Page 20 of Judge’s Redemption

I tell her about Reddick's debt, the missing money, and the sister Mercer wanted us to seize. I tell her King accepted the original contract and Kane returned the advance when Mercer changed the terms. I tell her about the warehouse, the men reaching for weapons, and Mercer's threat afterward. No softening of the truth.

“We collect from criminals,” I say. “Sometimes we hurt them. Sometimes worse. Kane's changing who we point that at, not what we're capable of doing.”

“Mercer thinks that's weakness. So he's using me to make you break Kane's decision.”

“He's trying.”

“Will you?”

“No.” The certainty fills the salon. “I'll kill Mercer before I let him put his hands on you or Evie, but I’m also not going to let an innocent woman get hurt either.”

For a long moment, Shay says nothing. Then she nods. “ Fine, we go to the compound then.”

Relief hits me hard enough to feel like weakness.

“I am not being sent anywhere,” she says. “I'm choosing the safest place for Evie and me.”

“Understood.”

Once she knows that the choice is hers, I call Cash.

Tank is already with Evie. Cash and Gray are on their way to us.

This is the part I know how to do. Giving Shay a choice doesn’t mean standing uselessly beside her after she makes it.

Mercer’s man reaches her as we’re leaving the salon.

Shay’s car is parked in the rear lot. We’re heading for it when she realizes her purse is still behind the register.

“I'll get it,” I say.

“Seriously Judge? It’s twenty feet.” She's already through the rear door before I finish the sentence.

The alley is dark and wet, the light above the salon entrance throwing a weak circle onto the pavement. A man steps from behind the dumpster and he grabs Shay's wrist and yanks her toward him.

I'm across the distance before he gets out a full word. Shay drives her knee upward. He turns enough that she catches his thigh instead of his balls, but the movement buys her the second she needs.

I get there in time and hit him from the side.

His shoulder slams into the brick wall. I trap his throat beneath my forearm and drive until the back of his skull cracks against the building.

“Mercer send you?” His eyes bulge.

I ease the pressure enough for him to speak.

“He wants the deal honored.”

My vision narrows to the hand that touched Shay. “You grabbed the wrong woman.”

He tries to reach beneath his jacket, but instead, I catch his wrist and wrench it backward until the joint gives with a wet pop.

His scream tears through the alley. Cash appears at the entrance with his gun drawn, then lowers it when he sees the man hanging in my grip.

“Car's moving at the north end,” he says.

“Try to get the plate. Don't chase past the river road.”

Cash runs to his bike.