“No, I have to be. I feel like shit for vouching for him.” His lips thin, jaw tense. “He’s new here but he seemed like a good guy.”
“Sounds like you couldn’t have known.”
John removes his black-rimmed glasses and rubs the space between his brows before sliding them back on. He stares down the corridor, expression tight. “I’m involved so tell me the plan.”
“You sound like your wife.”
A low laugh tumbles out of him. “Yeah, she’s pretty ride or die.”
“Good. I’m glad Hannah has her.”
The weak facade of humor fades as he looks me over. We only met a few moments ago. Hell, he’s probably never heard of me before today, but he sees it. Man to man, he sees it—I’m in her corner too.
“Listen, all I’m planning to do is go in there and strike a little fear. Let him know he’s got people watching. Guys like him don’t generally need more than that to be put in their place.”
I saw it in Daniel’s eyes last night, the way he cowered from me as I laid into him. How he was nothing more than a scared kid making his escape the second the opportunity presented itself. Even now, as he hides away in his office thinking he’s safe there.
“Why are you doing this?” John asks.
“Pardon?”
“Don’t misunderstand me, I’m glad you were there last night. Butthis?” He gestures loosely toward Daniel’s office. “You got some angle I should be concerned about?”
John’s skepticism isn’t a threat. He’s working off limited information and that’s not his fault. And there may be a lot I don’t know about Hannah, but I know enough. Ultimately, I appreciate his protectiveness over her.
“No angle, man. I just care, that’s all.”
“Would you care as much if it was a different woman or is this about Hannah in particular?”
“Yes.”
“Yes, what?”
“Yes, I’d care if it was someone different, and, yes, because it’s Hannah.”
It’s then that he clocks the Army insignia on my hat, the dog tags around my neck.
Would I have gone this far if it hadn’t been Hannah I stumbled across last night? The truth is, yes, I would. It’s what I’ve been trained to do. The way Mom raised me and what Pops and the military have drilled into me over the past two decades. But with Hannah at the center of the storm, my training is merely an asset. A tool I can harness to enforce the urges of the heart pounding against my rib cage that propel me to protecther. An urge that means all the more now that I know how much she’s done formeover the past five years.
John doesn’t ask more questions. Just a nod of acceptance before we exchange phone numbers and I promise to be in touch after I talk with his coworker. He heads in the opposite direction as I make my way to Daniel’s office.
I decide he doesn’t deserve a knock. Swinging the door open, I barge inside and swiftly shut it behind me. When his head snaps up, one eye black and blue from my fist, his body stiffens.
“What the hell are y?—”
“Hi, Daniel,” I interrupt, tone pure poison. “You ran off last night before I could properly threaten you.” He braces his hands on his chair as I cross the room. “Kind of a coward move, wouldn’t you say?”
His gulp reaches me from all the way over here. “What do you want?”
“I want to ensure Hannah’s safety.”
Eyes pinched, he takes a breath. “Of course. Last night was—I was out of line. I know that. I’m sorry, okay? I’d like to apologize to Han?—”
“You won’tfuckingtalk to her.” His mouth snaps shut. “Ever. You won’t text her. You won’t call her. You won’t so much as look at her.” My palms land flat on his desk. “If you run into her by chance, you will turn around and run the other way like you’ve got a goddamn fire up your ass.” I lean forward, voice low and menacing. “Because if you don’t, Iwillend you. And Icanend you, Danny boy.”
He winces, lips level, but he holds my stare.
I point to the six inch scar on my forearm, masked only slightly by the tattoos there. “See this? Knife fight clearing a terrorist outpost. He got me pretty good, right? Guess where he is now.”