Free Knock Out (A Reynolds Security Novel) by Melissa Hale Page A

Carpenter.”
    “ Get him in here.” Within a minute Jace joined them in the ladies room. After they gave him the run down he smirked. He looked the suspect up and down and frowned. Lou could see the wheels turning and wondered what he was thinking. He pulled a cell from his pocket and made a call. He quickly outlined the situation and listened while the other person spoke. Then he agreed with the person and disconnected the call.
    “ Here’s what we are going to do. You and your team are going to wait for me upstairs.” He held up a key card and Colby took it “Room 415. I’m going to need that.” He gestured at Lou’s neck and she quickly took the necklace off. He took the necklace and the suspect and left the bathroom. She stared at the other two and shrugged.

Chapter 9
    Jace was pissed, beyond pissed. He was pissed at Castillo, that guy had a gun, Lou could have been hurt and for what? A stupid stunt. A power trip. He was pissed at his team, they spent the whole night on security detail and didn’t notice an impostor among them? Not to mention they didn’t notice three men slipping into the ladies restroom.
    He took the suspect to the room they had used as their staging area and pushed him none to gently into a chair. He secured his already zip tied hands to the chair.
    “Why’d you do it?”
    “ Do you know how much it’s worth?” The man was white but had a heavy accent.
    “ Who hired you?”  The man seemed to remember that he probably shouldn’t be implicating himself and shut his mouth glaring at Jace.
    “ What is your name?” The man remained silent. Jace’s phone chirped and he glanced at it noting that Ethan had arrived with Castillo. Jace stepped outside the room and confronted their client.
    “ Mr. Castillo, this is not how we operate. It is one thing to test security, it is quite another to put a woman in danger.” Castillo looked surprised at Jace’s declaration.
    “ I assure you Mr. Carpenter it was not my intention to put anyone in danger. The girl, is she all right?”
    “ She’s just fine. She is being debriefed. I assure you she won’t be speaking about this to anyone.”
    “ I would like to see her, to extend my sincerest apologies.”
    “ I will convey your apologies. Right now we need to deal with the matter at hand. I assume considering the circumstances you don’t want us to call the police.” As he spoke Jace opened the door to the room where the suspect was being held Viktor followed him,
    “ Of course I…” Viktor and the man locked eyes for a moment. “I appreciate your discretion. I will take care of everything. I can’t tell you how impressed I am with your team.”
    “ We are the best. You should have just taken my word for it. Now if you’ll come with me I have your necklace, I would like you to verify its authenticity and lock it back in the case.”
    “ Of course.”
     
    “Sit down girl. All that pacing is making me nervous.” Lou sank into a chair, not because Charlie told her too but because her feet were killing her. She kicked off her shoes and glared at Colby.
    “ Whoever invented these things deserves to die a slow and painful death.”
    “ My wife is fond of saying they were invented by a man who was into S&M.”  Lou looked for the owner of the voice. He was sitting against the wall on the floor. She remembered him from class. His name was Lance and he usually stayed pretty quiet.
    “ Does she wear them?”
    “ Yeah,” he grinned. “She says they make her butt look good. She’s right too.” He laughed and the rest of the men joined him.
    “ I don’t think it’s worth it.” She grumbled.
    “ You’re not supposed to dance in new shoes. You are supposed to break them in first.” Another man, who looked to be Asian and went by Brent commented. 
    “ Well I didn’t have much choice, we got this assignment yesterday.”
    “ You don’t own another pair of heels?” Sam asked.
    “ No, do I look like the kind of girl who wears