d had gunfire explode and hit inches from his face, and he hadn’t trembled.

But Ana…

His Ana…

“So, the guy clammed up after I started questioning him. Demanded to speak to a lawyer. Even named the man. Kyle Sanchez. Surprise, surprise—a lawyer out of New York who works at the same firm that has represented Logan Catalano in the past.”

At those words, Kane turned toward Gray.

They were back at Ana’s house. The cops had taken Turner into custody at the aquarium, but Gray had rolled in with his agents and eventually ridden away in the patrol cruiser with the perp.

Gray was always good at throwing his FBI weight around.

That weight helped to get him an all-access pass into all sorts of confidential situations.

Kane and Ana had answered plenty of questions, they’d filled out the police report on the attack but…

“He did say one or two things before shutting down,” Gray revealed.

“Like what?” Kane demanded.

“Like…the perp is alleging that Ana attacked him first. That he just went to the aquarium to talk with her, and the next thing he knew, she was slamming a water bottle into his face.”

Ana curled her legs under her as she huddled on the couch. “He had a knife. He was telling me that he’d make me bleed. He was planning to dump my body into the tank, and he thought the sharks would cover up any evidence of his attack.”

The sonofabitch.

Kane had ditched his wet clothes. Switched into a dry t-shirt and old jogging pants. His bare feet pressed hard into the wooden floor as he maintained his standing—and protective—position near Ana.

“I slammed my water bottle into his head first—the temple, I believe.” Her voice was low as she recounted the events.

“It was the only weapon I had handy. I didn’t exactly want him killing me with his knife, so when he lunged at me, I attacked.

Temple first, then a hit in the face. I think that’s when I busted his lips and maybe cracked one or two teeth. ”

She was fucking amazing to him.

“I heard screaming then.” She rubbed her forehead, as if trying to remember. She’d changed when they got back to the house, too. Soft shorts. A tank top. No shoes. She appeared small and so fragile curled on the couch.

But she’d fought off her attacker. Busted his face.

Hell, yes, she had.

“The screaming gave me a distraction.”

Yeah, he should say something. Not just keep staring at her like the obsessed bastard he was. “The security guard at the front wouldn’t let me inside.”

“Uh, huh.” From Gray as he lounged in a chair near the couch. “This would be the guy who tased you? And then you shoved him on his ass? George Taylor?”

“He’s lucky I didn’t knock him out cold.

I warned him that the taser wouldn’t stop me.

That it would just piss me off.” It had.

Then he’d run as fast as he could into the aquarium.

He’d been desperate to find Ana. “George was the one doing all the yelling and screaming.” George had kept yelling for Kane to stop. He hadn’t.

Then he’d heard her scream. Her desperate cry for help.

The blood had iced in his veins.

“Turner is maintaining that he was trying to calm down Ana. De-escalate the situation.” Gray rubbed a hand along his jaw. “He says she wasn’t handling their breakup well.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” Kane erupted.

Ana rolled her eyes. “He’s lying his butt off.

He told me that he’d been getting close to me for the last few months because he was following orders.

” She grabbed one of the pillows on the couch.

Ana pulled it toward her, hugging it tightly to her chest as if the soft pillow could be some kind of shield.

“And exactly how does that fit with the timeline of Logan’s escape?

Because you acted as if Logan just found me, but what Turner said makes it seem like my current location and identity have been known for a long time. ”

Yes, absolutely, it did.

“Working on that,” Gray muttered. He did not look pleased. “Not like this will be the first time a bad actor got intel at the Bureau. I’m getting real tired of this shit.”

“I’m not exactly thrilled with it, either,” she huffed.

Gray pointed at her. “You told your friend Zuri that your ex was a hitman. Just announced it right in front of her and the guard.”

“Yes, well.” She grimaced. “Apparently, all the bad guys know where I am, and I had just almost been murdered so I didn’t see the need to lie to her right then and there.

She’s my friend. I don’t like lying to friends.

” Ana kept clutching the pillow. “If Logan is coming after me—if he’s sending people after me—why not just go back to being Anastasia Patrick once again?

The fake name isn’t doing much for me in terms of protection. ”

No, it wasn’t.

Gray’s sharp stare shifted to Kane. “You went swimming with the sharks, huh?”

He rolled one shoulder. “I had to get the creep away from Ana. When I tackled him, we were near the edge of the observation platform. We went over.”

“You know the guy couldn’t swim, right?”

He’d figured that out the minute the dude started thrashing left and right and sinking to the bottom of the massive tank. “He lives at the beach. He should really learn how to do that necessary task, don’t you think? Especially, if he’s gonna be threatening to toss people into tanks.”

“Did you try to drown him?” Gray’s question was mild.

“If I’d tried, he would be dead. The guy slipped out of my grip.” Another roll of one shoulder. “I got him out, didn’t I?”

“He’s saying you tried to drown him. That you’re a jealous lover who was bent on killing him.”

Killing him wouldn’t be the worst plan.

“Kane,” Gray snapped, as if reading his mind.

“He’s got good stories, I’ll give him that.”

“Yeah, well, he’s also gonna be a pain in my ass. Because I’m betting he’ll be out on bond soon.” A heaving sigh from Gray. “He’s also spouting off about you assaulting him at a bar recently. I wondered why the guy didn’t press charges at the time.”

“He ran away as fast as he could from the bar.” From me.

“I think he was making plans,” Gray corrected. “Maybe laying ground work to set up you as a fall guy.”

Ana sucked in a sharp breath. “He did say—Turner told me that after I was dead, he’d tell the cops he saw Kane hanging out around the building.”

That sneaky sonofabitch. “I should have let him keep swimming with the sharks.”

“He can’t swim,” Gray reminded him.

Kane just stared at Gray.

“Fuck,” Gray muttered. “Fuck.”

Uh, huh.

“There are security cameras in the aquarium.” Ana’s calm and determined voice. “Everything will be on tape. The video will back up the fact that Turner pulled a knife on me. That I had to run from him.”

“So…no.” A wince from Gray. “It turned out that Turner made a pitstop by the security room before he went to pay you a visit. All cameras were off.”

“Oh, like that doesn’t look suspicious,” Kane snapped.

“He had a plan.” Gray’s tone showed his frustration. “He intended to execute that plan.”

Ana hugged the pillow all the tighter. “What you mean is that he intended to execute me.”

“Yes.” Gray didn’t bullshit with her.

“I thought we were trying to catch Logan. If Logan is just sending flunkies to hurt me, then this whole setup here…” One hand let go of the pillow so she could wave toward Kane. “It’s just not going to work.”

“It’s going to work.” Gray remained adamant. “We just may have to pivot a bit.”

Kane shook his head. “You pivot. Keep that jackass Turner in jail.”

“I can’t control local judges!”

“Can’t you?”

Gray scraped a hand over his jaw. “Look, he’s gonna get out on bail, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.”

Ana raised her hand. “Hi.”

Gray frowned at her.

She fluttered her fingers. “Remember me? I’m the woman he wanted to kill. I consider it a bad thing for Turner to be wandering the streets and coming after me. Very bad, in fact. Horrible.”

At least Gray had the grace to squirm a bit, Kane would give him that.

“What I meant,” Gray amended quickly, “is that we can keep a team of agents on him. We can monitor his every move. Turner is getting orders from someone—we’ll track down that someone. I want to destroy Logan’s entire web.”

“Thought I did that before,” she muttered. “And what is up with Turner being some kind of—of sleeper agent, or something?”

Kane’s brows rose. Sleeper agent?

“Logan must have known my location for a while. If he knew, why wait on the order to kill me? Why wait until now? Why not just tell Turner to kill me when we went on our first date? Turner had the opportunity back then. I was alone with him in his car. He could have yanked out his knife, stabbed me right then and there, and dumped my body some place. That would have been way easier than stalking me through the aquarium.”

Kane growled. No one would be dumping her body anywhere. Over his dead body would that happen.

“She makes a good point.” Gray hesitated. “And I actually think I know why, though I can’t say that you’re gonna like my reasoning.”

She widened her eyes. Waited.

Gray didn’t elaborate.

“Oh, for shit’s sake!” Kane blew out a hard breath. “Keep talking, man!” Now was not the time for Gray to get all mysterious and secretive. Though, come to think of it, Gray was typically mysterious and secretive. Two of his more annoying traits.