by KD Jones
Jagger waited until Vic left before he pulled Daniela into him for a desperate kiss. He hated she had to speak with her boyfriend—ex-boyfriend. When he got his hands on that man, he was going to beat the shit of him, give him a healing agent, and beat the shit out of him all over again.
“So…what do you want to do while we are waiting?” Daniela asked, squirming her ass against the rising arousal pushing against his pants.
“Vixen,” he groaned.
*****
Eight hours later Daniela watched out the window of the darkened room. Isaac was with her monitoring all the traps from the kitchen table with his equipment. They turned the lights off in their building while lighting up the abandoned building across the street.
“Do you think he fell for it?” Daniela asked Isaac.
“Yeah, most criminals think they are super smart but they always make a mistake somewhere along the line. I read Jagger’s report on this guy when he went to interview him. He thinks himself to be brilliant. He won’t want to let you make him look bad. He’ll either come himself or he’ll send someone who can’t be traced back to him.”
“I hope you’re right. Otherwise I know Jagger will have no choice but to turn me in to the authority.” She sighed. He may have to do that anyway. They hadn’t talked about it. It had been like an elephant in the room that they both tried to ignore. But the time would come soon that they would have to face it.
“We have movement,” Isaac said as he alerted the teams with his headset.
Daniela turned back to the window. She said a silent prayer to God to take care of Jagger and the other bounty hunters. She didn’t want anything to happen to them.
*****
“Where?” Victor asked Isaac when he said he detected movement.
“Right corner of the building, I saw two shadows and another shadow on the roof of the building,” Isaac responded.
“Three? Crawley must have brought friends. Everyone be on point,” Jagger said, checking his weapon.
Isaac looked over at Daniela. “Daniela, come here with me. I don’t want the shooter and his friends to see you moving by the window. You can watch everything on the monitors.” He turned back to his monitors. Daniela sat down beside him clutching her hand together.
“Shadow from the rooftop is on the move,” Isaac called out.
“On it!” Abe said. He was perched on the rooftop of the building right beside it. There was a space of ten feet between the buildings. Abe took a running start and leapt across the space and landed in a tuck and roll on the other rooftop.
“Jagger and Vic, the two shadows down below are splitting up. One is heading for the front entrance and the other disappeared toward the back,” Isaac relayed.
“I’ve got the back covered,” Victor called out over the headset.
“I’ve got the shadow in the front. Elsa, be prepared,” Jagger warned.
“I’m ready for them,” Elsa said confidently. She had a dark wig on and was pretending to be Daniela.
Daniela gripped the table in anxious fear. Isaac patted her hand. “Don’t worry. Drake is on the rooftop of this building we’re in. He’s the best sharp shooting long-range rifleman I’ve seen. He’s military trained. Nothing will get past him.”
“I’ve got the rooftop shadow. It’s not Prescott, repeat it's not our guy Prescott,” Abe told them on the headsets.
“Vic, what about your guy?” Jagger asked as he started approaching the shadow figure trying to break the lock to the front entrance.
“Negative. My guy is a girl. She is not too happy with me right now,” Vic said.
That left Jagger. He hit the figure from the side knocking him down to the ground. They rolled and the figure in black tried to leap up and make a run for it. Out of desperation the figure pulled a weapon and tried to fire it at Jagger close range. They both grabbed hold of the weapon and struggled. The weapon went off and a few seconds later a body fell to the ground.
“Shit! My shadow guy is hit!” Jagger knelt down and pulled the mask off the guy to reveal a completely bald stranger. “My perp is shot in the hip but alive. Prescott is still on the loose. Elsa stand on alert. At the slightest movement let us know. Isaac do a scan of the area.”
Chapter Thirteen
Elsa paced back and forth inside the foyer of the building. This was taking too long. She needed to do something. This wig was driving her fucking crazy.
She paused looking out the window. A sound of feet on the floor behind her alerted her that she was not alone. She fingered the weapon strapped on her thigh.
“We meet again, pretty girl, but this time will be your last,” a male voice said from behind.
Careful to not make any sudden movements she said one word. “RED.”
Isaac sat straight up in his chair. “Elsa is calling RED. The perp is inside with her!”
“Everyone, secure their capture and head inside to assist Elsa!” Vic ordered.
Abe got the rooftop stairwell door open and began his descent. Vic busted through the back entrance at the same time Jagger rushed the front entrance doors. He broke the lock and stumbled inside.
“What took you so long?” Elsa asked as she sat on the back of an unmoving Crawley.
“What did you do to him?” Jagger asked. Just then both Abe and Vic showed up at the same time.
“I didn’t like the way he spoke to me. I used my stun gun on him…a couple of times. Don’t worry, he’s still breathing.” Even as Elsa said the words the man underneath her moaned and tried to move. She stood and let Jagger put the shock cuffs on him.
Jagger turned the man over to his back. “I’ve got a positive ID on Crawley Prescott. We’ve got him.”
Vic spoke on the headsets. “Everyone grab your perp and take them across the street. We’ll secure them in a room on the second floor.”
Jagger grabbed Crawley and lifted him up. He started to head out of the building.
“Hey, that’s my perp!” Elsa complained.
“Grab my perp outside. He’s shot but still breathing,” Jagger told her, not letting up his hold on the man.
Abe was the last one out of the building. He had to go back up to the rooftop to get his perp. Everyone else was already across the street when Abe stepped out of the building.
Abe’s perp was almost as big as Abe and used his strength to shove at Abe. They struggled against one another. The perp got Abe’s weapon and pointed it at him.
“Take him out!” Vic ordered as he tried to run back across the street to assist Abe.
Abe dove out of the way just as a shot rang out and hit the perp in the back of the head. Drake was still on the other rooftop with his rifle. He saw the struggle and took out the perp.
Vic knelt down beside the perp who was unmoving. “Dead. Abe take him back inside and to the basement. Make sure the place and the perp is free of any evidence that we were here.”
“Yes, sir.” Abe lifted the guy up and carried him back into the building.
“Drake, keep watch for any signs that we had witnesses,” Vic said. He ran a hand through his hair. This job was turning out more complicated than he thought.
Vic went back inside and up to the second floor where all the perps had been taken. Jagger and Elsa were watching the perps. When Vic got there he told the others what had happened making sure the perps didn’t hear anything that was said. A few minutes later Abe returned.
“Jagger, take Mr. Prescott in the other room while we question these two,” Vic told him.
Once Jagger and Prescott were gone, Vic turned to the other two perps. “Start talking.”
“Screw you man,” the female perp said.
“Let me go or at least take me to the hospital,” the male perp demanded.
“No and no. I want your names right now,” Vic told them. “I’ll find out anyway when my IT guy runs your prints through the databases.
“Judy Dents,” the woman said angrily.
“Todd Button. Now can I go to the hospital?
” the man almost begged.
“How did you meet Prescott?” Vic asked.
“Crawley was hanging out at a bar we like to go to. He found us and said he would pay us good credits to help him get to some chic,” Judy said.
“Who is footing the bill for Crawley’s job?” Vic asked.
“Don’t know that. Crawley never said who he worked for,” Todd said.
Isaac’s voice came over their headsets. “Both Judy Dents and Todd Button have warrants out for their arrests.”
“Treat Mr. Dent’s injuries and keep them here. We’ll drop them off with the local authority on our way to the shuttle station. I’m going to go help Jagger question our other perp.” Vic left them.
He walked into the other dirty room where Jagger was securing Prescott. “Ready?” he asked Jagger.
“Yes. Do you want to question him?” Jagger asked.
“No, you go ahead.”
Jagger turned toward Crawley. “Crawley Prescott, you have quite a reputation.”
Crawley glared at them but refused to talk.
“Come on, Crawley, don’t be shy. Tell us about this job you took to go after Miss Martin. Who hired you?”
“Fuck off!” Crawley yelled out.
Jagger wasn’t phased. “You were hired to hurt her, right?”
“Kill her actually. I was trying to have a little fun with her earlier when you interrupted us.”
“Who ordered the hit?” Jagger wanted to strangle the man at the reminder that he was trying to rape Daniela before. He would have succeeded if Jagger hadn’t gotten there in time.
“Bossman is all I called him. He never told me his name. He hired me over the intranet. Then we spoke over a secured line.”
“You heard his real voice?” Jagger suddenly had an idea.
“Yes,” Crawley said.
Jagger pulled out his phone with the recorder. He hit the play button. Lial’s voice came across playing his interview with Jagger. “Is that him?”
Crawley nodded his head. “That’s his voice but I never met him in person.”
Jagger turned to Vic with hope in his eyes. “What do you think?”
“It’s something at least.” Vic nodded.
Drake walked in. “The area is secure and there are no witnesses to what went down.”
“Good. I want you to keep watch on this one tonight. Elsa and Abe will watch the other two,” Vic said as he and Jagger left the room to head up to the third floor.
*****
Daniela was pacing back and forth in the room wondering what was happening. The moment Drake took the shot at that guy everything went dead and Isaac wouldn’t tell her anything. When the door opened she froze in place and held her breath.
Vic walked inside and a few seconds later Jagger followed. Daniela couldn’t hold back. She ran and jumped into Jagger’s arms. She had been so worried. How in just a few days he had come to mean so much she didn’t know.
“Are you okay?” She kissed him quickly and looked for any signs of injury.
“I’m fine. Our team is fine.” He held her tight for a moment but then released her reluctantly.
“What happened? I heard that someone was hurt.” She followed him to the dusty couch.
“We got Crawley and two of the three people he hired to help him. The third perp struggled with Abe and Drake had to take him out. Crawley and the remaining two perps are being held downstairs on the second floor with Elsa, Abe, and Drake guarding them. We’ll drop off the two perps to the local authority before we leave but we will take Crawley with us. He positively identified Lial’s voice on my recording. We’ll take him in and hold him for your lawyer to question him to build a case.”
“Did he say he met Lial?” A small part of her had hoped Lial was innocent. It hurt her soul that someone she had once loved or at the very least cared about, never loved her and wanted her dead.
Jagger frowned at her question. “He never met the person that hired him. It was done over the intranet.” There was more he needed to say but wanted them to be alone to do it. She knew he wasn’t telling her something important.
The tension between them grew and made the room uncomfortable. Isaac and Vic looked at each other before excusing themselves from the room, leaving them alone.
“Is there something wrong?” Daniela asked.
“There’s no easy way to say this, honey.”
“Just say it.” Her heart squeezed at the conflicting emotions she saw across his face.
“We have to take you back for lockup.” God, it tore him up to have to do this. He would go in her place if he could.
“But why? Won’t Crawley’s statement be enough to clear me?”
Jagger shook his head. “The money is still missing. The original charge brought against you stands until you have your day in court. I’m so sorry, honey.” He saw tears run down her face and he took her into his arms.
“So when do we leave?” She wiped the tears off. She hated feeling so vulnerable.
“First thing in the morning we’ll drop off the other two perps. Then we’ll take shuttle back to Fin-Dieskau. I’ll go with you to lockup and we’ll do a citizen’s arrest for Crawley, charging him with assault and conspiracy in attempted murder. It will be enough to get him held until he gets a court date.” He rubbed her shoulders and arms comforting her.
“How long will I have to be in lockup?” her voice quivered.
“It could be a few days, a few weeks, or a few months. The judge will have to call your case,” he told with absolute honesty.
“Why can’t I get another bail bond agreement and be released?” The idea of her having to spend months in lockup made her scared.
“No. The judge won’t let you be eligible for it a second time because he will consider you a flight risk. Baby, if there was any other way I would have you take it.”
She looked up into his gorgeous gold eyes and saw concern for her. Strange how someone who she had barely known was more concerned with her wellbeing than a man who she had lived with for months. She reached up to caress his cheek.
“I’ll be fine. I’m tougher than I look.” She felt the need to reassure him.
“You’re amazing.” He took her lips in a rough desperate kiss. He bent to grab her and lift her up into his arms. “Let’s not think about tomorrow right now. Let’s only think about the here and now and us.”
“Great plan,” she agreed. Tomorrow would come soon enough. Tonight she wanted to feel his hands and mouth on her as he plunged deeply into her welcoming heat. Nothing else mattered at that moment except for them.
Chapter Fourteen
The next morning they left the building they had been hiding out in. Crawley and the other two perps had shock cuffs on their wrists and ankles. Crawley glared at her, which pissed off Jagger. Jagger walked over to him and punched him in the face.
“Don’t look at her, asshole!” Jagger was fuming. He was already beyond angry that they had to take Daniela to lockup. Now this sleaze ball was giving Daniela looks. He wouldn’t put up with it.
Vic motioned for Abe to get Crawley inside one of two motor pods they had rented. Elsa and Drake took the other two perps and put them in the same motor pod. Isaac got into the driver’s seat. That left Jagger, Daniela, and Vic to use the remaining motor pod. Vic drove while Jagger rode shotgun and she rode in the backseat.
Daniela watched as the first motor pod went in a different direction. “Where are they going?”
“They’re going to take the other two perps to the local authority and then meet us at the shuttle station with Crawley,” Jagger told her. He was still a little angry over Crawley.
She leaned up to ask quietly, “Are you okay?” Jagger seemed off this morning.
“Fine. Just pissed that I can’t bust up Crawley a little bit,” Jagger admitted.
“Don’t let him get to you. He is not worth it.” She squeezed his shoulder with her hand comfortingly.
That small gesture from her immediately change
d Jagger’s mood. Here he was brooding over not being able to beat up on a perp while Daniela, who was facing jail time until her court date survived an attack and almost getting killed, was there comforting him.
“You are amazing,” he told her.
She sat back in her seat smiling at him. She was just so beautiful. He glanced over at Vic who was frowning at him. He knew his cousin wasn’t a hundred percent on board with the relationship he had with Daniela. But he wasn’t going to let anyone else’s opinion control him. He and Daniela may have started out rocky, but what he was feeling was real and strong. It was worth the effort. She was worth everything. He knew she had to feel something for him as well. No woman would react so passionately to a man she only had lukewarm feelings for.
*****
A couple of hours later, Daniela sat on the shuttle with Victor on one side of her and Jagger on the other side. The other bounty hunters were guarding Crawley on a lower level of the shuttle. It would be almost eight hours before they reached Fin-Dieskau. She had fallen asleep shortly after lunchtime. Her head had lolled to the side. She woke with a start. She had a crick in her neck. She noticed Jagger’s seat was empty.
“Where’s Jagger?” She looked around for him.
“He’s checking on our prisoner,” Victor said gruffly.
An awkward silence fell between them. Daniela knew that even though he was starting to believe in her innocence, Victor didn’t really like her very much. He was protective of his cousin. She could respect that.
“I guess being a bounty hunter is hard on relationships.” She tried to open a conversation with Victor and at the same time possibly find out more about Jagger.
“I wouldn’t know. I don’t do relationships. Neither does Jagger. Not since that red head he was hot and heavy with,” he told her closing his eyes. What he had said about Jagger was true, but he had a feeling that things were going to change. He sighed.
Daniela was a little surprised. “You don’t have a girlfriend?
“I am full Decaros. Most women are intimidated by my species,” he admitted.
