chapter 2

Reaching behind his back, he pulled his black Kimber

1911 pistol from the waistband of his pants, and just as the

attacker’s hand was coming forward to stab him again he

pulled the trigger once, hitting the man square in the chest,

dropping him to the ground.

Beau kicked the knife away from his body and then

turned to find the girl crouched down on the ground,

sobbing. She cried out as he walked toward her and tried to

back away from him, but she couldn’t move any further.

“Shh, it’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you. You’re

bleeding, and I want to make sure you’re okay,” Beau said

calmly.

The girl looked past him at the dead man on the

ground and then moved her eyes to the gun he was still

holding at his side. He quickly tucked his gun into the

waistband of his jeans again and held up his hands for her

to see.

“I promise I won’t hurt you. My name is Beau Javier. I

heard you screaming when I was coming out of my

business. I just want to help you,” he said, hoping that

giving her some information about him would make her feel

more comfortable.

“Can I come closer?” he asked.

She gave him a small nod. Her entire body trembled,

and Beau realized the top half of her body was almost bare

besides the bra she was wearing. He didn’t know if her

trembling was from the freezing temperatures or from fear.

He guessed it was a little of both.

Pulling off his jacket, he held it out for her as he

walked closer.

“Here, take my jacket. It’s freezing out here, and I

don’t want you to get hypothermia.”

When she didn’t reach out to take it from his hand,

Beau walked closer, and when he was close enough, he

lifted the jacket and put it gently around her shoulders.

Kneeling down, Beau studied her face. She was dirty and had a fresh bruise on her face as well as what looked like an

older bruise.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

“Emma,” she said, barely loud enough for him to

hear.

“That’s a pretty name. Emma, I’m going to call the

police. You need medical treatment.”

He pulled out his phone from his back pocket and

started dialing when her small, shaking hand reached out to

stop him.

“You can’t. You’ll go to jail for killing him. You saved

me. You have to go, or they’ll arrest you,” she said,

sounding more mature than she looked.

Lifting his gaze to the young girl, Beau could tell she

was genuinely scared for him, but he wouldn’t leave her,

and he knew that even if he got arrested, the charges would

be dropped since it was self-defense.

“You’re bleeding. I’m not leaving you. I’ll be fine. Just

stay there and cover up with my jacket as much as

possible.”

“I think they’re just scratches,” she said shakily.

“Doesn’t matter. You need medical attention,” he

replied.

He pressed the call button before she could protest

again.

“911, what’s your emergency?”

“I just found a young girl being attacked. The guy had

a knife and stabbed me twice, and I shot him. He’s dead,

but the girl needs medical attention. She’s bleeding.”

Beau gave the dispatch person all the details, and

they told him the police and medics would be there within a

few minutes.

“Emma, no matter what happens, just listen to what

the police say, okay? They’ll probably put me in handcuffs,

but you don’t need to freak out if they do. It’s standard procedure until they know I’m not a threat. Everything will

be okay. Look at me. I mean it. Everything will be okay.”

She was crying, but she nodded up at him. He

realized he was no longer cold, but he knew that was

because of his adrenaline.

Suddenly, Emma grabbed his wrist. “You’re bleeding!”

Beau suddenly felt woozy, and when he looked down,

the bottom half of his shirt and his pants were coated in

blood.

“I’ll be okay. You come first. You need medical

attention. Tell the cops everything he did to you.

Understand?” Beau said firmly.

She nodded, her big, glassy eyes watching him

closely. When she looked down at the body on the ground,

he moved in front of her gaze.

“Don’t look at him. He did something terrible, and he

deserved it. You did nothing wrong. Nothing. Understood?”

he told her sternly.

When she didn’t respond, he leaned forward and

hooked his finger under her chin, so she had to look up at

him.

“Understood, Emma?”

“Yes,” she whispered.

“How old are you?”

“Fifteen,” she answered quietly.

Beau nodded. She looked younger than fifteen but

sounded much more mature than that.

“Do you want my phone so you can call your

parents?”

Emma shook her head. “I don’t have any parents. I’m

a foster kid.”

A knot formed in his stomach as Beau studied the

bruises on her face.

“Those bruises from your foster parents?”

She didn’t say anything but the vulnerable look in her

eyes and the slight nod gave him the answer to his question.

Before he could say anything else, the sound of sirens

approached, and dozens of police cars swarmed both sides

of the alleyway, along with two ambulances.

“Remember what I said. Do what the police tell you to

do and don’t worry about me. And tell the police about who

gave you those bruises on your face. I mean it.”

She stared up at him as he pulled his gun out of the

waistband of his pants and set it down on the ground before

putting his hands in the air as police officers ran toward him.

As soon as an officer started putting handcuffs on him,

Emma started screaming.

“Don’t hurt him! He saved me! He saved me!”

Turning his head, Beau watched as two medics held

her back from running toward him. Despite her disobeying

his instructions not to freak out, Beau had to swallow a lump

of emotion that was forming in his throat over the small girl

trying to protect him from being arrested.

“Emma, let them help you. I’ll be fine. Remember

what I said,” he shouted over the sirens.

She instantly stopped struggling against the medics

and watched him silently, tears dripping down her cheeks as

the police read him his rights and began asking questions.

“Thank you,” she mouthed to him silently as she was

loaded onto a stretcher.

Beau nodded, giving her the most reassuring smile he

could manage. He might have had to take a life, but he also

saved an innocent one, and that was worth everything.

The next thing he knew, the world was slowly going

black as he tried to listen to what the officers were asking

him.

“He’s bleeding out! We need a stretcher over here

now!” a voice shouted as Beau fell to the ground.

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