Free Fatal Courage: Shadow Force International, Book 3 (Shadow Force International Romantic Suspense Series) by Misty Evans Page A

mission.”
    Sighing, she let him help her down to her knees. He kneeled next to her, both of them raising their hands.
    They were pushed down to their stomachs. One of the officers ran his hands over her body, searching her for weapons.
    “What do we have here?” he said, pulling out her Sig.
    She clenched her teeth. She didn’t like other people touching her weapons. “My gun, and once you call SAC Timms and clear this up, I’m going to shoot you with it.”
    The man laughed as he handed the gun to Perkins, who bagged it.
    “Make sure to test her hands for gun residue,” Perkins said as Ruby and Jax were hauled to their feet.
    The officer who’d patted down Jax had found his ID and was on the phone verifying it.
    Jax stood stock-still. “Your perps are getting away while you harass us, officer. Mighty sloppy work for Chicago PD.”
    Perkins snorted. “Is that so? Club security claims you and your girlfriend here beat up some customers and were looking for a gang lord. They were about to kick you out when the shots were fired from up there, where you two came down from.” He pointed to upstairs, back to Ruby. “She’s packing a gun. Not hard to put two and two together.”
    They were herded toward the front door. Perkins leaned in as they passed by him. “I suggest you two get a good lawyer ASAP.”
    Jax stopped, kept his gaze facing forward. “And I suggest you run for cover, because when Ruby’s done putting a slug in your ass, I’m going to follow it up with another half dozen.”

Chapter Six
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    J AX W AS R ELEASED from jail just before sunrise, emerging onto State Street in the humid morning air. Shadows danced over the concrete; a big, black Caddie idled at the curb between several white police vehicles.
    As Jax walked over, Emit boosted off the side of the Escalade, his mirrored aviators reflecting Jax’s image back to him. “This is not how I’d planned to introduce Rock Star Security to Chicago.”
    Even though Jax thought he’d done a kick-ass job controlling his anger and frustration at the club shootout, he’d earned a fine. Threatening a police officer, even if the guy was an idiot, meant that not only did his phone have a voicemail from Beatrice chewing him out, the founder and chief of SFI was waiting to pick him up from jail.
    “I’ll pay the fucking fine,” Jax grumbled, looking around. “How’s Ruby? Where is Ruby?”
    Emit cocked a thumb at the backseat. “Feds got her out almost immediately, but she spent the last few hours at Mercy getting checked out.”
    The sharp edge of anger filed across Jax’s skin. “How bad?”
    “Mostly cuts and bruises. A bullet winged her elbow.”
    Shit . He refrained from punching the Escalade. “Any leads on our shooters?”
    Emit glanced at two officers coming out the entrance, the breeze lifting a section of his blond hair. “I’ll brief you at headquarters.”
    Jax climbed into the backseat, found Ruby with her head leaning against the headrest and her eyes closed. Her elbow was bandaged, her left cheek bruised and slightly swollen. “Coffee,” she said without even looking at him. “Stat.”
    Emit, climbing into the driver’s seat, nodded. “Could use a bucket of the stuff myself.”
    One pit stop at the local coffee shop and they were on their way to the new Chicago branch of Rock Star Security, aka Shadow Force International, Midwest Division.
    Traffic was light at this hour and they made record time getting out of the heart of the city. The new headquarters building was under construction and several contractor vans were already parked outside when they arrived. Bulletproof windows were going in, new wiring for the extensive security system Emit wanted, and Rory was overseeing the installation of the new computers.
    The meeting room sat two dozen people. Cushy leather chairs surrounded a glass tabletop. Individual pop-up computer touchscreens were