"Go back inside, Hannah!"
She, of course, couldn't hear Dylan shouting from his surveillance distance. She delayed long enough that Jake caught up to her just as she was grabbing the door handle to rush inside to safety. Davenport had her trapped against the steel door.
Dylan rolled down the windows, hoping to pick up on some of their conversation, but they were too far away. His hand hesitated on the door latch, ready to jump out to intervene if Davenport tried to force Hannah into his sports car.
He'd never hear the end of it if he got his ass kicked again. Dylan had already been hospitalized once after Davenport had sicced his goons on him. He wouldn't have the same problem going up against Davenport alone, although he knew the man was armed, making Dylan all the more worried about Hannah being forced into the car against her will.
His cell phone rang. Dylan wanted to let it roll to voicemail, but decided he might need backup. He launched into an animated ramble. "Don't say it. I don't have time for your lecture. I'm at the Four Seasons. Davenport's here and he's harassing Hannah. Fuck... he's pulling her towards his car. I'm going in."
"God damn it! You don't listen worth a shit. You're not gonna back down until you're six feet under, are you?" Zachary Zimmerman lectured the junior investigator.
Dylan was already outside his car, jogging across the street, when a group of four men left through the employee exit. Hannah saw them too, and called out for help. Dylan screeched to a halt, waiting to see how things played out.
"Good girl. She just drew the attention of a group of guys leaving. They're going to investigate."
"Back off, will ya? Don't blow your cover again," Z ordered.
"I'm holding back, but if Davenport tries to get her in his car, I'm going in. There's a lot of pushing going on. I can't hear, but the employees just surrounded Hannah. Looks like Davenport is giving her up to them."
"You do realize he's packing a Glock, right?" Z asked.
"You do realize he is raping and hurting innocent women, right?" Dylan countered.
"You need to get your head out of your ass. A lot of the shit going on in that warehouse may be raw and edgy, but other than that little girl you seem to have a hard-on for, it's all consensual. You may not like the freaky shit going on in there, but it isn't illegal, Parker. You need to back it down."
This lecture was getting old.
Dylan stepped into the shadows to avoid being seen by Hannah or Jake, but he didn't take his eyes off the scene playing out in the parking lot. He watched the four employees walk Hannah to her car, staying with her until she drove away. Then he kept his eyes on Davenport, who stalked back to his Corvette, slamming his door hard, before gunning the engine and speeding off in the opposite direction of Hannah.
Dylan jogged back to his car, determined to follow Hannah home, hoping to get a few minutes alone with her. He didn't forget his partner hanging on the phone. "I've backed down long enough, Z. Every day that goes by, more women are getting hurt."
Dylan had seen enough suffering in his seven years in the Marines to last a lifetime. He hadn't expected his first civilian job to expose him to the same kind of suffering he'd seen first-hand overseas. He hadn't been able to control things over there, but he sure as hell could control what the hell happened in Palo Alto, California. Jake Davenport was going down.
Z sighed as Dylan gunned the car, running a red light in order to catch up with Hannah's run-down sedan. "Your heart is in the right place, kid, but we can't save the world. Keep your eye on the job, will ya?" Z didn't wait for an answer, ending the call abruptly.
Just as well. He wasn't going to stop Dylan from doing what he thought was right. Within a few minutes, he turned into the small parking lot shared by four small duplex apartment homes. Dylan arrived just in time to watch Hannah rush through her front door. He could tell she was spooked by her run-in with Davenport. Not wanting to scare her more, he decided to head over to the warehouse to take his shift. With any luck, tonight would be the night new evidence would turn up—evidence that they could take to the police.
Hannah
Hannah's hands shook as she latched the two deadbolt locks on her front door. Her run-in with Jake had been a close call tonight. Not for the first time, she despaired about how she was going to convince him to leave her alone. The lunatic actually believed she was still planning on working for him, even after he'd drugged, beaten, and forced himself on her the night before.
She kicked off her high heels, crossing through the small space into the galley kitchen. She turned on the cold water and cupped her trembling hands to gather up enough water to swish around in her mouth. The taste of her own blood mixed with the cool water before she spit the now pink liquid into the small sink.
She'd bitten the inside of her cheek when she had been jostling with Jake at the hotel. She'd been terrified he was going to get her into his car again. She got lucky tonight with the group of porters leaving together, but she was under no delusion. Jake had made it clear he was going to pursue her until he succeeded.
She took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself. She'd made so many mistakes in the last twenty-four hours. She didn't want to make more.
Hannah should have
