Counting On Cole (Wilde Ways #8) - Cynthia Eden Page 0,14
Her eyes turned into saucers, but she didn’t panic. She drove her elbow back at the guy, a hard, fast hit, then she shot her balled fist toward his nose. He screamed out in pain.
Cole grabbed her wrist and wrenched her toward him. He pushed her behind him just as—
“Get the fuck out of here!” The masked man leapt into the back of the van. It raced away with a squeal of tires.
Chapter Two
Or…the time when shit got real. Again.
“OhmyGod…” Leopold had burst out of the restaurant and caught part of the drama. “What just happened?”
Cole pulled Evangeline against him. “Are you hurt?”
A shiver shook her body. “No.”
He looked back toward the street. The van was gone, and, like a freaking amateur, Cole hadn’t gotten the vehicle’s license plate number. “Do not move, understand?”
Other people were gawking. Voices were rising and falling.
He yanked out his phone. Dialed his partner. When James Smith answered, Cole snapped, “We had an abduction attempt.”
“Already? Didn’t you just get into town? Man, good thing you were there.”
His gaze slid back to Evangeline. He hadn’t done jack. “She fought him off herself.”
She’d wrapped her arms around her body. Leopold was crowding in close to her. Cole pressed his lips together, tried to take a moment, but… “Shit,” he snapped at Leopold. “Can you give her some air? Stop closing in on her!”
Leopold sniffed.
“Black van,” Cole fired into his phone. “One guy in the back, wearing a ski mask. He’s the one who tried to grab her. Driver never left the vehicle. Didn’t get the tag number.” He rattled off the restaurant’s address. “See if our team can access street cams and figure out where the hell that van is going.”
“On it,” James assured him instantly. “And you’ll be on her?” A deliberately mild question.
Cole’s eyes narrowed. “Do not fuck with me right now.”
“What are you talking about?” James was all innocence. “I simply meant you’d be staying with our target, that’s all.”
Bullshit. That was not all, not by a long shot. “I’ll be staying with her.” There was no way that he’d back off now. First order of business? Get her the hell off that street. He shoved the phone into his pocket and reached for her hand.
“Shouldn’t we be calling the police?” Leopold asked. “That feels like the thing to do. That jerk was trying to grab Evie’s purse!”
What? Cole squinted at Leopold. “That guy was trying to grab Evie. He didn’t give a shit about her bag. He wanted to take her.”
Leopold gulped. His face blanched. “That’s why you have a bodyguard.” His voice dropped. “Eves, you’re in danger!”
“She is.” Cole pulled her closer to him. “And that’s why I’m getting her out of here.” Too many people were around them. Too many unknowns. “We’ll handle the police, don’t worry.”
“But—”
A white SUV braked near the corner. He recognized the ride and the driver who hopped out and hurried toward them. Chase Durant’s weapon was in the holster under his arm. “James said you needed transport.”
Cole nodded.
Chase opened the back door. “Your carriage awaits.”
Cole urged Evangeline forward.
She dug in her heels. Her head turned, and she peered anxiously up at Cole. “Someone…that guy in the mask tried to abduct me?”
“Yes.”
“Harrison was right.” A tear leaked from the corner of her eye. “They’re coming after me again.”
That tear wrecked something inside of Cole. No, no, it made him want to wreck the bastards who’d hurt her.
I’m one of those bastards.
“They will not get you,” he swore. “I will stay by your side. My team will catch them.”
“But they didn’t last time. The men who took me got away. They’ve been out there the whole time.”
Chase coughed. “Uh, Cole, you coming?”
He didn’t look at his buddy. “Things are different this time.” He wanted her to fully understand this next part. “I’m different. I will not let you down. I just need you to trust me.”
But…
She shook her head. “I can’t.”
A knife right to his heart. That was what her words felt like. Not unexpected, but it still hurt like a mother. “Then how about you at least just get in the SUV? Let me take you someplace safe.”
She nodded. “Take me to Harrison.”
Was Harrison her safe place? I want to be her safe place. He didn’t say that, though, because he wasn’t a complete idiot. “Fine.”
She headed for the SUV. Stopped to look back at Leopold. “I’ll call you.”
“You’d better,” he told her.
Cole slanted a glare his way. Leopold was gonna be a problem.