Free Diablo Lake: Moonstruck by Lauren Dane Page B

through the words. His eyes were not human.
    “I don’t believe you were raised to speak to a woman that way.” John Joseph Dooley strolled out of Salt and Pepper and right between Darrell and Katie Faith. JJ may have been in his eighties, but no one in their right mind would tangle with him and though Darrell was a fool, he wasn’t that big a fool. He broke eye contact and took a step back.
    Briefly.
    “She used her magic on me,” Darrell said.
    “Self defense,” Aimee said. “I called the cops.”
    Which was evident as Katie Faith watched Jace unfold himself from the front seat of his truck and stalk over.
    He was so angry it flowed from him like a furnace blast of heat.
    “What happened?” he asked not JJ, but Katie Faith.
    “She used her magic to assault me,” Darrell called out.
    “You shut the hell up, Pembry. I didn’t ask you,” Jace snarled.
    “Way I saw it, you deserved all that and more,” JJ said. “I’m sure most of the folks out here right now will tell you the same thing. You went too far, boy. Don’t make it worse by lying now.”
    “Like I care what a Dooley has to say.” Darrell sneered at the men and then looked around them toward Katie Faith. “This isn’t over. You broke the law.”
    “I did not! You shoved me against a wall. I defended myself.” Katie Faith shook herself free and moved around Jace. Not surprisingly, he reached out and touched her arm, looking toward her briefly with concern.
    “We’ll see what the mayor’s office has to say about this.” Darrell shrugged.
    JJ shook his head, chuckling, but there wasn’t a lot of humor there. “Are you stupid as well as foolish, Darrell? Get on out of here. Next time you try to scare a woman with your size, you best pick one that’s not got enough magic to knock your butt out into the street.”
    “No. He doesn’t leave yet.” Jace turned slightly, never taking his attention from Darrell even as he spoke to Katie Faith. “Do you want to press charges? He threatened you? Did he hurt you?”
    “I made my point,” Katie Faith told him loud enough for Darrell to hear. “He doesn’t mean anything to me now. I just want to be left alone.”
    “All right. If you’re sure.” Jace nearly growled it and that’s when Aimee’s father showed up.
    Thank goodness because Katie Faith figured they were just a skosh away from a full on street brawl.
    * * *
    “We saw the whole thing, Carl.” JJ spoke calmly, firmly taking over. They’d been at the police station for less than an hour but Jace wanted them all to finish up so he could get Katie Faith home.
    Jace hoped some of his anger would wear off by the time they were ready to leave the police station.
    “Darrell Pembry blocked the way. He started talking to Katie Faith and Aimee. They tried to walk around him and he pushed her against that wall just next to the front door. I’d called Jace by that point because I had a feeling it was only going to get worse. But when he shoved Katie Faith, me and half the restaurant got up to rush outside to stop it. Can’t abide a man using his hands on a woman. Turns out, that little lady’s got a kick bigger’n most full grown wolves.” His cackle made Jace smile even though he hadn’t planned to. “Knocked his ass right out into the street.”
    Katie Faith had been magnificent. Strong. Full of fury and power. However, she was also his . Agitation rushed through him again, filling him with rage anew at the thought of Darrell Pembry attempting to harm her.
    JJ continued, “She used her magic, Carl. And yes, she knocked him back. Been a long time since I’ve seen that much raw power in a woman her age. But he was askin’ for it and it was self-defense. You know as well as I do that you’ll have twenty people all telling you the same thing. It ain’t right to have her in a cell.” JJ frowned.
    Katie Faith and Aimee were currently hanging out in Carl’s office, as far from a cell as could be. Hell, they’d probably ordered