Free Rev (Jack 'Em Up #4) by Shauna Allen Page B

to text her.
    Then, out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of something red. I glanced up and the phone dropped from my hand.
    A blood red rose was trapped beneath my passenger side windshield wiper. My hand flew to my mouth as bile rose up my throat at the immediate, visceral memory.
    I unlocked my front door and stepped inside with my hand unconsciously lifted to the bruises still on my neck. Locking up behind myself, I moved to the dining room and froze.
    A dozen deep, dark red roses sat on my table, their eerie color nearly black. The hair on my arms stood to attention.
    “You’re home.” His quiet, angry words whispered up my backbone like the tip of a blade.
    I squeezed my eyes shut. Slowly, I pivoted to face him. A sliver of satisfaction hit me at the scratch marks still fresh on his face. “What are you doing here, Nolan? How did you get inside?”
    I stepped back as he took one step in my direction. “Don’t you worry about that.” His gaze fixed on the flowers behind me. “I wanted to apologize. Things got out of hand the other night.”
    “Out of hand? You tried to kill me.”
    “Never.” He moved closer, trapping me next to the table that held the roses. “Do you like my gift?”
    Inhuman light glinted in his eyes like a rabid animal. I knew then that I had to get away.
    If I didn’t, I would die.
    I didn’t die, but that was the last time he touched me in anger. I survived his rage then raced out of the apartment with only the clothes on my back and my purse. I drove blindly, not sure how I was supposed to salvage my life. But I had, bit by bit, and I’d be damned if I’d let anyone hurt me again.
    I jumped out of the truck and yanked the rose off the window. I glanced around with my heart in my throat. No one.
    I swallowed the nerves. Maybe it was just a coincidence. Micah could’ve left it when he dropped off the truck. Or Officer Varga might’ve been trying to be sweet. There could be any number of explanations.
    Anything besides Nolan finding me in the sanctuary of Baybridge.

Micah
    “H ow the hell are ya, Christian?” Sergeant Dempsey clasped me into a tight hug and slapped my back.
    He’d called not long after I dropped off Jewel’s truck, and we met at a diner not far from the shop, that just so happened to serve the best burgers in town. I looked my old friend up and down, noting how the years seemed to have aged him. Gray was now peppered through his hair and light crinkles webbed out from the corners of his eyes when he smiled. He was only a couple years older than me, but it might as well have been decades with the combat he’d seen. I knew better than most how that could affect a man, and he was no exception.
    “I’m good, Sarg. You?”
    “Can’t complain.”
    We settled into a booth and ordered lunch then he filled me in on his life and upcoming fishing trip. Sounded like he needed a break. Two more tours in the sandbox then the loss of his wife in a car accident two months after he separated from the Marines.
    “Man, I’m so sorry,” I said. “I had no idea.”
    “Yeah, well . . .” He toyed with the salt and pepper shakers in front of us. “Not many people did.”
    I didn’t know what to say to that, but thankfully, he changed the subject to some of our old buddies. “I ran into Asher a couple months ago when he was home on leave.”
    I smiled. “How’s Creed doing?”
    “Still tough as ever. I think those Special Ops guys are still trying to recruit him out of the Rangers.”
    “Huh.” I thought of the serious Sergeant Creed. A huge guy with a serious love for his family and his country, he and his team had saved our asses more than once in the Kandahar Province. A true badass, I could see why the Delta Force would want him.
    “So . . .” He smiled at the waitress when she dropped off our drinks. “I wanted to tell you I wrote to Martinez and Franks’ families.”
    My eyes flew up as my stomach sank. “You did?”
    “I did.”
    “Why?” I could