Read Online Outlaw Justice (Decorah Security Series, Book #13): A Paranormal Romantic Suspense Novella by REBECCA YORK - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: REBECCA YORK
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he do now?
She steeled herself as she heard footsteps approaching the door. Someone looked out through the translucent curtains screening the side light. When the door flew open, she was facing her worst nightmare—her husband.
Unprepared for the burning fury in his eyes, she struggled to catch her breath as he grabbed her arm and pulled her inside.
“Why did you leave?”
“I knew I made a mistake. Now I’m back.”
“You’re answering the wrong question—why did you leave?”
“I was scared,” she said in a voice filled with genuine fear.
“Of what?”
“You were so angry. You hurt me.”
oOo
Upstairs, Steve gritted his teeth as he stood looking around the small but nicely appointed office with wooden file cabinets and a top-of-the-line computer on the wide desk.
Probably the computer was password protected. Instead, he pulled on rubber gloves and began opening drawers and looking through papers and folders. He found a lot of stuff here, including bank and credit card statements, but nothing that looked like a red flag. He glanced toward the door, knowing he had limited time. With a sigh he peeled off the gloves, sat down, and started searching again, not through papers, but touching the objects on the desk and in the office.
He hit pay dirt when he cupped a hand around an ornate globe of the world, smaller than the usual model but apparently made out of semiprecious gemstones.
As he grasped the object, he was seized by a wave of dizziness.
Then he felt the familiar sensation of disorientation as his gift transported him from the present to a scene in this very office. A man a few years older than Steve was sitting in the desk chair. It was the same man he’d seen hit Leah—and grope Candy.
Steve took in details he hadn’t focused on earlier. Dressed casually in jeans and a white polo shirt, Pendelton wore a heavy gold chain around his neck. He had a diamond ring on the middle finger of his right hand, and he was playing with the globe while he spoke on the phone.
“Listen, Malcolm, I know we have a deal, but it’s getting harder to funnel cash through my legit businesses.”
He listened for a minute and said. “Half a mill is a hell of a lot. I want more of a cut.”
Again he listened, then said, “Yeah, okay,” but he didn’t look very happy with the answer.
The conversation and Steve’s Baltimore PD background had given him what he needed, and he struggled to pull away. Before he could come back to present reality, he heard a sharp voice that seemed to come from out of thin air.
“Put your hands flat on the desk.”
The command filtered through Steve’s consciousness. He blinked and looked up to see a man holding a gun. Not Pendelton. One of his goons that Leah had described. The blond guy with the ponytail. Carlton. The other one, Jimmy, was behind him. Although both of them looked like they could snap a normal man in half without breaking a sweat, Carlton was holding an automatic pistol pointed at Steve’s chest.
He shook his head to clear it, silently cursing the talent that had given him the answer to an important question but at the same time had made him as vulnerable as a puppy in a tiger’s cage.
“Keep your hands where I can see them. Stand up.”
Steve stood.
The other guy frisked him, found the gun tucked into the back of his waistband, and removed it.
“Get moving. We’re going down.”
With no other choice, Steve walked out of the office and toward the stairs, his mind scrambling for a way to save Leah.
oOo
This ruse had been Leah’s idea. Now she knew she might never leave this house alive. The sound of footsteps on the stairs made her head jerk up and wonder why Steve was coming down. Then she saw he was followed by the two bodyguards—one holding a gun at Steve’s back.
“He was in the office,” Carlton said.
Warren looked up in satisfaction. “Got ya.” Swinging back to Leah he said, “I thought you might be with this guy all
She steeled herself as she heard footsteps approaching the door. Someone looked out through the translucent curtains screening the side light. When the door flew open, she was facing her worst nightmare—her husband.
Unprepared for the burning fury in his eyes, she struggled to catch her breath as he grabbed her arm and pulled her inside.
“Why did you leave?”
“I knew I made a mistake. Now I’m back.”
“You’re answering the wrong question—why did you leave?”
“I was scared,” she said in a voice filled with genuine fear.
“Of what?”
“You were so angry. You hurt me.”
oOo
Upstairs, Steve gritted his teeth as he stood looking around the small but nicely appointed office with wooden file cabinets and a top-of-the-line computer on the wide desk.
Probably the computer was password protected. Instead, he pulled on rubber gloves and began opening drawers and looking through papers and folders. He found a lot of stuff here, including bank and credit card statements, but nothing that looked like a red flag. He glanced toward the door, knowing he had limited time. With a sigh he peeled off the gloves, sat down, and started searching again, not through papers, but touching the objects on the desk and in the office.
He hit pay dirt when he cupped a hand around an ornate globe of the world, smaller than the usual model but apparently made out of semiprecious gemstones.
As he grasped the object, he was seized by a wave of dizziness.
Then he felt the familiar sensation of disorientation as his gift transported him from the present to a scene in this very office. A man a few years older than Steve was sitting in the desk chair. It was the same man he’d seen hit Leah—and grope Candy.
Steve took in details he hadn’t focused on earlier. Dressed casually in jeans and a white polo shirt, Pendelton wore a heavy gold chain around his neck. He had a diamond ring on the middle finger of his right hand, and he was playing with the globe while he spoke on the phone.
“Listen, Malcolm, I know we have a deal, but it’s getting harder to funnel cash through my legit businesses.”
He listened for a minute and said. “Half a mill is a hell of a lot. I want more of a cut.”
Again he listened, then said, “Yeah, okay,” but he didn’t look very happy with the answer.
The conversation and Steve’s Baltimore PD background had given him what he needed, and he struggled to pull away. Before he could come back to present reality, he heard a sharp voice that seemed to come from out of thin air.
“Put your hands flat on the desk.”
The command filtered through Steve’s consciousness. He blinked and looked up to see a man holding a gun. Not Pendelton. One of his goons that Leah had described. The blond guy with the ponytail. Carlton. The other one, Jimmy, was behind him. Although both of them looked like they could snap a normal man in half without breaking a sweat, Carlton was holding an automatic pistol pointed at Steve’s chest.
He shook his head to clear it, silently cursing the talent that had given him the answer to an important question but at the same time had made him as vulnerable as a puppy in a tiger’s cage.
“Keep your hands where I can see them. Stand up.”
Steve stood.
The other guy frisked him, found the gun tucked into the back of his waistband, and removed it.
“Get moving. We’re going down.”
With no other choice, Steve walked out of the office and toward the stairs, his mind scrambling for a way to save Leah.
oOo
This ruse had been Leah’s idea. Now she knew she might never leave this house alive. The sound of footsteps on the stairs made her head jerk up and wonder why Steve was coming down. Then she saw he was followed by the two bodyguards—one holding a gun at Steve’s back.
“He was in the office,” Carlton said.
Warren looked up in satisfaction. “Got ya.” Swinging back to Leah he said, “I thought you might be with this guy all
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