Way of the Warrior (Troubleshooters #17.5)(46)
Sadie ground her teeth together, fighting back the tears of anger and fear, not about to let him see how scared she was. “Go to hell.”
He chuckled. “Later,” he said, his lips near her ear. “First, I think we need to have a little fun…”
CHAPTER 5
Joe’s heart was pounding as he silently made his way up the stairs. He winced as one of the stairs creaked, but the voices upstairs continued without interruption. His muscles ached from the tension; his head throbbed from the adrenaline rush that was pumping through his veins. And he felt that initial tingling at the back of his neck, the anxiety that clawed at his stomach, making its way up his esophagus, branching out into his lungs and making it impossible to breathe…
He shook his head, fighting the panic attack that was threatening to overtake him. He had to soldier through it, stay frosty. Sadie’s life depended on him keeping his shit together, and there was no way he was gonna let her down. Not now. Not ever.
Yeah, so he was damaged goods. He’d never be the same man he was before. But Sadie was right—he’d been born to protect and serve. And if that was as a soldier, or a deputy, or a man hell-bent on protecting the woman he loved, he’d do his duty until his final breath.
Setting his jaw with a steely resolve, Joe adjusted his grip on the gun, steadied his shaking hands, ignored the perspiration on his forehead and the bead of sweat snaking down his back. And moved forward.
? ? ?
Sadie dug in her heels, trying unsuccessfully to prevent Sean from dragging her back to her bedroom. There was no question what he intended to do to her. The thought of him taking her on the very bed that she’d just shared with Joe infuriated her. She’d sooner die than let him defile the beautiful memories of making love to Joe, of his softly whispered endearments, her name on his lips while in the throes of passion.
“Please don’t do this,” she pleaded, trying a different tack with Sean. “It’s not worth it!”
He grunted a laugh. “You got that right, you frigid little bitch! We dated for months, and you didn’t give it up even once! You’re sure as hell not worthy to suck my cock, but once you get a taste of this”—he ground his bulging erection against her ass—“you’ll know what you’ve been missing.”
“Let her go.”
Sadie nearly melted with relief. Yep. A big puddle of goo right there on the hallway carpet. The tears she’d been holding back scalded a path down her cheeks as she gasped on a sob, “Joe.”
But Joe didn’t even spare her a glance. His deadly glare was fixed on Sean, his gun trained on the man holding her captive. Or, hell, she hoped it was. Because right now the coward was using her as a human shield, and there was precisely zero margin for error.
Sean pressed his gun harder into her chin and cackled, his voice taking on a hysterical edge that scared the shit out of her. She suppressed a revolted shiver, afraid that even the slightest movement might result in him pulling the trigger…
“Sadie,” Joe said, keeping his gaze trained on Sean as he spoke. “You okay, baby?”
“I think so,” she said, her voice thin, strained, and thick with tears.
“She’s mine, you f*cking prick!” Sean Jackson roared. “I’m the one who tosses my whores to the curb when I’m tired of them. Bitches don’t break up with me. And she never would’ve broken things off if you hadn’t come back. You should’ve just died back in Afghanistan and saved the taxpayers a few bucks!”
“Well, why don’t you rectify that, pretty boy,” Joe replied, his tone even, deadly calm. “Take your best shot.”
Oh God, oh God, oh God…
“Joe, what the hell are you doing?” Sadie beseeched, her pounding heart making her already throbbing head ache so badly her stomach rolled with nausea.
“Go ahead, sweet cheeks,” Joe taunted, ignoring her. “Bring it on. Show Sadie what a total badass you are. Just let her go first. Don’t want her interfering with your shot, right?”
In the distance, Sadie heard sirens. A lot of them. Joe had called for backup, thank God! And if there was one thing she knew after growing up next door to the Dawsons, they took care of their own.
Now they just had to live long enough for the cavalry to arrive…
? ? ?
Joe could barely hear over the blood pounding in his ears, but he wasn’t about to let on to Jackson that he was nervous at all. This whole plan depended on him persuading the * to let Sadie go, defuse the situation like he’d been trained. But his instincts told him there was no use asking Jackson for demands or trying to reason with him, tell him it’d be easier for him if he gave himself up. That train had left the station, and it was pretty damned clear it was on a one-way trip to Crazy Town. Right now his biggest concern was getting that gun out from under Sadie’s chin. And as soon as he accomplished that, all bets were off.
“Look,” Joe said, raising his hands and letting his gun hang from his finger. “You want to have a go at me, fine. But Sadie can’t see what a big tough guy you are if she’s wounded—or dead. So let her go, or you’ll have an audience of one. And where’s the fun in that? Who’s going to tell everyone what a badass you are if no one’s here to see it?”
He could see Jackson mulling it over. Then the guy suddenly shoved Sadie away from him, sending her stumbling down the hallway toward Joe.