Free Burned by Natasha Deen Page B

position.
    “Emmett’s dad’s a good guy,” said Jace. “The cop can be trusted.” He nodded at a BMW coupe sitting at the curb. “And that’s waiting for her.”
    As Raven had asked, I’d delivered the message to Emmett. One look at him, and I’d known exactly why Raven wanted him. Talk about tall, dark and yummy. And when he’d started talking? Oh boy. It wasn’t just the deep voice; it was the attitude behind it. Yep, Raven had good taste. I glanced at my tall, dark and yummy and sighed.
    Now wasn’t the time to worry about Jace. I had enough to worry about with Raven. The plan was easy enough—if it didn’t get her shot. I shifted in my seat. I had to give the boys credit: they knew how to come in force. Between Bentley’s appetite and Jace’s soldier personality, we had enough grub for a week and enough weapons to cover every contingency.
    “It’s starting,” said Jace, pointing at the warehouse.
    We leaned forward. The tapping of Bentley’s fingers on the keyboard sounded from the backseat. Emmett’s dad crept through the door of the warehouse, followed by the SWAT team.
    Silence.
    More silence.
    Shots.
    Yelling.
    The door exploded open, and Raven raced into the night. She made a beeline for the car Jace had left for her. So intent on her escape, she didn’t notice the goon behind her. Before Jace could act, I grabbed one of the M-32 riot guns and was out the door. Using the car door as a brace, I aimed, fired, then heard another round go off to my left.
    Jace, shooting at the same time as me.
    The beanbags shot from their muzzles. One hit the goon in the stomach, the other in his chest. He dropped and rolled.
    A cop raced through the door and tackled the goon as he tried to stand. Raven got in the car and sped off.
    “Nice shooting,” said Jace.
    I looked over the roof at him. “You’re a good teacher, I’ll give you that.” The hour before we’d met Raven, he’d made me practice in his backyard—though calling it a football field would have been more appropriate.
    He squinted as the taillights of Raven’s car grew smaller. “And we helped give her what she wanted most. Freedom.”

NINETEEN
    Jace contacted us a week later. It was our turn to help him take down his bad guy, his father, a big bad doctor who may have done something illegal. I was on board. After all, he’d helped me. Besides, it turned out that Bentley wasn’t just some friend of Jace’s. He was his little brother. And the more time I spent with Bentley, the more I understood the abuse, neglect and contempt he’d suffered at the hands of his father. I was all for bringing down Daddy Dearest.
    So when Jace said he wanted to meet at the cannon in Stanley Park, I was all for it. The area was exposed. Since Raven didn’t think Jace could be trusted, she didn’t like the spot. I was pretty sure he was fine, but then again, I kinda went all Valley girl when he was around. Taking some precautions seemed like a good idea.
    We tailed him to a boxing gym, watching to see what he was up to or if he was meeting anyone else. He was clean. The plan was to wait for him to finish his session, then follow him to the park. I watched the gym empty and the lights go off. No sign of Jace. We decided to go in. I figured we might find him working out.
    Boy, was I wrong.
    The gym was quiet, dark and smelly. I was just about to tell Raven we’d missed him when I heard Jace’s voice saying, “If this is one of you two freak girls—” The name-calling didn’t do anything to me, but the fear and anger in his voice put me on high alert. Raven and I ran toward the sound of his voice.
    We found him in the men’s washroom, each hand duct-taped to the business end of a curling iron. Judging from the redness of his fingers and the sheen of sweat on his face, someone hadn’t just taped him to the irons—they’d plugged them in too. I went with a smart-alecky “So this is what a boys’ bathroom looks like. I have to say, Raven, I’ve