A Matter Of Justice (Grey Justice #4)(101)

But that world stopped being safe and secure a decade ago. His family could stay in denial as long as they wanted. Aidan knew the truth. The monster was still out there. Watching. Waiting. Looking for his next chance to strike. Too many had paid the price for Aidan’s carelessness. He would never let his guard down ever again.

Without moving a muscle, every inch of Aidan’s body went on high alert. His eyes searched the reason for his unease. Detected nothing. Still, the hair on the back of his neck was screaming a warning. What the hell was going down?

“Let me go, you big gorilla! I don’t want to go in here.”

What the hell?

A woman was shoved into the middle of the room. All eyes were on her, and almost every damn one of them had the salacious look of a predator about to pounce. This was not going to be pretty.

The room was too smoky to tell much about her, but that wouldn’t matter to a bunch of drunk, horny, soulless men. Fresh meat had arrived in their vicinity, requiring no effort to obtain. The woman was in a shitload of trouble.

With a casualness in direct contrast to the circumstances, Aidan stood and eased himself over to the bar. Calling attention to his movements wouldn’t be good for either him or the woman. He was her best chance to get out of here unscathed. If he was taken down, she was toast.

There were three men at the bar. An additional eight were at various tables. Four men had been playing pool. Two had been throwing darts. Of course, all activity had ceased. No one was doing anything now but staring at the woman and salivating.

Already trying to figure out which man he could pit against the other, Aidan leaned against the barstool and pretended to eye the woman just like everyone else. Acting as if he wasn’t interested would call attention to himself, but in truth, he didn’t bother to look at her. All other eyes were on their single target. Aidan’s attention was on the safest way to get this woman out the door.

The music on the ancient jukebox ended. Since no one had bothered to pay for another song, silence filled the room.

“Look,” the woman stated in a firm, no-nonsense way, “I’m just looking for my friend. If you’ve not seen her, that’s fine. But I’m not going to stand here anymore. I’m leaving.”

Aidan’s involuntary gasp took in a giant gulp of smoky air, and he almost choked on the fumes. Probably would have if he wasn’t in shock. His eyes finally settled on the woman, and even though his mind screamed a denial, he couldn’t avoid the truth. Holy, holy hell. That was no girl, no mere woman. And definitely no stranger. That was the one, the only, Anna Bradford.

What the hell was she doing here? Most important, how was he going to get her out alive?



Anna stood in the middle of the smoke-filled room and concentrated on acting tough and in control. She told herself she’d been in worse predicaments. A dozen bee stings in Arizona, a snakebite in Peru, and a severely broken heart in the ninth grade. Not to mention being kidnapped and tortured a few years back. She could darn well figure her way out of this situation. Admittedly, while all the men surrounding her looked as though they would murder their sainted granny for a dollar, she had learned to look beyond dirt and grime to the person beneath the surface. Out of all of these not terribly reputable-looking people, there had to be at least one with enough decency to help her get out of here.

So far, coming to Cali had been an abysmal failure. Counseling traumatized children was a challenge on the best of days. It was especially difficult when the parents of those children were less well-behaved than a one-year-old with diaper rash. But when the psychologist scheduled for the clinic had canceled because of a family emergency and Carrie had called her at the last minute, Anna had gotten swept up in the notion that if she didn’t help, no one would. Now not only had she not helped a single child, Carrie was missing.

And to make matters a thousand times worse, Anna was now going to die a horrible death.

At that thought, her spine went stiff with indignation. She was most certainly not going to die today. She would simply explain what was going on to these men. Surely they had tender feelings for their mothers or sisters. She would just appeal to their human side.

Giving them the smile she often used to put a frightened child at ease, she stated firmly, clearly, “Gentlemen, I find myself in need of assistance. A friend of mine has gone missing. She’s about five-feet-five, with blond hair and light green eyes. Her name is Carrie. Has anyone seen her?”

No one answered. Not even a headshake. She tried again. “I know if your mother or sister were missing, you’d want someone to help her. Wouldn’t you?”

What came next burned her ears. These men were definitely not fond of their mothers or sisters.

She made a three-sixty-degree turn, looking for a friendly face. It wasn’t to be found. Deciding a quick and graceful retreat was her best recourse, Anna started to back away. She took slow measured steps and began to feel optimistic. No one was coming after her. Maybe they were going to just let her—

She slammed into what felt like a brick wall. Heart thundering, her breathing almost to the point of hyperventilating, Anna turned around. Her eyes were on the level of a large, well-formed chest. The man stood before her like an immovable boulder. Tall, broad-shouldered, and so muscular that the sleeves of his olive green T-shirt were molded around his well-developed biceps.

Anna swallowed hard and finally found the courage to raise her gaze to his face. Beautiful, golden brown eyes, sensual, unsmiling mouth, sexy facial scruff. A wave of dizziness swept over her, and if he hadn’t grabbed her shoulders, she would have keeled over at his feet.