—
Dwight ends up being first on the scene and I silently thank God for small favors. He sees Penn’s unconscious body on the floor, then the woman in my arms.
“He tripped, didn’t he?” Dwight asks, kneeling to check Penn’s vitals.
I nod tightly. “Half a dozen times on the way to the door.”
Dwight looks at Evangeline. “You okay, ma’am?”
Her body trembles. “Hunter, that is, Officer Sloan was only doing his job. I have a restraining order against my…Penn McCarthy and he violated it. Hunter was showing him out, but Penn fought him. It was completely self-defense.”
I place a kiss at her temple. “It’s okay, sweetheart. You don’t have to—”
She touches my jaw. “Hush.”
The paramedics arrive, along with the fire department. Hayden walks inside, his eyes sharp as they land on us. I nod at the ground, where Penn is lying on the floor while he’s given medical attention.
Dwight motions him over and the two of them begin to talk in low voices. I’m not worried about what they’re saying because I know they’ll tell me later. However, I haven’t been on this side of the law in years. It’s…not a good feeling, even if ridding the world of an asshole like Penn wouldn’t be a bad thing. At least then, he couldn’t hide behind his former ranking in the Army or his family’s wealth and power, and live to terrorize another woman.
“He hit you first,” Evangeline says, cutting into my thoughts.
“I know, but I wanted him dead.”
She places her mouth close to my ear. “So did I, but we’re better than that.”
“I’m not and you know it.”
“Both times, you were defending the woman you love. You were defending the powerless from the powerful,” she insists. “Then you chose to be a policeman. You chose to become the very thing you were taught to hate because you saw through the lies.”
She makes my actions sound so reasonable, so perfectly acceptable, that it’s hard not to give in to her. But I know the truth. “I thought I could control my violent tendencies by fighting at The Laboratory, but it’s not true.”
“You’re so right,” she says in a smart-aleck way. “That’s why you’re constantly getting in trouble for roughing up suspects.”
“I’ve never done that. Maybe been on the other side before.”
“Okay, then you come home and take out your bad days on Jake.”
I give her a come-on look.
“Fine, you take it out on me. Your mother…basically anyone who pisses you off and gets in your way.”
I clench my jaw, then carefully deposit her on the sofa cushion beside us. “Damn it, Evangeline. I’m not going to let you change my mind.”
Striding away, I have to pause for Evangeline’s ex to be taken outside on a gurney. Dwight and Hayden join me, twin looks of concern on their faces. A couple of our neighbors mill about in the hallway. I half expect Saylor to come barreling in to check in on us, but since she doesn’t, I have to assume that she’s still at the animal shelter. One of the cops on the scene motions for those tenants to follow him, most likely to allay their fears as well as question them.
“It was clearly self-defense,” Dwight begins. “You have a witness.”
“She’s biased,” I say flatly.
Hayden works his jaw. “You want to go to jail?”
“No.”
“Then shut up and let Dwight do his job.”
Dwight tilts his head toward Hayden. “What he said.”
“You two are no help.” I start to leave, but Dwight grabs my arm.
“I need a statement from you.”
“Then, we’ll be on our way,” Hayden says.
“Fine. I entered the victim’s apartment twenty minutes ago because her phone was sending me weird text messages. That’s when I found the perp. He was verbally assaulting the vic, as well as threatening us both. I reminded him of the restraining order, but he ignored me. When I attempted to escort him out of her apartment, he assaulted me and I had no other choice but to defend myself and restrain him.”
Dwight nods. “Yup, that’s pretty much what I thought. I got everything I need to file a report. No charges at this time due to the fact that Mr. McCarthy is violating an in-effect restraining order. He failed to obey and you had to take the necessary steps to protect Mrs. McCarthy.”
“Her name’s Evangeline.”
I have to get out of here. I need some space, some air, some time for Evangeline to come to her senses. It’s one thing to see me in a controlled environment, where men are willingly matched up to fight for money. Where there are rules and clocks running down time, but what just happened…that was a full-on brawl because I wanted that son of a bitch dead.
Chapter 22
Evangeline
“Where do you think you’re going?” I ask, raising my voice.
Hunter glances over his shoulder, but he doesn’t stop walking out my front door. “Out. I need some space, angel.”
For once I chase after him into his apartment, where the door is still open. “It’s not because of what happened with Penn, is it?”