Sweat beaded along his hairline as his eyes kept diverting to the stairs. It wasn’t the barrel of my gun staring him in the face that had him rattled. It was something else. Then I heard it. A sound from upstairs, high-pitched and desperate.
I glanced at the stairs momentarily, just long enough for him to grab his gun. I fired and hit him in the middle of his forehead. He went down, and I ran up the stairs and checked the bedrooms. When I approached the last room at the end of the hall, I opened the door and found a young woman, barely clothed, handcuffed to the bed. She was beaten and bruised. I ran down the stairs and checked his pockets for the key. As soon as I found it, I rushed to the bedroom. Pulling out my phone, I snapped a picture of her first, removed the handcuffs, and she collapsed in my arms and sobbed.
“He can’t hurt you anymore.” I helped the woman to my car and dropped her off at the hospital.
“You never saw me. I didn’t help you. You were able to escape when you heard someone enter the house and fire a shot, and you hitched a ride here. Understand?”
She slowly nodded her head. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”
“I’m sorry he did those awful things to you.”
As soon as she got out of the car, I took off and called Gabriel.
“Did you talk to him?” he answered.
“I did a little more than that. He pulled his gun on me. I had no choice. He claimed he didn’t know where Elias was hiding. He also had a young woman handcuffed to the bed upstairs. She was beaten and bruised.”
“Did you at least get his phone before you left?” Gabriel asked.
“Yeah. I’m going through it once I get to The Hamilton Group. Maybe there’s something in there that will lead us to Elias.”
“There’s been a lot of chatter, Paige.”
“What kind of chatter?”
“The FBI assigned a task force to apprehend the Judicator. They know it’s a woman. So, I need you to be very careful.”
“Aren’t I always, Gabriel?”
“Well, this time, I need you to be extra careful.”
“I have to go. I just pulled up to The Hamilton Group.” I ended the call.
I pulled into a parking spot, climbed out, and took the elevator up to Parker’s office.
“May I help you?” his secretary asked.
“Is Parker in his office?” I asked.
“No. He’s in a meeting with a client in the conference room. Do you have an appointment?”
“No. I’m a friend.”
“She’s not a friend, Amanda.” I heard Parker’s voice.
I narrowed my eyes at him as he strutted down the hall in his black designer suit, with one hand tucked into his pants pocket.
“Amanda, meet Paige. She’s the woman who saved my life last night, and the woman who will be protecting me until this Elias asshole is caught. But friends? No.” He shook his head, walking into his office.
I rolled my eyes and followed him inside. He turned and looked at me.
“Do you need something? You can’t sit in here while I have clients.”
“I know that. Attorney/client privilege.”
His eyes narrowed as he stepped closer to me. He wrapped his hand around my wrist and lifted my arm.
“Is that blood?” he asked, examining the sleeve of my shirt.