Page 74 of Her Wicked Hero

Wyatt pulled out his gun. A woman screamed. Hunter came out of nowhere and tackled the bicyclist who now had a gun in his hand. The lean SEAL drove the man to the ground. Silence reigned.

Zed was still wiping down when the commotion started. Amelia had already left to go to her car. This was it, they were finally going to get the bastard.

“Report,” he said into his mic.

“Marcia’s fine. He was in with the bicyclists. We’ve got him.”

Zed was already on the run to the north, his senses expanding, waiting for―.

“Zed,” Amelia cried.

Goddammit, they’d told her she needed to leave the area. What’s more, Aiden was supposed to be watching out for her.

Zed turned and saw Raymond had Amelia by the arm.

“Let her go,” Zed said. “It’s me you want.”

“For the moment, it’s you. Eventually, it will be your little fuckbuddy.” Raymond said as he pushed Amelia forward. He had a gun shoved in her side.

“I’ll go with you, just let Amelia go.”

“That was quite the nice little set up your team did for me over there.” Raymond pointed to the north where a siren could be heard. “Too bad for you, you underestimated me.”

Zed looked at Amelia’s face. She wasn’t doing well. He could see the beginnings of a panic attack. If that happened, Raymond would just kill her and be done with it.

Where was Aiden?

“What pawn were you willing to sacrifice, Felix?” Zed asked Raymond, trying to stall.

“I love the Thorne Group, they always have newbies willing to take side jobs. They make excellent cannon fodder.”

Amelia started to tremble, and Zed willed her to keep it together for just a little longer.

“Why not let this go? Jefferies would pay you top dollar to keep you on his team, why not focus on that instead of Marcia?”

Raymond’s face contorted in rage. “Jefferies, the Thorne Group, hell, damn near anyone will pay for my services. I’m worth top dollar.”

“That’s what I’m saying, why screw it all up for revenge?”

“You think this is revenge?” Raymond asked. “This isn’t revenge. That little bitch tried to make a fool of me. Nobody is allowed to do that. Especially, not some woman. If you let them get away with that, you’re worthless.”

“Don’t” Amelia’s soft voice could barely be heard over the noise of the Pacific Ocean.

“Let her go,” Zed pleaded again. Behind Raymond, he saw Aiden pushing himself up off the sand, his head covered in blood.

“You really were a pain in the ass in Borneo,” Raymond said flippantly.

Amelia slumped against him, lodging the gun between her and Raymond. Zed jumped. He grabbed Raymond by the head, twisting as Aiden rushed from behind. Zed heard the satisfying crack of Raymond’s neck breaking as the gun went off. He turned panicked eyes to Amelia, expecting to see blood seeping up under her wetsuit.

“It looks like you both killed him,” Aiden said somewhat groggily.

Amelia was holding the gun. Raymond had been shot in the chest at about the same time Zed had broken his neck.

“We were supposed to be in this together,” Marcia said through gritted teeth. “You didn’t tell me you were setting yourself up.”

“We weren’t sure which way he was going to go,” Zed said. “It could have been just as easily you he was after, so you needed to have your head fully in the game. I couldn’t have you worried about me.” Zed’s eyes flashed down at her.

“So, this wasn’t about not trusting me?”