Trumped Up Charges

Chapter Seventeen



Hadley was lying on the floor, faceup, terror imprinted in the lines of her face. Her blouse was ripped and she was naked from the waist down. Quinton was on top of her, his unzipped trousers hanging below his hips.

“Get out, Adam,” Hadley begged. “Please, just go away. Quinton has a knife and a gun.”

Adam saw the blade of the knife then. The handle was hidden in the loose folds of Hadley’s ripped blouse. The point of the blade was pressed again her jugular vein. One jab of the blade and she’d bleed to death in minutes.

“Close the door behind you, Adam. Sit down and watch. I’ll show you how a real man takes care of a woman.”

Adam fought to stay calm. Blunt force was no match for a knife at the throat. “A real man doesn’t have to hold his woman at knifepoint. They flock to us.”

“Yeah. Adam Dalton. Big hero. What good are those medals now?”

“I thought this was all about money, Quinton. Do you want the rest of that five million or not?”

“Did you come to deliver it?”

“That’s what we’re here for. We got a text that said bring money, take home girls.”

Adam had his interest now, but the knife was still at Hadley’s throat. “Let Hadley walk. Hold me prisoner instead and I’ll have R.J. cart in the money.”

“You’ll have to do better than that, Adam. How about show me the money first.”

Fortunately, Adam had learned a thing or two from Fred Casey and he could see the greed burning in Quinton’s eyes.

“Doesn’t work that way,” Adam said. “The man with the gold makes the rules. Hadley walks or....”

“Or I slice her pretty little throat,” Quinton said.

“And then you go to jail a poor man. But you better decide which it’s to be quickly. If R.J. doesn’t hear from me in...” Adam checked his watch. “Not looking good. Three minutes before R.J. calls the cops.”

The knife slowly slid from Hadley’s throat. Quinton still held it and he was still in stabbing distance. But Quinton was off balance and struggling with his trousers now and Adam’s bluff wouldn’t hold forever.

Adam lunged at Quinton and took him down. They wrestled for the knife. And then a crashing blow sent shattered glass falling like rain.

Quinton’s eyes rolled back in his head and his body went limp.

“It’s the old slam him with the heavy glass trick,” Hadley said. “I didn’t see a vase but the lamp worked even better.”

“Remind me to never make you mad.”

But she was shaking as she yanked her blouse together as best as she could and then quickly redressed the rest of the way.

Adam pulled her into his arms. “Did he hurt you? Did he...”

“No, but he would have if you hadn’t come to the rescue.”

“You helped with that.”

“And that’s how it should be, Adam. We’re in this together. Couples have to share the bad with the good.”

“I love you, Hadley O’Sullivan. I love you with all my heart, but...”

She shushed him with a kiss that set his soul on fire. And for the first time since his injuries, he felt a sensual stirring below his belt.

That had to be a very good sign.

Quinton began to stir. A second later, a gaggle of cops rushed into the room, guns in hand.

“You’re Hadley O’Sullivan,” one of them said.

“I am. And the monster on the floor is Quinton Larson. He’s all yours.”

Adam slipped an arm around her waist and led her toward the door.

One of the cops blocked their path. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“To get my daughters,” they answered in unison.

That was also the way it was meant to be.