With a shaky hand, he yanked a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and read off the code.
“Give me two minutes, then come in,” I said, and thankfully he agreed without wasting any more time. There was no time to plan strategy, no room for errors.
I silently ran in—straight into a nightmare.
Jenna on the ground. A man on top of her.
I dragged him off and threw him to the ground.
“I’m here, Firefly. You’re safe now.”
I wrenched his arms behind his back, yanking them up until I felt them pop. The asshole grunted. It wasn’t enough. I wanted to tear them off his fucking body. He’d touched her with these hands. Hurt her.
Jenna moaned, and I risked a glance at her. Fuck, she was fucking naked. Her pants and underwear were at her ankles, her shirt and bra pushed up over her chest, and she had fucking duct tape over her mouth, but my fierce warrior brandished a pair of pliers, still ready to fight the bastard. “I’m right here, Firefly,” I said again, my voice and my heart cracking. “It’s okay; you’re safe.”
God, please be okay.
I held the fucker down with a knee on his back and his arms twisted behind him, and I grabbed his neck, turning him to see his face.
Blood streamed into beady black eyes. Snake Eyes—with his temple smashed to hell. Fuck yeah, Firefly.
Jenna curled up on herself, moaning, while Jim hovered nearby.
“She okay?” I asked as Jim took his shirt off and covered her with it.
“Yeah,” he said, but his voice shook.
“You’ll regret touching her,” I growled.
The motherfucker smiled at me. “She was worth it.”
I pulled his head back and bashed it into the ground with a satisfying crunch.
“Hands up! Police! Everyone’s hands up!”
“You’re lucky they’re here, asshole,” I muttered, raising the hand that wasn’t holding his.
I announced myself, keeping my eyes on Jenna. I was going to lose my shit if they tried to stop me from going to her. “Liam Lamonti, SAFD, off-duty. He was assaulting her.”
“He’s good, he’s with us,” a familiar voice said. Moose, thank God. And Penelope was kneeling next to Jenna. I’d never been so relieved to see my fellow firefighters.
Moose put a hand out to help me up, while a police officer took over with Snake Eyes.
“He likely raped the woman in Atteren Park last Sunday, too,” I said to ensure they took this fucker seriously.
“Quint filled us in.”
I relinquished him to the officer and finally hurried to Jenna.
Fuck. I should’ve done more than bash the bastard’s face into the ground.
Her swollen and bruised, tear-streaked, duct-taped face followed me as I kicked a fallen stepladder out of the way and fell to my knees next to her.
The motherfucker. “Firefly,” I croaked, nausea rolling through me.
She moaned, dropping the pliers and clawing frantically at the tape.
“Let me, Firefly.” I tried to gently move her hands, but she winced and went right back to tearing at it with shaky hands. I loosened the adhesive with alcohol wipes Moose handed me and pulled it off as quickly as possible, leaving an angry red mark and revealing more finger-shaped bruises. Jenna opened her mouth and gagged, and fuck, she had a fucking sock in there. I pulled it out, my heart shattering.