Free A Little Harmless Rumor by Melissa Schroeder

Sean knew he could trust Del. Women and children always were to be protected. Not everyone in Sean’s business played that way.
    “No. I need you to bring her here for her safety. She might be in trouble.”
    “Then, why the hell don’t you go check on her?”
    He really liked Del, but the man was cranky. Damned cranky. And he liked to growl. He would do as Sean was asking, but he would complain while he did it. Sean couldn’t be choosey, not right now.
    “You know I’ve had trouble. I don’t want to lead it to her door.”
    “But you want me to bring her over here? That makes no sense.”
    It did, and he didn’t have time to deal with questions. “I want to move her to a safe house close by. Then, if we need to get out of here, Devon Stryker can make sure we get off the rock.”
    “Hmm. Is that the private jet I’m using?”
    “Yes.”
    “Okay. I’ll go.”
    Relief filtered through Sean. “Thanks. I really appreciate it. I can’t trust anyone else to get her, and I know you can keep her safe.”
    “I’ll call when I make contact.”
    He hung up. The man definitely didn’t have the best manners; but then, Sean didn’t need him for his manners. As a former Army Ranger and now head of Task Force Hawaii, Del would make sure Emma made it back to Oahu safe. That was all Sean cared about.
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    M artin Delano parked his rental car out on the street and looked at the fortress and frowned. It was pretty far off the beaten path, but that was to be expected. The Big Island had a lot of people who liked to live off the grid. If someone didn’t want to be found, it was easy to stay lost. The gates were closed but, even at this distance, he could see there was no sign of life. He wanted to turn around and head back to Oahu, but he couldn’t. He had promised Sean.
    Resolutely, he walked up to the gate and looked more closely. He saw the curtains in the top floor flutter. Someone was in there.
    He punched in the security code Sean had texted him and made his way to the front door. Since the one little flutter of curtain, he had seen nothing else. He made it to the front door and rang the bell. Nothing. He walked over to one of the windows and looked in. Suddenly, he heard a sound behind him. He turned just in time to be hit with something heavy and hard.
    He blinked a few times. His nose was throbbing and blood was pouring from it. A woman was standing there with what looked like a heavy two-by-four, ready to hit him again. She was Asian and was on what women called the petite size. In his mind, she looked like she could be picked up and put in his pocket. When he didn’t move, her green eyes narrowed. He started toward her, and his world start to turn. Blood slid down his face as he staggered. Fucking hell. That hit had been harder than he realized.
    The woman pulled back the piece of wood, getting ready to hit him gain. He stopped her and grabbed the wood.
    “Hey,” she screamed.
    He held the piece of wood out of reach and leaned down in her face. “You hit me with that thing again, and I will kill you.”
    He tried to sound as mean as he could. It didn’t work on her. She lifted her knee, making contact with his groin. He bent over in pain.
    “Fuck off, wanker.”
    She turned to run into the house. He grabbed for her arm but caught only air.
    “I’m calling the police.”
    He took a step and almost threw up. When he spoke, he bit out every word. “I am the police. Sean sent me.”
    She stopped but didn’t come back. She turned to face him but kept her distance. “Sean?”
    He nodded. Fuck, he shouldn’t have done that.
    “Well, why didn’t you say so?”
    She asked the question as if he were stupid. And he had to be if he kept doing this kind of crap for his friends.
    “The only thing that is saving you is that he asked me to do this.”
    She cocked her head and studied him for a moment. The longer her green gaze watched him, he felt oddly dizzy. It had to be the knock to his face because that