Saving Serena (Hawk Security #1)

Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

Terry

“ Do you know where Grace is? ”

Elliot Boyle, her loser cousin, had called to ask me this question a half hour ago.

It paid to read between the lines in this line of work, and my assessment had been that he needed Grace’s help for something. This was not the first time.

When I’d told him she was in the same room as I was at an awards function, he’d promptly hung up, like the little snot he was.

I’d motioned for her to come over and talk, but she only stuck her tongue out in response. Since I had no tolerance tonight for any more of Grace’s snarky attitude, I’d texted her from across the room, asking for a moment of her time. I’d been polite about it.

She hadn’t responded in kind, and that had ended my need to follow up on Elliot’s call. He could damned well call her himself.

Sure, she looked good from a distance—bright red hair and curves for miles. No, good-looking wasn’t right. I had to admit, she was a total smokeshow. Problem was, when I got close enough to talk to her, she was about as cuddly as a porcupine.

Her prickly attitude helped me keep my mind off those curves and the body I’d sworn to her dying brother I’d take care of. She’d be perfect for some guy, so long as that guy wasn’t me.

Nope, not going there.

The evening had been excellent, as these things went, with good food and a comfortable setting. When I’d been in LAPD SWAT, awards had usually been given out while sitting on folding chairs in the sun, roasting in a dress uniform and listening to some self-important politician drone on for an hour about nothing of any interest to us cops.

Tonight was much better, but our real reward had been knowing we’d saved our buddy’s girl, Serena, from the certainty of being sex-trafficked by that Spinelli asswipe. Both Spinelli brothers were locked away in San Quentin, making the world safer.

There were still a few unclaimed pieces of chocolate cheesecake on the dessert trays near me. One large piece in particular called my name. So, being the concerned citizen that I was, I quickly liberated that piece from the table in order to minimize the garbage footprint of this party.

“I saw that,” Winston said, as he cruised up and snagged another one. “Good idea. These shouldn’t go to waste.”

We munched for a moment, but then Winston wandered away when a striking blonde coworker of Serena’s caught his eye.

My phone rang again with Elliot’s name on the screen. “What, Elliot?” I answered.

“You gotta watch out for Grace,” he said. “You gotta protect her. She’s in a shit-ton of trouble.”

While he said this, I scanned the room for Grace but came up empty. “What’s going on?”

“Man, they’re after her. These guys don’t fuckin’ mess around.”

“Slow down, Elliot. Who?”

“I don’t suck until you pay,” a woman said in the background.

“Keep her safe,” Elliot said.

“Who’s after her?”

“No money, no action,” the annoyed woman said.

“Fuck, I gotta go.”

“Shit, Elliot, tell me who is after her.”

The line was silent. The little snot had hung up without telling me what I needed to know, too busy getting a blow job. God, I hated that guy.

I quickly looked from the far left to the right—still no Grace in sight. Elliot hung out with the wrong crowd and wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but surviving among them had probably tuned his survival instinct. The fear in his voice was not a good sign.

It took me only seconds to reach my Hawk Security coworkers, the three Hawk brothers, Lucas, Jordy and Duke, along with Winston, and Zane March our latest addition.

“Have you seen Grace?”

“Which one? Kitty, Wildcat, Bobcat, or Catwoman?” Duke joked.

I didn’t have time for this shit. “I’ve gotta find her.”

Lucas grabbed my arm. “What’s wrong?”

“I just got a call saying she’s in danger.”

Lucas’s eyes narrowed. “In danger from whom?”

I shrugged. “No idea. First, her cousin called asking if I knew where she was, and then he called back and told me to look out for her because she was in danger. The little twerp was scared shitless.”

“Last I saw, she was talking with Serena,” Zane said, pointing to the far side of the room.

I reached Serena quickly.

“Where’s Grace?”

I almost shouted.

She startled. “She got a call. She sounded rattled and took off to meet somebody who has her cat, Elliot. It didn’t make any sense.”

“When?”

“Just now. What’s going on?”

I sprinted for the door.

Grace didn’t have a cat named Elliot. The calls instantly clicked. Somebody claiming to have Elliot lured her out to a meeting. I had to get to her first. Grace excelled at being a royal pain in my ass, but I’d promised her brother, Flynn, on his deathbed that I’d take care of her. I could not fucking fail on that promise.

Outside, I looked both ways, but I didn’t see her. I accosted the closest of the two valets.

“I’m looking for a girl who just came out, about ye high, green dress, bright red hair. Which way did she go?”

He pulled an earbud out of his ear and held out his hand. “Ticket?”

I repeated myself.

The guy shrugged. “No idea.”

I grabbed him by the lapels, and his eyes went wide. “Time to concentrate…” I checked his nametag. “Will.”