The vicious bastard who had done his best to kill her gave a jerky nod.
His captor smiled. “Tyler, call nine-one-one.”
“Already on it.”
Kata glanced as Tyler, the man who had caught her coming out the door, looped a protective arm around her waist. He had a cell phone jammed to his ear and glared at her assailant as if he’d love to rip the guy in half.
Standing so close to the phone, she heard dispatch answer. He responded with all the pertinent information, his voice low and controlled.
“What’s your name?” Mr. Buzz-cut asked her attacker.
“I have nothing to say to you,” he spat out.
“Not going to cooperate? You get that’s going to be bad for your health, right?”
His dead brown eyes narrowed. “You are not the police.”
“Right. Which means I have no rules to follow. And if the cops get here before I can finish f**king you up as much as I’d like ... well, I can make sure when you go to county lockup, you have a very horny cell mate, if you don’t start talking. Now, why did you try to kill her?” He pointed to Kata.
Her attacker hesitated. “Just doing a job.”
Kata’s gut balled tightly at the answer. As she’d feared, someone, probably Villarreal, wanted her dead, enough to hire the job done. A quick glance at her rescuers’ faces told her that both men were blazingly pissed.
“Who hired you?”
Her assailant pursed his lips and looked away from his captor, his refusal to talk evident.
Tyler pocketed his phone. “Police are on their way.”
The big man holding her attacker grunted. “That means I’ve got about five minutes to make your face look like hamburger. No sweat.”
The criminal flinched, then put on his tough-guy face. He had menace down to a fine art, but the other guys didn’t seem to notice.
“Want help, Deke?” Tyler asked hopefully.
“Got it. This will be my pleasure. I hate pricks who threaten women. Cowardly motherfuckers.” He grabbed her attacker by the hair and bunched up his fist, clearly ready to smash in his face.
“Wait!” she called.
Deke hesitated, glaring her way.
“If you hurt him too bad, they’ll arrest you. A-and he won’t be able to talk. Neither of those will help.”
Grumbling, Deke reached into his back pocket for a set of cuffs. “You’re ruining my fun, damn it, but if that’s the way you want it . . .” Then he looked straight at her. “Kata, right?”
She nodded. “Hunter sent you, too?”
“Yep. He’s my brother-in-law, so when he called, I came.” He secured the criminal’s wrists behind his back and lowered the guy on his belly like a snake.
Just hearing that confirmation made something in her flutter. Even hundreds of miles away, Hunter had protected her.
That sent shards of both delight and anxiety through her. She was beyond grateful that he’d sent reinforcements, but clearly he had no intention of letting her go anytime soon.
“I see.” She heard the trembling in her own voice.
Deke planted his big combat-booted foot in the middle of her attacker’s back, then grimaced. “Shit, you look wiped out. She’s about to do a header, Tyler.”
As soon as he said the words, her knees began to give way. The residual adrenaline that juiced her system bled out, turning her legs to Jell-O. She stumbled, but Tyler caught her and swept her up in his arms.