Wild Justice

CHAPTER 35

We talked a little as we walked, but mostly we just enjoyed the quiet and the empty streets. The park was only a block over. As we entered, I could see Jack’s gaze flickering about. We might be pretending we were just ordinary people out for an ordinary night under ordinary circumstances, but I still had a price on my head and I had just made contact with the guy who might have put it there.

It seemed safe enough, though. This end of the park was so quiet we’d hear footsteps if anyone approached. The thick trees made sniping from nearby buildings impossible. I hated having to even think about that tonight, but I had to.

Jack steered me down the most wooded path, where we’d be best hidden.

“So,” I said as we walked. “Am I allowed to thank you for dinner?”

A soft chuckle. “Yeah.”

“But I’m not allowed to show my appreciation in any way. Correct?”

I glanced at him as I said it. My voice was light, teasing. My look was not. Jack caught it, and I heard a faint intake of breath. His grip loosened on my hand and for a moment, I thought he was going to let go. But he only adjusted his hold, pulling me to a stop and turning me to face him.

“Depends,” he said. “You know that appreciation isn’t necessary?”

“I do.”

“And nothing was expected?”

“I do.”

“Then, if you wanted to—”

“I do,” I said, and I lifted onto my tiptoes and kissed him.

I was sure he’d known how I planned to show my appreciation, but he just stood there, not reciprocating. I saw the jolt of surprise in his eyes and I thought, Oh, shit! I’d screwed up. I’d been so sure, so damned sure. The dinner, the car, the hotel . . . How the hell did that not mean what I thought it meant?

I pulled back fast. “Sorry. I-I thought—”

He cut me off, arms going around me, pulling me into a kiss that took any doubt, shredded it, and set the leftover bits on fire. The last time I was kissed like that— Oh, hell, I don’t know if I’d ever been kissed like that. When it finally broke, I was gasping.

“Okay?” he said.

“Oh, yeah.”

He chuckled and kissed me again, softer this time, his hands moving to my face, holding it in a long, sweet kiss.

When we parted for breath, I said, “I thought I surprised you there.”

“You did.”

“What did you think I was going to give you? A back rub?”

A light laugh. “No. Hoped you meant this. Didn’t expect. Sorry if I—”

“It’s okay,” I said.

I tugged him toward me until my back was against a tree. As my arms went around his neck, his dropped to my waist and then slid down as the kiss deepened, coming to rest on my ass, pulling me to him. Heat shot through me as I arched against the tree, lifting up to straddle him. His hands dropped lower then and pushed my skirt up. I felt a tickling whisper of cold air, disappearing as his hands cupped my ass.

I wanted him. Right there, and I didn’t care if it wasn’t anything I’d done before, if it was something I’d feel guilty about in the morning. The park was empty, and even if I hadn’t been certain of that, I’m not sure it would have changed my mind. All I could feel was the hunger of his kiss and the heat of his hands and the hardness of his body and I didn’t give a damn where we were.

When the kiss broke, I reached for a button on his shirt and murmured, “Yes?”

He hesitated.

I stopped. “Or no . . .”

“Yes,” he murmured, his voice thick. “Hell, yes.” He buried his face in my hair, kissing my neck as his hands gripped my ass, pulling me close. “Just don’t want to fuck up. You want a bed—”

“Next time.”

I undid his shirt as he kept kissing my neck. I couldn’t manage the tie, so I just shoved it aside, then slid my hands under his open shirt, his hard muscles moving under my fingers as he shifted, his lips moving to mine again. His hands shifted, too, tugging my panties down over my hips.

I reached down and pulled at his belt as my panties dropped to the ground, but his fingers moved across my thighs, which completely distracted me from my mission. I paused, realized I was pausing, and cursed as I reached for his belt again.

Jack laughed and broke the kiss. “Let me get—”

A light flickered, somewhere in the trees. We both saw it. And we both heard the click that followed.

“Down!” Jack said, grabbing me by the shoulders.

He pushed me down before I could get there myself. He dropped, too, covering me in a half crouch, his gun already out.

When we heard that click, I’m sure we both thought the same thing: gun. There was no accompanying shot, though. The park had gone silent. Jack stayed over me, scanning the trees. Then it came, the faint crackle of a dead leaf underfoot. Jack trained his weapon in that direction. We could see nothing except black trees against the night. Standing, we’d caught light from the path. Down here, it was completely dark.

When I started to move, Jack stopped me, hand on my shoulder.

“Gun,” I whispered. “In my bag.”

He paused, as if just realizing there’d been no way for me to conceal a gun under my dress. Hell, I think a tube of lipstick would have been noticeable.

“Got it,” he whispered. “Stay.”

He passed me his gun. I bit my lip to keep from arguing. I did, however, grab his jacket, which was lying beside me, and hand it to him, to put over his white shirt. He tugged it on and crept hunched over to where I’d let my purse fall.

I covered Jack as I continued scanning the landscape, still seeing nothing. The leaf crackle had come about twenty degrees away from the light flash and the click. If it was the same person, he was on the move. I listened for footsteps, but the ground here was too soft. I glanced at Jack. He was trying to find my purse—black against the dark ground.

Another crackle. A shape moved from behind the trees, less than fifteen feet away. An arm swung up. I caught the faintest glint of the lamplight against metal.

“Jack!” I said.

I fired. I had no idea if I’d seen a gun. It didn’t matter. I saw that arm raise. I saw a glint of something in a hand—twenty feet from Jack, pointing right at him, and I didn’t care if it was an assassin with a gun or a kid with a knife. I just didn’t.

Jack hit the ground as soon as I said his name. Two shots, mine a split second before the other. A soft grunt, my bullet hitting flesh. Then, almost in echo, a crack as the other bullet struck a tree.

Jack’s would-be attacker swung on me, gun going up. I saw a flash of a pale face under a dark hood. I fired again. My bullet hit him square in the chest. He stumbled back, grunting again.

A grunt and a stumble. Not the proper reaction to getting a bullet in the chest. The gunman was wearing a bulletproof vest.

Jack lunged at him as I shot a third time, aiming for his head, but he saw Jack coming and veered out of the way. He swung his gun around to shoot. I fired and hit him in the shoulder. There was a different sound now, a gasping hiss of pain. The man fired two rounds in quick succession. Jack hit the ground. The man took off running.

I started after him, but Jack leapt to his feet and caught the back of my dress.

“Hold up,” he said.

“But—”

“Let him run. Lots of room here. Got time.”

I nodded and scanned the ground. I caught sight of the chrome clasp on my purse and picked it up. I noticed something else, too—my panties. I grabbed them. Then I gave Jack back his gun after he finished buttoning his shirt.

“The guy’s wearing a vest,” I said.

“Yeah. Figured.”

“In other words, this wasn’t a random mugging.”

Jack gave me a look.

“I know. The chances of that were slim to none. I was being optimistic.”

“Yeah. Wish it was. Could just let him go.” He hefted his gun and checked to make sure I had mine out. “Ready?”

I nodded.