Page 78 of Her Delta Force Protector

“Where’s Lisa?” he said, staring at her with those zombie eyes.

“Beats me. She and Abby Warton decided it was in their best interest to remove themselves from your reach, so they took off to wherever they went.” She shrugged. “They said I was better off not knowing.” It was a risk putting Abby’s name out there, but she hoped to make him angry enough to let something slip...like how he or one of his partners had supplied the drugs that killed Abby.

He reared up, strode to her, and wrapped his hand around her neck. “Stop lying. Abby Warton’s dead.”

“Because you killed her. Are you going to kill me, too?” She knew it wasn’t smart to taunt a man who was coming unhinged right in front of her eyes, but she had to get him to say something that would implicate him in Abby death.

“It might come to that if you don’t shut up.” He let go of her, stepped back, and stared at her. “But since you’re my new star, I’ll probably keep you alive. Maybe I should test the merchandise, make sure it’s up to my standards.”

He giggled, and it was such a weird and creepy sound that Harper shivered. And when his gaze roamed over her, she slid her hands under her legs to keep from crossing her arms over her breasts. Whatever she did, she couldn’t show him any weakness.

“Star for what?” Oh, she knew, but she needed him to say it so she’d have it on record. He also hadn’t denied that he’d killed Abby.

“My movies. Lift your shirt up. Show me your tits. Need to make sure you’re porno material.”

Not in this lifetime, creepo. She forced herself not to glance at the guns he’d left on the mattress, not to clue him in that she was aware of them. Could she get to one of them before him? Just as she decided to go for it, his phone chimed, and he moved back to the chair, taking away her chance.

He frowned as he stared at the screen, then he stuck his phone back in his pocket. “That was my captain. He probably wants me to cut my vacation short. I’m his best detective. You know why?”

She shook her head, hoping he’d keep talking, maybe say something incriminating. And the more he talked, the more time that gave Kade to find them.

“Because I close all my cases. No cold files because of me.”

“That’s not always possible.” She didn’t think it was, anyway.

“Sure it is, as long as all the evidence to close a case is there.”

Was he saying... “You plant the evidence you need to do that?”

“I do what I have to do to be the best.”

“Like you did with Abby Warton?”

A sly smile crossed his face. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

Yes, she would. But he’d as good as admitted it. She hoped the device in the necklace was working and was recording this conversation.

His phone dinged with a message alert, and he took it back out. As he listened, he lifted rage-filled eyes to her. Like he’d done before, he slammed his phone down on his leg. “Skylar Morgan. She’s the sheriff, right?”

He looked like he was seconds from going on a murderous rage. “Yes, why?”

“The bitch called my captain, told him he needed to take another look at Abby Warton’s death. That it wasn’t an accidental overdose. Do you know what I had to do to make it look like that?”

She shook her head again. The good stuff was finally coming, but her fear of this man was growing by the minute.

“Doesn’t matter. I won’t be going back. We need to go.”

Go where and how? Did he think he could just walk his way out of this mess? She needed to get to those weapons. He snapped his fingers. “Right. We don’t have a car.” He took out his phone and made another call.

“Damn it, Rex, you better call me back. If you try to pull a fast one on me, I’ll kill you. I swear I will.” He threw his phone. It hit the wall, then bounced onto the bed. His gaze landed on her. “You see any men sneaking around? There should be a couple of motorcycles and another car somewhere around here.”

“No.” It probably wasn’t a good idea to tell him the men were all sitting in a jail now. It was possible that the motorcycles and the car were still nearby since she doubted Kade and his teammates had taken the time to deal with those instead of looking for her.

“By now my friends will have your boyfriend taken care of. Get up.”

It was now or never. She stood, took a step, and pretended to trip. The room was so small that her upper body fell onto the bed. She grabbed his gun and managed to get her finger on the trigger before he landed on her back.

They fought over the weapon, and although he was stronger than her, rage fueled her, and she felt like she had superhuman strength...until he fisted his hand and hit her above her right eye. Something sharp sliced her skin, and blood flowed into her eye. White stars danced in her vision and pain burst through her head. She reflexively let go of the gun and brought her hands to her face.

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