Shades of Gray - Maya Banks Page 0,100

close to victory, she could taste it.

“Behind you, P.J.!” Cole yelled.

She dropped and rolled again, barely missing Brumley’s charge. Again they were both on their feet facing off like two bulls. Blood dripped from them both. She had no idea where she was bleeding from. There wasn’t a single part of her body that didn’t hurt. Her entire concentration was on making Brumley bleed more.

He feinted left and that’s when she had him. She went low and took him down when he was off balance. She rolled atop him and punched him right in the face. And then again. She punched until she was sure she’d broken her hand again.

Then she grasped his head in both hands and slammed it down onto the floor until he was nearly unconscious.

“P.J., P.J., baby, you got him.”

Cole’s soothing voice filtered into the haze wrought by her rage. She glanced up, for the first time connecting with Cole. He was alive. Bleeding, but alive. Then she glanced down at Brumley, whom she was still sitting astride. Naked.

She felt no shame this time. She was the victor. She’d taken this motherfucker out. Her. Just a helpless woman he’d once raped.

She bent low, hissing so he’d be sure to hear. “How’s it feel, asshole? To know I’m not so helpless now and I kicked your fucking ass.”

She picked up the knife she’d dropped and casually popped the buttons on his expensive, bloodied, silk shirt. Panic entered his eyes when he figured out her intention.

The door to the room flew open and she scrambled for the gun lying close to Cole. It was slippery and she damn near dropped it, and then heard Cole’s voice, soothing. Calming her from the panic that had taken hold.

“It’s all right now, P.J. It’s just Steele and the rest. They’re here now. It’s all right.”

But it wasn’t all right. She didn’t even spare her teammates a glance. She returned her attention to the bastard she had pinned to the floor. She didn’t care what her teammates were seeing. That she was naked and bloody. She’d sacrificed all pride in her pursuit of justice. And now it was hers for the taking.

She finished cutting off his shirt and Brumley started babbling and pleading for his life.

Pathetic, ball-less worm.

“Don’t kill me,” he begged.

She laughed, and the sound was cold in the room. Not at all like P.J. This was a different P.J. This was the cold-blooded killer she’d become.

“Give me one good reason I shouldn’t cut you up like you did me and then let you die a long, painful death,” she spat.

“P.J.”

It was Steele. That one word cut through the haze and brought her back to reality.

She turned, expecting censure. Expecting him to tell her to stand down. What she saw were her teammates with rage in their eyes.

Steele was at the forefront, his eyes brimming with understanding.

“It’s your call,” he said quietly. “Resnick wants him alive, but fuck Resnick. Whatever you decide, we’re behind you one hundred percent.”

It was then that Brumley broke down, weeping like a distraught child. Maybe he saw the promise of death in P.J.’s eyes. And after hearing her team leader all but sanction his death, he started babbling faster than P.J. could keep up.

“I’ll give you whatever you want. Money. I have money. Information.”

He latched onto that greedily. “I have names and contacts. I have records of every deal I’ve ever made. You could take out a lot of very important people who deal in child trafficking. I’m just the middle man. I’m nothing.”

P.J.’s lips curled into a snarl. “Yeah, you’d probably love to be turned over to Resnick. You’d cut some cushy deal, sing like a bird and then be free in no time. I don’t trust you, Brumley. You’d say anything to save your own ass.”

Dolphin and Renshaw ran to where Cole was still sitting, tied to the chair. They quickly untied him and started applying a pressure dressing to the wound.

Steele and Baker stood by the door, guns still drawn, their gazes never leaving P.J.

“I can prove it,” Brumley gabbled. “In my safe. There in the wall. I’ll give you the combination. You can see. I have records of everything. Recorded conversations. Details of deals. When and where. It’s all there, I swear it!”

“Baker, check it out,” P.J. ordered.

Baker removed the painting and then waited as Brumley stuttered out the combination. A moment later, Baker started pulling out stacks of currency and with it a ledger and several memory chips.

Baker flipped through the