Read Online Bulletproof (Unknown Identities #1) by Regan Black - Free Book Online Page B

suffocate?” He came up on Amelia’s other side and with her caught between them, he pushed them toward the sedan’s rear door. “Relax,” he said to Amelia, “you’re causing a scene.”
    She stopped struggling immediately, but leaned closer to him. Smart girl. The thug opened the door and the three of them slid into the sedan. The driver pulled away from the curb as John closed the door.
    “Who the fuck are you?” Red Beard asked.
    John caught the look passing between the other two men. “I’m the guy who’s in charge.”
    “Bullshit,” said the driver, surging through a traffic light as it turned from yellow to red. “We’ve got the lead on this one.”
    “I’m sure you think so.” Since Gabriel had given him Amelia’s name, he’d been looking for a clue as to who might want her dead. This pair was merely the hired help and John wanted to know who was paying them.
    “You can’t just put down an innocent civilian and –”
    “That wasn’t us.”
    “Just the kind of diversion that gets you caught,” John said with a pitying shake of his head. “If your information and tactics were sound I wouldn’t be here.”
    The driver swore again. “Call,” he barked the bearded man on Amelia’s other side. The sedan merged with the heavier traffic heading east toward the city.
    Red Beard reached into a pocket and John caught a glimpse of the shiny gun in a shoulder holster. Talk about screw-ups. It had been a long time since he’d encountered amateurs like these two.
    Why? More importantly, where did they plan on taking Amelia?
    The car’s navigation spit out a course correction and the driver changed lanes accordingly. Not local talent. John couldn’t decide if that was a good thing or not.
    He made a show of peering through the window to check signs. When Red Beard followed suit, he tapped Amelia’s leg and pointed to the floorboard. Her nod was small and quick.
    “Are you sure you put in the right address?” John asked, reaching for the revolver at his ankle.
    “That’s it.” The driver pulled to the shoulder amid a chorus of honking horns. “Get out.” The locks snapped open.
    “Come on, Amelia.”
    “Oh, no. Just you. She stays.”
    John helped Amelia to the relative safety of the floorboards while he aimed his gun at Red Beard. “Correction. You’re leaving. Out.”
    The driver swore violently and jerked back into traffic, but John anticipated the move. He flipped the pistol in his hand and, gripping the barrel, he slammed the handle first into Red Beard’s ear and then his temple. John ducked under the wide-flying fist and launched himself across the back seat, driving his shoulder into Red Beard’s side. He scrambled for the door handle as the car lurched from side to side, tossing them around.
    Finding the release, he shoved the bigger man through the open door.
    Red Beard grasped and fought to hang on, twisting to bring a knee up between them. John shifted with the next swerve of the car and Red Beard’s effort was wasted. John planted an elbow in Red Beard’s gut and as the man gasped for air he flipped him easily out of the car.
    Tires squealed in their wake, but John didn’t have time to check the guy’s fate. Didn’t care. This was survival.
    The driver pulled hard around a slower moving van and the force nearly carried John out the open door after Red Beard.
    Behind him, Amelia screamed and he felt her hands gripping his legs. Her weight was enough of a balance and he used that along with the momentum of the car to recover and get the door closed.
    He retrieved his revolver from the floor and held it to the driver’s temple. “Pick a lane and hold steady,” he ordered when the man stomped on the accelerator and aimed for the next off-ramp. The car slowed, falling in with traffic in the right lane instead of wreaking more havoc on the roadway.
    John nudged the barrel of his gun into the driver’s skin, noting the sweat beading on his forehead. “Who hired you to