Holding Out For A Hero: SEALs, Soldiers, Spies, Cops, FBI Agents and Rangers (165 page)

Cassie’s heart beat faster as she watched the two men. Penny’s back was turned to her, so it made it difficult to tell what Penny thought of the conversation. Her hands were planted on her hips, and then she gestured and shrugged. Then the bigger guy with the shaved head took Penny’s arm and started to lead her away, while the mustache man came up the steps. A shiver danced over Cassie, but she made a split second decision she hoped she wouldn’t regret. She couldn’t lock the door and leave Penny out there alone with these guys. She grabbed the baseball bat Griff had left next to the front door and opened the door before the man could get there. She came down the steps—no way would she be isolated in the resort with that guy. Better to fight him, if she had to, in the open where people might come to her aid. A darting glanced up and down the street told her no one walked the streets other than the goons.

Penny said to the shaved-head guy, “Maybe later.”

A thought crashed into Cassie’s mind. Maybe these men meant them no harm. Possibly they only wanted to help.

Mustache man smiled. “Hey, pretty lady.”

Cassie tightened her right hand around the baseball bat in annoyance. She didn’t see a weapon on mustache man, but she wouldn’t take chances. “What do you guys want?”

Mustache man gestured toward Penny and his companion. “Penny here tells us you guys have plenty of food and water for quite a while. She was planning on sharing with us.”

Cassie decided to run on instinct. “We don’t have enough for anyone else.”

“That so?” Shaved-head dude asked as he walked back toward Cassie. “That’s not very nice.”

Cassie’s anxiety rammed upward a notch. “We don’t mean any disrespect. We just don’t know you.”

“Pretty lady, you don’t need to be afraid of us,” Mustache man said, his eyes blue glaciers. “We just wanna be friendly like.”

Jesus, these guys sounded like something out of the old west all right. If they hadn’t creeped her out, she’d almost be amused.

“It’s okay,” Penny said. “I know these guys.”

“I see.” Cassie never would have thought these guys fit the profile for friends of a woman like Penny. But what did she honestly know about the woman?

“They’re locals.” Penny smiled, but there was ice in her eyes as well. “They live outside of town.”

Mustache man moved into Cassie’s personal space, and she took a step back until she’d retreated almost to the front door. Mustache man followed, and he reached out to touch her hair.

She flinched away. “Don’t.”

Mustache man’s cool eyes flickered with malice, and she questioned her decision to come out here. But she couldn’t leave Penny out here alone.

“You really are a cold princess, aren’t you?” Mustache man towered over her. He was skinny, his cheekbones in sharp relief, nose slightly bent at the tip and teeth crooked.

“Yeah. I am. So don’t touch.”

Penny laughed, but it sounded wobbly. “Now Jacky, don’t get ideas about her. She belongs to someone else.”

“We’re expecting friends back any minute,” Cassie said.

“What’s your name?” Jacky asked.

“Cassie Kovac.”

“Kovac?” The man with close-cropped hair asked. “What kinda name is that?”

Cassie was puzzled. “What do you care?”

Skin head walked up the steps until he joined his friend in standing far too close. “‘Cause it sounds foreign.”

She drew in a deep breath, flabbergasted.
Seriously?
“It’s not.”

“You’re American?” Army boy asked.

Curses ran through her head. “You can’t get any more American. Most of my ancestors have been in the United States since 1634.” She didn’t plan to mention her Native American heritage. These bigots would go off on the very idea. “How long have yours been here?”

A broad smile came over skinhead’s face, and he laughed. If he hadn’t been an asshole, his handsome face would have worked for a military recruiting poster.

“Wow. Well pardon me all to hell,” Skinhead said. He made a gesture with the hand that didn’t hold the big weapon. “Aren’t you special? Or at least you think you are.”

“If you’ll excuse me, I think I’ve had enough bullshit for one day,” she said and turned back to the double doors.

Skin-head and Jacky darted in front of her, and she realized her mistake. She’d let her annoyance dictate what she did. Wrong move.

Skin-head dude smirked at her. “Your men folk didn’t teach you right, did they? They must have been pussy whipped.”

Anger surged inside her in a fresh, hot wave. She swallowed hard to keep from braining him with the baseball bat. She simply stared at him and didn’t say a word. Obviously he looked for a reason to do something drastic.

“Oh, come on now.” Penny’s voice sounded nervous now in a way it hadn’t before. “She’s from out of town. From the big city. She doesn’t know how it works out here.”

“Well maybe we should teach her.” Jacky’s grin revealed a mouth full of crooked teeth. “Bitches sometimes need a lesson or two before they submit.”

A wave of memory crashed into Cassie, as she heard her ex-husband’s voice whispering in the past.

Christ, Cassie. You just don’t know when you’re beat, do you? You stupid cunt. I
’
m going to teach you a lesson once and for all.

More pissed than she’d been in a long time, she flushed with heat and her heartbeat raced. A trembling made small earthquakes through her body.

Before she could give the two creeps a tongue lashing or escape, Skinhead grabbed her hair and jerked her forward into his big body. She yelped, unable to hold back the sound as pain spiked through her scalp. The baseball bat flew from her fingers and made a racket as it rolled down the steps. Jacky laughed like a hyena as he raced after the baseball bat. She squirmed in the man’s grip enough that she turned her back to the double doors.

“Let me go!” She kicked at him, but he held tight.

“Hey, easy there!” Penny shouted up at them.

“Fuck off, Penny,” Skinhead said. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll keep your trap shut.”

Cassie moved closer to the guy, intent on throwing him off guard. It worked to well. The man toppled off balance, Cassie still shackled to him.

They fell.

Penny cried out as they plunged down the stairs, rolling over and over.

Pain lashed Cassie’s body as she met the concrete steps over and over, the big man crushing her every time he came out on top. Twelve steps later they came to a rest on the sidewalk, Skin head sprawled on top of her. She couldn’t move under his heavy weight. A sharp pain punctured her side, and she almost cried out. She pushed against him, her breath strangling in her throat. She couldn’t get a word past her mashed diaphragm.

“Bitch!” Skinhead snarled as leaned into her face. “Maybe we should take you back to our camp. You can work that pretty mouth over my dick instead of talking shit.”

Fear sliced deep into Cassie. She had to do something now before this got any worse. Anything to get this asswipe off her. His weight was too heavy, and she could barely breathe.

A voice broke in, deep and deadly authoritative. “Get the fuck off of her.”

Blackout: Chapter Ten

With Skinhead’s big body blocking Cassie’s vision, she couldn’t see past him at first. But she’d recognize Griff’s no-nonsense voice anywhere. Relief crashed like a wave over her.

Skinhead levered off of her and stood, and she scooted away. She didn’t try to stand, her body still protesting every move she made.

Griff came into her view as he came closer. He held his weapon out in front of him, his stance self-assured and ready to fire if need be. Cassie’s gaze narrowed to his face, to the coldness in his eyes, and the tight line of his lips.

Griff’s expression was tight with pure anger. “Back away from her.”

“Whoa, now,” Skinhead said. “We didn’t mean no harm.”

“You better get some etiquette lessons, asshole.” Griff’s expression didn’t change, and his voice stayed icy. “It fucking looked like you meant harm when you touched her.”

“This little lady your woman?” Jacky asked.

Griff didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”

“Well, ain’t that fine?” Jacky smiled, ice still in his eyes. He held up his hands and took the steps down past Griff and nearer to his bulky friend. “We’ll just be going then.”

Jacky’s companion reached slowly for the rifle that had fallen to the ground when he’d rolled down the steps.

“Leave it.” Griff’s voice cut like a knife.

“It don’t belong to you,” Skinhead said.

“Too bad.” Griff’s stance didn’t move an inch, his weapon trained on the men.

“I don’t know,” Jacky said. “I think you oughtta teach your bitch some manners at least. She wasn’t the least hospitable.”

Cassie almost told the guy where he could shove his manners.

Skinhead’s ugly smile appeared. “Maybe I should take her from you. She’s a beauty.”

Cassie’s heart shot into her throat in a mix of fear and disgust. “No.”

The word was barely a whisper. A croaking sound. Griff didn’t even flinch.

Skinhead laughed. “Christ. Are you a dumb fuck? I got friends in this town. Maybe we should just come back later and kill you and take her then.”

Griff’s smile held no amusement. “You can try.”

The absolute certainty in Griff’s words made a shiver go through her. She couldn’t take her eyes off him.

Jacky chuckled. “Cripes, Peterson. He has a look about him. Sure you weren’t in a militia or something, bub? A gang maybe?”

Griff’s gaze and his aim didn’t venture from the man called Peterson. “Yep.”

“You were in a gang?” Jacky asked.

“Survivalist camp. Neo-Nazi,” Griff said with perfect conviction.

At this news, a strange feeling of unreality came over Cassie. Griff couldn’t be serious.

“Well, why the hell didn’t you say so, brother?” Peterson said with a smile.

Griff didn’t lower his weapon. “I’m not here for old home week, and you put your hands on my woman. I suggest you leave.”

Jacky grinned as if Griff had offered him candy. “Well, we could help you, bub. We got weapons outside of town. Plenty of them. We were doing a recon in town just like you were apparently. You want to join up with us? We have plenty of food and water and shit at our camp. We knew this day would come. We’re going to take back the country from bitches like this.”

A new wave of anger attacked Cassie, but she knew saying anything would make things worse.

Griff kept his weapon on Peterson, and his gaze flicked from Peterson to Jacky. “No thanks. We’re staying put for now. But we may take you up on the invite later.”

Cassie’s heartbeat still hadn’t slowed, and she took in a shuddering breath.

Jacky and Peterson hesitated. They moved away slowly, their backs to Griff momentarily as he kept them in sight. All the time Penny stood at the bottom of the steps, her expression far more composed than Cassie would have expected.

When the men were far enough down the street, Griff lowered his weapon and stuffed it into a shoulder holster under his coat. Cassie felt out of breath and as if all her insides were on the outside. She struggled to her feet, bruised and aching.

“Griff, thank God you came,” Penny said in a soft, almost sweetly feminine voice.

Griff marched up to Cassie, ignoring Penny. He reached for her arm, his eyes still filled with that snapping, crackling energy. He almost looked angry with her. “Are you hurt? I saw you fall down the stairs.”

Cassie nodded and slipped from his grasp. “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” he asked, gaze assessing her as if she was lying.

A shiver passed through her aching body. “Nothing’s broken.”

Griff eyeballed Penny and Cassie. What he said next, though, took Cassie by surprise.

“Christ almighty.” He almost hissed the words as he leaned down to pick up the automatic weapon. “Are you trying to get dead? I told you two to stay in the hotel and keep the doors locked.”

“It was my fault.” Penny said. “I saw Jacky and Peterson and thought I’d head them off before they got any ideas. I figured they’d try to come inside.”

“You should have stayed inside.” His voice was unforgiving.

“How do you know those men?” Cassie asked Penny.

“I grew up with them. They went to high school with me. They’re nut jobs.” Something disconcerting lit Penny’s eyes. She cleared her throat and peered over her shoulder as if she expected the men to return. “Jacky is my son’s father.” Penny threw an admiring look at Griff. “You handled those thugs like a pro.”

Cassie’s surprise at what Penny had revealed was overtaken by another emotion. Several emotions, in fact. Penny’s gaze on Griff was more than admiring. It was calculating. Suddenly Cassie didn’t trust the woman for one second longer. An impression flew at her—this woman wanted Griff for her own. Shocked, Cassie didn’t speak. Then, to her shame, she felt trembling start in her limbs. She didn’t dare lose control. She wouldn’t lose it in front of anyone.

“Excuse me,” Cassie said as she turned and made her way up the stairs.

She walked as fast as her legs would carry her, half expecting for Griff to run after her. When he didn’t, she wasn’t sure how to feel. She hurried toward the stairs and took them quickly, trotting up them until she’d reached her room. She pushed open the door and that’s when she heard footsteps behind her. Griff had followed.

“Cassie! Hold up.”

She opened the door and went inside. He caught the door before it slammed, then shoved it closed behind him. He watched her for a second, uncertainty crossing his eyes for a few seconds.

“Get out,” she said, shaking to the very core.

He stood in her room with that automatic weapon slung over his shoulder, his tall body tense, his eyes hard and unforgiving. Alongside the anger seething within her were other emotions she dare not acknowledge or reveal. Heat sprung up along her skin and replaced the cold, and her aches and pains faded to the background under new physical sensations. The man in front of her had protected her, but she hated that he had to. That the world she lived in had cruel, ugly men like the one who’d assaulted her. That she’d done such a poor job of protecting herself.