Looks
can be deceiving.
I
knew that most people took one look at the ink and the impossibly big and
strong body it covered and decided I was a brawler…a bruiser…a beast. However,
I was hardwired to be a thinker, not a fighter. I
should have chosen to use my brain and talents to be one of the good guys, a
hero, a man with dignity and worth. I
turned my back on dignity and sold my soul to the highest bidder, deciding to
dance with the devil, instead. I
couldn’t figure out how to help myself, so there was zero chance I knew how to
save someone else. That
someone else was Noe Lee. She was the unkempt, unruly thief who was just as smart
as I was and twice as street savvy. She was annoyingly adorable beneath the
dirt and grime, and she was in trouble. In way over her head, I told myself it
wasn’t my job to keep her from drowning. In the Point, it was sink or swim, and
I wasn’t the designated lifeguard on duty.
I
shut the door in her face, but now she’s gone…vanished…disappeared without a
trace. It took less than a second for me to realize that I wanted her back.
When
a woman comes along that melts all the frozen, hard things you’re made of;
you’ll do anything you have to, to bring her home.
What
you see is not always what you get…and with a man like me, what you get is more
than anyone ever bargained for.
Protective and possessive instincts coiled around my gut and
rage felt like it was going to choke me. I was so used to being cold and numb,
I didn’t know what to do with the fire that was licking at my insides.
“I saw him take her out of the trunk when they got to the
docks. He moved like a cop. Not the kind who is there to actually protect and
serve, but the kind who pulls you over for no reason and slaps cuffs on you to
prove a point. I was locked up for a lot of years, boy genius. I know what a
dirty cop looks like. He had a busted-up nose and stitches on the side of his
face. Should be pretty easy for Titus to identify him.”
Titus King was Bax’s half-brother and the only law
enforcement officer in the entire city any of us slightly trusted. He was one
of the few men the Point hadn’t tainted. He was a good guy, trying to do right
by the people in our city, and he wouldn’t hesitate to throw Goddard’s dirty
cop under the bus. But I didn’t want anyone going after the Mayor. His sadistic
ass was all mine.
“Do you think they made it out of the container after you
hit it with the truck?” That had been my idea. Nassir was only sending in
Booker and Benny to get Noe out, but I didn’t think it was enough fire power.
Since he refused to let me go, even siccing Chuck on me as a babysitter until
the job was done, I made Benny go over the plan with me no less than a hundred
times until I came up with a better one. Knocking the container sideways with
one of the big semi-trucks that littered the area would give Benny the time he
needed to get Noe out and distract the outside security detail enough that
Booker could do his thing. It was a risk because the people inside the
container—including Noe and Benny—might have ended up injured when the thing
flipped, but the odds of them making it out were much higher than if Benny
tried to take on everyone on his own.
“If Benny made it out, we won’t hear from him again. That
was the deal he made with Nassir. He would get your girl and then disappear, so
he can go and live happily ever after with his. As for the rest of them,” he
shrugged, “I guess we’ll find out soon enough. Your girl said someone had a
gun, so if they were shooting at Benny, he would do whatever he could to make
sure they stopped. He’s not about to catch a bullet for any of us. I know you
want that asshole alive for your own reasons, but honestly, it’s better if
Benny popped him.”
It was better, but it wasn’t what I wanted. A bullet between
the eyes was way too easy for a guy like Goddard. People would bemoan how bad
the Point had become, how Goddard had been a staunch supporter of crime
prevention measures. He would die a martyr and a legend. I couldn’t stand the
thought of that. I wanted who Goddard was, who he really was, out in the open.
I wanted his mansion doors flung wide open and every skeleton inside the walls
exposed and thrown out on the perfectly manicured lawn for the entire world to
see. I hated people who hid behind the law. I hated when men in any position of
power got off on using their elevated status to jerk the helpless and hopeless
around. Death wasn’t the answer. Devastation was.
I closed my eyes and squeezed the cold, still hand that was
clasped in mine. Failure weighed heavy on my shoulders and fury lit up my blood
like popping and sizzling firecrackers.
“When do we ever end up with anything that’s better for us?”
That wasn’t how the Point worked. That wasn’t how we worked.
Booker grunted and I felt him move behind me. “It happens.
It doesn’t seem like better should be
able to find a foothold in this place, but despite all odds, it does.”
Jay Crownover is the international and multiple New
York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the
Marked Men Series, The Saints of Denver Series, the Point Series, the Breaking
Point Series, and the Getaway Series. Her books can be found translated in many
different languages all around the world. She is a tattooed, crazy haired
Colorado native who lives at the base of the Rockies with her awesome dogs. This
is where she can frequently be found enjoying a cold beer and Taco Tuesdays.
Jay is a self-declared music snob and outspoken book lover who is always
looking for her next adventure, between the pages and on the road.
No comments:
Post a Comment