“I’ll kill you,” Dell was screeching at the same time. “I don’t care which of you.”

Eve crawled a few feet toward Dell and pointed her gun at his head. “Stop it,” she snapped. “Or I’ll shoot your damn head off. You don’t want to die, Dell. I’ve been there, and trust me, it ain’t fun. I’m not lying. And I’m not afraid of you.”

Dell stared up at her, eyes full of hate. In seconds Noah knocked Dell’s gun from his hand, then cuffed his hands behind his back. Kneeling on Dell’s bucking legs, Noah looked up, his eyes dark with fury. “What part of ‘Get back’ did you not understand?”

“I couldn’t hear you,” Eve said blandly. “He was screaming ‘I’ll kill you’ too loudly.”

Noah rolled his eyes, tersely called for backup, then looked at Trina, who’d struggled to a sitting position, her hands and feet bound. “Where’s Brock?” he demanded.

“Bedroom,” Trina said. “He was going to kill us when you got here, make you watch.”

Eve was on her feet. “I’ll go.” Her heart surprisingly steady, she ran to the back, stopping to grab a kitchen knife. Brock was on the bedroom floor, tied and gagged. But his eyes were open and furious. She pulled the gag from his mouth.

“Is everyone okay?” were the first words from his mouth.

“Yeah. Are you?” She winced. “Ooh. That’s a nasty bump on your head.”

He rolled his eyes. “How much will it take to wipe this picture from your mind?”

Eve chuckled as she sawed at his ropes. “We’ll negotiate.”

Chapter Twenty-one

Wednesday, February 24, 11:20 p.m.

Noah blew out a relieved breath when Eve emerged with Brock, walking unaided. “You better be happy they’re not hurt, you little shit,” Noah muttered.

“I would’ve,” Farmer snarled. “I would’ve killed all of them while you watched.”

Noah held on to his temper. Barely. He’d recited Miranda, but Farmer had screamed through it. Farmer starting screaming again as Brock ran to his side, holding Farmer down while Noah dug plasticuffs from his pocket and secured Farmer’s kicking feet.

Eve cut Trina’s bonds and helped her to the sofa amid Dell’s promised retribution, delivered at a pitch that could shatter glass.

“You guys need a medic?” Noah asked.

Brock and Trina checked each other for injuries. “Nah,” Brock said, “I think we’re good with just some ice. Eve has informed me I have a nasty bump.” He lifted his brows in an attempt at levity. “I never would have known otherwise.”

Now that it was over, Noah chanced a look at Eve and his heart tumbled. She stood, still calm, holding one of Trina’s butcher knives in her hand. Noah stood, wincing a little. He lifted Eve’s chin where a bruise was forming, his jaw going hard. “He hit you.”

“I’m okay. Really.”

“You were a hell of a lot better than okay.” Needing to hold her, but aware of Brock’s and Trina’s curious eyes avidly watching every move, Noah stepped back. “I’ll call Abbott. The three of you should go ice yourselves.”

Brock helped Trina to her feet. “I’ll have bourbon with my ice.”

“I’m not on duty,” Eve shot back, laughing as she walked with them to the kitchen.

She was a fascinating woman, Noah thought. So often, she stood back and watched the world go by. But when she found herself thrust into it, she… sparkled.

Distraction? Perhaps. But a welcome one. He glanced down at Farmer. And now that this SOB was in custody, she was no longer in danger. She needed no safe house.

He could take her home. Or to mine. He swallowed hard as he thought about taking up where they’d left off earlier that evening. But other priorities came first.

Noah took his cell from his pocket, his adrenaline already receding. Abbott had told him Donner was gone and commanded him to meet him and CSU at Donner’s house.

“Bruce, it’s Noah,” he said when Abbott picked up.

“Where are you?” Abbott asked acidly. “And what’s all that racket?”

“At my cousin’s house and the racket is Farmer. I brought Eve to stay with Brock, but Farmer was already here, waiting. Long story short, he’s cuffed and lying on the floor.”

“My God,” Abbott said, the acid drained from his tone. “Is everyone okay?”

“Brock’s got a bumped head. Trina, Eve, and I have some bruises. Farmer’s alive.” Two uniformed officers came through the front door. “Backup just arrived.”

“Good. It’ll be a pleasure to see him rot in prison. I’ll let Olivia know.”

“What about Donner?”

“Still no sign of him,” Abbott said, but Noah’s attention was suddenly fixed on Farmer who had stopped screaming and was now laughing like a crazed hyena.

“Wait,” Noah said to Abbott, then crouched next to Farmer. “What’s so funny?”

“You,” Farmer said. “Looking for Donner. He almost got you good tonight.”

“What are you talking about?”

Farmer shrugged, a smirk on his face. “You’ll see. Or maybe you won’t, then pow. It’ll be night-night-Noah and your pretty Eve, too.”

Noah leaned in close. “Tell me what you know,” he said quietly.

Farmer’s smirk grew more mocking. “Or you’ll do what? Other than kill me, there’s nothing more you can do to me.” His smirk became a sneer. “So go fuck yourself.”

Noah rose and nodded to the uniforms. “Take him in. Mirandize him again. He screamed while I did it and I don’t want any sleazy lawyer saying he never was advised of his rights. Keep him restrained, and watch his damn feet,” he called after them.

“What did he mean?” Abbott asked. “Night-night-Noah.”

“I don’t know. But he’d heard Donner’s name before.” Then Noah remembered. “Of course. He was at Marshall yesterday. He met Jeremy Lyons, who works for Donner. He might have met Donner then. What did you find at Donner’s house?”

“Broken glass in a back door, nobody home. Looks like he and his wife went away.”

“Damn. Do we know where?” Noah demanded.

“I’ve got a request for his LUDs in process, Noah,” Abbott said. “And a BOLO. None of the neighbors know where they might have gone.”

Noah sighed. “I really believed Donner wasn’t our man. Now, he’s bolted and Crazy Boy Farmer says he’s out to get me. I should have had surveillance on him all along.”

“I put surveillance in front of the two women’s houses you sent me, Natalie Clooney and Kathy Kirk. For now, we have Eve’s frequent users covered, so his victim pool has been warned. You go home, get some rest. You’ve had a pretty busy day.”

Noah found himself too relieved to argue. “Haven’t we all. How’s Jack?”

“Still critical. They said they’d know by morning. I’ll call you with any news.”

Thursday, February 25, 12:25 a.m.

Noah turned off his engine and everything went silent as the two of them sat in his driveway. They had been inordinately lucky.

Or fate had smiled. Eve wasn’t sure which she believed anymore.

She only knew the silence had grown louder with every mile. When he hadn’t taken the turnoff to her apartment, she’d known this moment was coming. Her mind kept going back to the backseat of his old car and inside her whirled arousal… and fear. A lot of fear. In her mind she knew it was unfounded. Noah wouldn’t hurt her.

After staring straight ahead at his garage door for a full minute, she chanced a glance at Noah from the corner of her eye. He looked grim. “I don’t know what to do next,” he confessed and she saw compassion as an easy way out for them both.

“Noah, you’re tired. Take me home and get some rest, just like Abbott ordered.”

“Do you want that?” he asked, and her pounding heart pounded harder.

“If we go inside, what happens next?”

He didn’t blink. “We can sleep. Or not. Your call.”

Everything inside her clenched. “Can we just dip our toe in and see where it goes?”

“We can do anything you want, Eve,” he said, volleying the ball into her court again.