“Owwww,” Christina screamed in fury. “Jay!”
A roar echoed in the small house, arising from Jay’s barreled chest.
Meghan cried out a warning. “Ryan, watch out.”
Ryan pivoted. Too late. Jay jumped on Ryan’s back before he could get to his own holstered weapon.
Jay’s bulk drove Ryan forward. Pain shot up Ryan’s leg as his left ankle buckled. He hit the floor with a smack to his knees and nearly collapsed beneath Jay’s gorilla-size weight.
His injuries making him want to do a little roaring of his own, Ryan instead gritted his teeth and grappled with the thug, trying to gain the advantage. Ryan drove his head back into Jay’s pectoral muscle and thrust his hip up, creating an angle. Jay’s beefy fists cracked across Ryan’s ribs with painful impact. Ignoring the jarring hits, Ryan continued with the move, driving his hips across Jay and flipping him over.
Ryan wrapped his legs around Jay and yanked him down while hooking his forearms around Jay’s neck and squeezing.
Just as he’d thought. Gym muscles. All show, no go. It took a lifetime of grappling with three brothers to make a man a real fighter.
Georgina’s frantic cries bounced off the walls.
From his peripheral vision, Ryan saw Christina scrambling to recover her weapon from beneath the couch.
“Meghan, run!” he yelled.
Disregarding his directive, Meghan handed the screaming toddler to a now conscious Helen. Meghan launched herself at Christina and knocked her aside. The woman went flying on her backside and slid to a stop. Her beige slacks hitched to her knees. A cream-colored sock sagged at her ankles. Her brown loafers had dirt on the bottom.
In her hands, she held the gun. “Not another step!” she screamed at Meghan.
Meghan halted, skidding in her heeled sandals on the hardwood.
Christina jumped to her feet and yanked Georgina from Helen’s arms.
Keeping the revolver aimed at Meghan, Christina said, “Deputy Fitzgerald, let Jay go or your friend here dies.”
“Christina, no,” Helen pleaded. “Don’t do this.”
“Shut up!” Christina swung the gun in Helen’s direction.
Helen cowered away.
Ryan’s gaze locked with Meghan. The panic in her eyes seared him. The situation had gone horribly out of his control. And it was his fault. Frustration clawed like a hungry lion through his veins. For a second he tightened his hold on Jay, wanting nothing more than to finish what he’d started.
But doing so jeopardized everyone in the room.
Abruptly Ryan released him.
The big man scuttled to his feet and then landed a vicious kick to Ryan’s side. Pain zinged through him.
With helpless rage, he watched Christina Hennessy and her henchman head out the door with Georgina. He yanked out his phone and dialed 9–1–1.
Meghan launched herself at Christina with a ferocious yell. “You can’t take her!”
Jay backhanded Meghan, sending her flying to the floor.
Fury propelled Ryan to his feet. His ankle gave out and he stumbled. The phone flew from his hand and landed with a clatter against the floor. Jay took off.
Meghan scrambled for the phone. She found it and then rushed to Ryan’s side as he painfully hauled himself to his knees. She offered her shoulder as support, wrapping her arm around his waist and helped him to his feet. His torso was on fire. Most likely a cracked rib.
A dark bruise marred Meghan’s fear-filled face, making him feel worse than the blows he’d suffered.
“Stay here!” Untangling himself from her, he hobbled out the door.
A black sedan disappeared around the corner with tires squealing. Automatically, he noted the license plate number.
At the curb an unconscious Jackson lay crumpled on the ground beside the front wheel well of his vehicle, blood covering his face. Fearing for the young officer, Ryan limped to his side and bent to check his pulse. He was alive. Unsure of the extent of Jackson’s injuries, Ryan didn’t want to do any more damage by attempting to move him.
He hobbled to the back of the vehicle, noting that all of the tires had been slashed, and grabbed the first-aid kit.
Rage pounded at Ryan’s temples in rhythm to the throbbing in his ankle and side. He pressed a wad of gauze to Jackson’s wound.
Self-recriminations swamped Ryan. He’d made an utter mess of things. Christina had escaped with Georgina. Jackson was down. The car was useless.
He was a cop, knew the importance of being proactive and vigilant. And had always lived up to that responsibility, regardless of the cost. He’d sacrificed a friendship to protect an innocent person. He’d done the right thing.
He’d never forgive himself if anything happened to the little girl because he’d failed to stop Christina and her thug, thus putting Georgina in danger.
Meghan came hurrying out, his phone pressed to her ear. She skidded to a halt, her heeled sandals sliding on the sidewalk. She handed him the phone. “Nine-one-one.”
After identifying himself, he explained the situation and gave the license plate number of Christina’s getaway car. The dispatcher assured him the local patrol officers would respond immediately and an ambulance was on its way.
“We’ll need two,” he said before hanging up.
Helen staggered out of the house. Despite her own knock to the head, when she spotted Jackson, her mothering instincts sent her straight to him. Leaving Ryan leaning against the side of his vehicle, Meghan rushed to help Helen to sit on the curb next to Jackson.
Ryan slammed his palm against the hood of his vehicle then wobbled. Every second he stood there Christina and her goon were getting farther away. His gaze grazed over Meghan’s car and the temptation to pursue the perps grabbed ahold of him and squeezed. He fought the instinct; the last thing he needed to do was leave the scene of a crime. He had an officer down and a civilian hurt.
His duty was to stay put.
So he would. For now. But this wasn’t over. Not by a long shot.
TWO
Seeing Ryan faltering on his feet unsettled Meghan. He was usually so in control. She hurried back to his side. “You need to sit,” she insisted and helped him to the curb next to Helen.
Tall, broad shouldered. Lean and muscled in his uniform, the man was ruggedly handsome with no hint of weakness behind the stony wall he put up every time she came near.
“This is unbelievable!” Ryan pounded one fist on his thigh.
