He expected her to make a big deal about him apologizing. He didn’t do it often. Payton smiled, and he braced himself for what was to come. “Apology accepted. Now, shall we confront them or run?”
Alex was about to argue that there was nowe, but for the moment she was stuck with them. He’d get her out of the house then confront the fake cops. “We’ll sneak out the front. You wait in the car. If Colin and I aren’t out in five minutes, leave and call the police.”
Payton sighed, rolling her eyes. “Still treating me like the fragile little woman. How do you plan on stopping them, super soldier? Talk them to death? I don’t see you packing. Didn’t Dad teach you to always be prepared?” Payton tsked. “He would be so disappointed.”
He heard Colin snickering behind him. That was it. “Payton Josephine Weber.” Her dad had said her full name enough times when he’d been angry that Alex knew her full name. “Shut up, go outside, and call the police.” He put all his authority into his voice, channeling his commander into it. Making his voice boom.
Payton’s lip twitched like she was trying not to smile. “Wow, you almost sounded like Dad there. If you’re done, let’s go confront these guys,thenwe’ll leave.”
“I think I’m in love,” Colin whispered from the side.
Alex wasn’t amused in the least. The woman was a menace and had no regard for the danger they were now in. She’d been living a sheltered life behind the colonel for so long, she just assumed everyone would protect her. “You won’t be confronting anyone.”
Alex took her by the arm and started dragging her down the stairs. He didn’t look to see if Colin followed; he knew he was. His pace slowed as they reached the bottom of the stairs. He heard the men cursing as things were tossed around. The colonel was going to be pissed when he came home.
“Go wait outside.” He nudged Payton toward the door. The only weapon he had was a knife, but he would use it to defend Payton with his life, as well as Nick’s home. Colin would know where Nick had something stashed.
“You still don’t have a weapon,” Payton pointed out. “What do you expect, me to send you to your death? I’m sure they have guns. You’re not Superman and can stop bullets.”
“I don’t need one.” Alex argued. He was trained to disarm assailants without anything but his bare hands and his wits. He and Colin could handle these two guys, no problem.
Payton rolled her eyes and mumbled, “Men.”
He was tired of her back talk. He didn’t remember that about her when they were younger. He wasn’t a fan of this new trait. “Look, Payton, this is the sort of thing I do for a living. Honestly, I don’t need or want your help. You’re always underfoot, getting in the way. I hated it when we were younger, and from what I can see, it’s only gotten worse. So do us both a favor before you get someone hurt—walk away.”
Alex hated being so harsh with her, but she was only getting in his way. It was better to be upfront with her now before her ineptness got him or Colin injured.
He expected waterworks or, at the very least, more arguing. But Payton didn’t do any of those things. No, she did the unexpected. She agreed.
“You’re right, Alex. I shouldn’t be here. You obviously know what you’re doing. I’ll go.” She patted him on the back as she walked away but opposite of where he’d told her.
“Front door is that way,” he said, pointing with his thumb over his right shoulder.
“And I parked this way,” she whispered over her shoulder.
He watched stunned as she walked down a hall he knew went through the kitchen and away from Nick’s office. There was a back door there that led to a gate that led out to the alley. Smart girl knew to park out of sight.
“Well, that was easy,” Alex said more to himself.
“You are such a dick,” Colin scolded. “All she wants to do is help give her father justice. We could use her help.”
Alex disagreed. “She’d only get in the way. Payton was always quick to anger. She has no control over her emotions. I’d be worried she’d run headfirst into danger and get herself or someone killed.”
It was Colin’s turn to disagree. “She was raised by the same man as you were. Payton’s not stupid. I always thought you were mean to her so you could keep your distance because you liked her. Now I think you’re just mean to her because you can.” Colin shook his head in disgust, walking away toward the office.
Alex opened his mouth to defend himself, but stopped. He didn’t have to explain himself to anyone. Yes, he’d pushed Payton away because he didn’t want them to get close. But also because Payton was special. He’d hate for anything to happen to her.
Alex followed Colin to the door. He placed his ear to it, but didn’t hear anything other than crashing. They turned to knob and cracked it just enough to see into the room. Sure enough, it was the cops from that morning. He didn’t know how Payton suspected they were fake cops. There was nothing about them that stood out. But his senses were on high alert, and the fact they were trashing the place.
They were obviously looking for something. Was it what he had tucked in his pants?
“Where is it?” Detective Smith, how he was introduced, complained as he tossed a desk drawer across the room.
“Calm down,” Detective Jones said evenly. “It’s got to be here.”
“But we’ve looked everywhere in this room, and there’s nothing.”
“Then we’ll look around the rest of the house. The old man would have written it down somewhere. He couldn’t have memorized everything.”