Page 185 of Beyond the Badge: Nox

And he was about to do something stupid.

She got ready for whatever it was by spreading her feet.

Just as she screamed out Nox’s name, the man launched himself at her.

She jammed her forearm into his throat and scratched his face, causing him to back off slightly but only for a second.

Then he went after her again.

“Nox!” she screamed again, fighting off the guy as best as she could as he tried to get a good hold of her. “I promise you, you’re going to regret this.”

“Shut the fuck up, bitch!” he shouted in her face.

She tried to skirt around him and thought she almost got away when he slammed his hand against her arm so hard, he almost knocked her off balance.

She managed to stay on her feet, but not for long.

As a euphoric feeling swept through her, making her head swim and her body feel sluggish. Preventing her from being able to move quickly. To escape. To fight him off.

When her knees began to buckle, she realized he didn’t punch her.

No, the motherfucker stuck her with a damn needle.

“Nox,” came out slurred as she slid to the concrete.

She was powerless to do anything when he grabbed her arms and dragged her across the concrete to her car.

ChapterForty-One

Nox putdown the crime thriller he was reading and picked up his phone to check the time. After getting the original text that she was on her way, he’d gotten no update from Liyah saying she was running behind schedule. Her running late happened often but she usually gave him a heads up.

It was one reason why she didn’t want him waiting for her at the gate.

She could be five minutes or fifty-five minutes late. It all depended on how her day went.

But tonight? She was forty-five minutes past her arrival time.

He didn’t like that.

He sent her a text.You okay? Expected you here at six.

He forced himself to wait five more minutes. Long enough to give her a chance to respond before he called her. After three rings, the call went to voicemail.

“Liyah, are you on your way? Call or text me as soon as you get this. I want to make sure you’re okay.”

With a frown, he hung up and stared at the phone in his hand.

He didn’t like this. Not one bit. She’d never ignored his texts or calls. Not once. If she was busy with a client, fellow agents, or even her sons, she shot him a quick text to let him know she’d get ahold of him once she was free.

If she didn’t own that fancy car, he would only think she didn’t want to call or text while driving. However, her AMG had all the bells and whistles, including hands-free text and calls, so she had no valid excuse to not respond.

Unless something happened to her.

He shouldn’t think like that but being a cop, it came with the territory.

He’d give her another twenty minutes before he went out searching for her.

Surging from the couch, he began to pace across the length of his apartment with his phone in his hand and his eyes watching the time tick by minute after minute.

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