Rules of Protection (Tangled in Texas) (Volume 1) Read Online Free Page B

moonlight was dim, but bright enough to catch a glimpse of his face. “Jake…?”
    His eyes met mine and he grinned. “Surprised?”
    A rush of heat pulsed through my body, like a volcano building up pressure. I quivered, awaiting the furious eruption raging beneath the surface. Anger and fear are the worst combination of emotions to feel at the same time. It makes a victim irrationally combative.
    “Not as surprised as you’re going to be,” I sneered, lifting my knee into his groin.
    He crumpled to the ground, and although I briefly considered kicking him in the face, I chose to run instead. I jumped into a taxi parked in front of the nightclub and yelled for the driver to take me to the police station.
    Jake stumbled out of the alley as we pulled away from the curb. The look on his face was murderous.
    The adrenaline swimming through my veins kept my heart rate up and my breathing rapid. I figured it would slow on the way to the police station, but the cab driver kept watching me in his rearview mirror. It made me paranoid.
    “You okay, ma’am?” he finally asked.
    His concern came across genuine, but I wasn’t taking any chances. “My car was impounded.”
    I’m not sure if he believed me or not, but he didn’t ask any more questions. When we got to the station, I glanced around and realized I didn’t have my purse; it was still at the table with Gina and Dale. No purse. No pockets. No cash.
    “I, um…”
    The cab driver realized the situation as well. “It’s okay. This ride’s on me.”
    I thanked him, exited the cab, and walked numbly through the police station’s sliding glass doors. A heavy-set dispatcher with short brown hair sat behind a bulletproof partition.
    She glanced up at me. “Can I help you?”
    Though I heard her, I couldn’t bring myself to answer. Thinking of what I needed to tell her made my breath tighten, as if Jake’s arm still pressed against my throat. My heart pounded in my chest, and my blood pulsed rapidly through my body, registering in my ears.
    The dispatcher eyed me strangely. “Ma’am…? Is there something I can do for you?”
    Shaking from head to toe, I finally managed to say, “He’s d-d-dead.”
    At once, the entire scene rushed back to me. The room got darker as my eyes rolled up into the back of my head, and the last thing I heard was the sound of me hitting the floor.
    When I woke up, I was sprawled on a gurney, and my head hurt. The paramedic at my side pulled a blood pressure cuff off my arm and pointed a penlight at my pupils to check their dilation. I did as he asked, following his finger with my eyes. Four uniformed deputies in the room watched silently while the he assessed my condition.
    The medic glanced back at the officers. “She’s okay, just fainted and bumped her head. She’ll have a bit of a headache, but it’s nothing a little aspirin won’t cure.”
    “Miss, we need to ask you a few questions,” one policeman said. “Could you come with us, please?”
    I stood slowly, my head hurting from the movement. The cop led me through the double doors and down a hallway until he angled into a small room marked “ Interrogation Unit .” A small table, three uncomfortable-looking chairs, and a large mirror that consumed most of the far wall adorned the room. After I sat, I spied the small black camera mounted above the door. The red, blinking light flashed to a steady green. It wasn’t hard to figure out they were taping me.
    The man who sat across from me was probably close to retirement age. He had a full head of gray hair and a neatly trimmed mustache to match. “I’m Officer Stevens,” he said, flipping open a small notepad. “And this is my partner, Officer Danforth.”
    Danforth was in his late thirties with dark hair cropped short. He offered to get me some coffee, but I declined. My hands trembled enough without the extra jolt of caffeine.
    “Miss, our dispatcher said you told her a man is dead,” Stevens said