The Enforcer - Kelli Callahan Page 0,41

around her neck. I see the whites of her eyes as they roll back in her head. “No!” I shout, bolting forward as the man jumps back and races to the adjoining suite’s door.

For a moment I’m paralyzed; every fiber in my body is telling me that I should grab him, take him to the ground... make him pay. The other part of me knows that I have to be here with her.

“She needs an ambulance,” I say, talking down to the ground. I turn her face to me, so that way I can check her breathing; she’s breathing, but it’s shallow, and she’s unconscious. “Diana!” I yell, shaking her shoulders, feeling surprisingly unprepared for first aid. “Somebody, help us!” I shout, racing to the door and yanking it open, calling for anyone to come out and help us. I hear feet in the distance, and a woman in a janitor outfit kneels down beside us and begins to help.

“Well, did you get a good look at him, at least?” Kenton asks me, glowering down at me in the hospital.

“Of course, I did,” I say with irritation. “I’m not a complete amateur!”

“Could have fooled me,” he murmurs, pacing back and forth. “Just what were you thinking? Taking a woman in danger across state lines!”

“Tell me where you can keep her safe!”

“...and then risking her life at a hotel, hours away? Dammit, Jake! You could have gotten her killed,” he says, as Lucy takes a step toward him to calm him, and he holds up a hand stopping her.

“Don’t you think I know that?” I growl. “Don’t you think I understand what almost happened?”

“I don’t know this! Do you know this?” he snaps. “You people, thinking that you know what’s best!” he yells, rounding on Noah. “Taking the law into your hands when you have no formal training!” I can hear him grinding his teeth, and it makes me cringe

“Kenton!” Lucy murmurs.

“No. They need to understand; They are not police officers. They’re reformed.” He uses air quotes facing Noah. “Drug kingpins, and gangsters, and right hand men or whatever else they want to call themselves. They have no idea what they’re doing, which has been made abundantly clear, each time they step in and interfere with anyone’s lives!”

“I don’t think that’s entirely fair,” Charlie says, and I feel my body tense as he turns to face her, his face flooded with anger.

“Don’t you get started, too! You disappear with him, come back, and you’re together!” he says, sneering at Noah. “After punching me in the face over Lucy, too!” he snips.

“I guess that’s true,” Noah says with a casual shrug, seemingly unoffended by Kenton’s angry outbursts.

“Look at him,” the angry officer mutters, referring to Noah. “All ego, no brains.”

“Hey!” Lucy snaps. “That’s enough!”

“I am hot because a vigilante decided to take charge of the situation! There are methods and channels for a reason! We don’t just take people and go into hiding because we feel like it! That’s not how the world works; that’s how people end up dead. You know I’m right!” he yells, literally rounding on Noah.

“I don’t get in your way, and you don’t get in my way because, when we do, people die.” Noah nods his head, and I drop my jaw.

“You’re seriously agreeing with him?”

“I agree that we didn’t keep her safe, regardless of our intentions,” he oh, so carefully, surprisingly diplomatic says, and I hear my ears ringing.

“Thank you,” Chief says, gesturing to Noah and turning back to face me. “I don’t want you anywhere near Miss Marshall or involved in this case; you have no place in it.”

“That’s not true!” I say, rising and standing, towering above him. “I have every right to be involved in this case! I’ve been a part of it from the get-go! Or don’t you remember? I’m the one who found her when the house was burning down and I saved her! I also saved her from the fire in my building!”

“She wouldn’t have been in your building if you hadn’t taken her from the hotel!”

“We have no idea if she would have been safe in that hotel…”

“Because you took that opportunity away!” he snaps.

“I know for a FACT that she wouldn’t have been safe, because it took all of five minutes for me to find out what room she was in; and I’m not bent on killing her. Can you imagine how easy it would be for someone who was?” I snarl.

“Alright,” Noah intervenes. “Sit.” Holding his hands