“Can you just look at this?” She touched him on the arm and he turned, scowling. Juliet didn’t wait to see what he would do next. She hit him in the chin with a brisk uppercut, putting her weight behind the punch, before he could get a good look at her.
She caught Bolick as he crumpled to the ground, just as she had expected.
Juliet could feel her entire body shaking as she dragged him the few feet to the trunk of his car. She got the keys out of his pocket and unlocked it, using all her strength to heft his unconscious form and roll him in. She knew he wouldn’t be out forever, so grabbed some duct tape from her own car and tied his hands and covered his mouth. Then she got into his car and drove it a couple blocks away, where it couldn’t be seen.
Juliet walked back to the warehouse, adrenaline still pooling through her entire body. Hopefully, the threat to Evan had passed, because she didn’t think she could possibly be any help to him at this moment even if he needed it. She clenched her jaw in an attempt to stop her teeth from chattering. Mark Bolick was the closest she’d come to any sort of physical altercation—hell, almost any physical contact—with a stranger since her attack.
Juliet crouched down, focusing on her breathing and getting in as much oxygen as possible. Eventually, her hands stopped shaking and her heart rate settled into a less frantic pace. She made a call to Omega, reporting the location of Bolick’s car and that he could be found in the trunk. Someone from headquarters would handle it and make sure Bolick was kept out of the picture while Evan was undercover with Cady.
Feeling a little better, she stood up. Her job here was finished, right? Mark Bolick no longer posed a threat to Evan’s mission, so she was free to return to the safety of the Omega offices. Juliet began walking toward her car, but then stopped abruptly.
She couldn’t just leave. Yes, Bolick was out of the picture, but she couldn’t just go, not knowing if Evan was okay. Why couldn’t he be reached? Why couldn’t they track his phone? Juliet knew she would never be able to forgive herself if he was in trouble and she had left him to run back to safety.
Observe. That’s all she had to do. She wouldn’t need to make her presence known. She wouldn’t interfere. She’d just make sure nobody was about to kill Evan or anything like that.
And if he was in trouble? Then she’d call for backup. Juliet took out her phone. As a matter of fact, she’d call Omega right now, let them know her status and get Baltimore PD on standby if necessary. Done. She could do this.
Keeping her breath slow and even, Juliet turned and began walking back toward the warehouse, deciding to go to a rear door she knew each of these buildings contained. She rubbed her damp palms on the thighs of her jeans as she silently made her way along the wall, her weapon still tucked in the waistband under her lightweight sweater.
She just prayed she wouldn’t have to use it. And if she did, that she wouldn’t freeze up. Sweat broke out on her forehead just thinking about it.
Juliet opened the door to the warehouse as silently as possible. She could hear some people talking, but couldn’t make out the words. She eased inside.
She wasn’t prepared for the hand that grabbed her shoulder from behind. She stopped. Everything stopped.
Her movements, her thoughts, her breathing, even her heartbeat—it all stopped. Neither fight nor flight was an option. She had forgotten how to do both.
She felt the cold muzzle of a weapon against the back of her neck and realized it didn’t matter, she couldn’t do either, anyway. So much for just observing.
“What are you doing here?” the man said from behind her.
Juliet fought to get a grip on her terror. “N-nothing,” she stammered. “I got lost.”
He used his free hand to push her, face forward, against the door she’d just closed. She sucked in a breath, gasping for air, her skin clammy. Squeezed her eyes shut and struggled to withhold a whimper as the man began running his hand down her back.
Juliet felt bile rise in her throat at his touch. She might vomit right here. Her shudders returned full force.
Blessedly, the hand stopped when it reached the Glock tucked in her jeans.
“What’s this?” he barked close to her ear. She cringed, unable to answer even if she had a good plan for what to say. Which she very definitely didn’t.
“Thomas, what’s going on back there?” a voice from the center of the warehouse called out.
“I found an intruder, Mr. Cady. A woman coming in through the back door.”
Juliet tried to calm her breathing enough to listen for Evan’s voice, but couldn’t manage it. She was spending all her energy attempting to control her panic.
Her captor grabbed her arm and began dragging her toward the middle of the warehouse. Juliet didn’t resist much, especially when they rounded a stack of boxes and she could see what was going on with Cady and his men.
She expected to find weapons trained at her, but found them pointed in the opposite direction.
At Evan.
Juliet had to give him credit; he kept his wits about him even with her showing up so unexpectedly. She couldn’t figure out what to say, just stared at Evan as the man holding her arm steered her closer to the group.
Evan sighed dramatically and rolled his eyes.
“Damn it, Lisa, I thought we agreed you were going to stay out of sight at the pier. What the hell are you doing here?”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Evan knew he was taking a huge risk engaging Juliet as Lisa Sinclair, but didn’t see any other choice. Cady didn’t trust Bob Sinclair, thinking it suspicious
