Windward knight

Chapter Ten

One meeting had turned into three, and Hyde itched to get back to the café. He eased his foot onto the accelerator as he approached the offramp from Sheik Zayed Road.

"Whoa, slow down. We don't want a ticket. Attracting the wrong attention can land our asses in hot water."

Hyde glanced at his teammate. Scout was right, and he slowed as he entered the busy suburb. "She has to be done by now."

"And if she is, I'm sure her friend would've given her a lift home."

"Evie's not answering her phone."

"Because she's busy selling cake. What is eating you, asshole?"

"I'm just frustrated." Hyde pulled off from the light, narrowly avoiding a Porsche darting through traffic. "I want to spend as much time as possible with Evie before we bug out again."

"You like this girl?"

"Hell, yeah." Hyde grinned. "She's my angel."

"One who knows how to handle a rifle." Scout punched him on the arm.

"She's had nightmares from that night." Hyde's smile dropped away.

"I'm sure, but she has you to keep the bogeyman away."

"Perhaps—if she'd let me. I'm clinging to her like a damn octopus and she's as slippery as an eel. I told her I loved her last night."

"And how did she react?"

"She didn't answer. Looked like a skittish colt."

"Damn. Sorry man—I wish I could help. I don't know shit about women."

"You can help—Just so you know, after dinner, I'm dumping your ass at the nearest hotel bar."

"That's cool, bro. I'd do the same if I had a beautiful woman in the city."

Hyde turned into the back lot and slowed. "What the hell?"

"Is that Evie?"

Both operators shoved open their doors and took off running. Hyde tried to focus through his rage as the hostile holding Evie in a fierce grip, shook her like a ragdoll.

The guy would be dead before he hit the ground.

At the last second, Jamila jumped in front of Hyde, and he stumbled, catching her before she fell.

"Don't!" she shouted. "They are CID. They are CID."

Scout swore and grabbed Hyde's arm. They weren't in uniform, but local detectives from the Criminal Investigative Department rarely wore official threads. Many of their operations were covert. And now, they were maltreating Evie. This could turn into a giant shitshow. If they found a reason to arrest her, she'd be in jail for months—in a concrete cell, with a bucket and a pile of hay in the corner.

Fear grabbed him by the balls, and for the first time in his career, he hesitated, stepping back. Evie looked at him with those doe-like eyes. The fear reflected in her gaze had him wanting to howl in frustration. And then he saw blood streaked across her wrists and arms. Fire laced his veins and shot up his spine.

"Don't." Scout got in his face. "Don't make it worse. If you go apeshit, I can't help you, man. And you can't help Evie."

"She's bleeding," Hyde spoke through clenched teeth.

"And we'll get to the bottom of what happened."

Chest heaving, Hyde turned and walked in a circle. He'd never craved a kill so badly. Jamila spoke rapidly in Arabic. Hyde and Scout understood every word. Thanks to their audience, they couldn't give away that secret. He was supposed to work on a damn oil rig.