17 - A Hard Days Night Searcher.doc Read Online Free PDF Page A

so that she could grab
    a taxi and get home before it got any later.
    Looking around, she half-expected to find Wren there.
    She didn't. What she found was four scruffy-looking men who were eyeing her with an
    unfounded interest. They were keeping to the shadows as if they didn't want her to identify
    them. Fear assaulted her. Their attention was just a bit too focused. A bit too intense and
    threatening as they made their way straight for her.
    She glanced about, looking for other people, but this time of night, there weren't any
    around.
    Not even a tour group…
    It's okay. Stay in the light and keep heading forward. They won't hurt you if you stay
    in plain sight.
    She sped up as she heard the sound of running feet.
    Just as she was sure they would run past her, one of the men grabbed her and slung her
    into a partially opened courtyard.
    Marguerite tried to push him away to run.
    He slapped her hard. "Give me your purse, bitch."
    She was so scared, she couldn't even think to pull it off her arm.
    The other men ran into the courtyard and slammed the gate shut. One of them grabbed
    her bag and tore her shirt in the process of ripping it off her shoulder.
    "Hey," he said to the other three. "Y'all want to have some fun with her?"
    Before they could answer, the one speaking went sprawling to the ground. Someone
    came out of the darkness and handed the purse back to her.
    Marguerite looked up at the newcomer and wanted to cry as she saw Wren there. No
    longer slumped, he stood at his full height… and it was commanding. Intense. There was a
    feral gleam in his eyes that wasn't quite sane as he put himself between her and the others.
     
    He looked as if he could easily kill everyone there and not even wince.
    The men attacked.
    She staggered back and watched in awe as Wren fought them off with an incredible
    skill. One mugger came at him with a knife. He caught the man's wrist and twisted it until it
    snapped and the knife fell from his hand. Then Wren backhanded the man so hard, the
    attacker rebounded off the wall.
    Another came at Wren's back only to be flung over his head to the ground while
    another rushed him from behind. He hit Wren full force, but Wren didn't so much as
    stagger or flinch. He turned on the man and knocked him back.
    Marguerite was relieved until one of the muggers pulled out a gun and aimed it at them.
    Her breath caught as Wren froze.
    A heartbeat later, the man fired the gun. Wren rushed him and knocked it out of his
    hands. The other three ran off as Wren slugged the one who'd held the gun. The man fell
    to the ground, then scurried away.
    "Are you okay?" Marguerite asked as she ran over to Wren. "Did he shoot you?"
    "I'm fine," he said, picking up the gun from the ground. He opened it up and removed
    the bullets before he smashed it to pieces against the old stone wall. He dropped it, then
    turned to look at her as he tossed the bullets into the darkness. "Did they hurt you?"
    "No. Thanks to you, I'm fine." Relieved beyond belief, she was shaking so badly that
    she wasn't even sure how her legs could continue to hold her upright. She ached to reach
    out to touch him in gratitude, but there was something about him that said he didn't want to
    be touched.
    Anger darkened his eyes as he glanced to her torn shirt. She could sense that he wanted
    to chase the muggers down on her behalf, and it warmed her greatly.
     
    "I don't normally do things this stupid," she said quietly. "I tried to call a taxi on my cell
    phone, but they said it would be a thirty-to-forty-minute wait. I thought I could make it to
    the Square to hail one down there or to at least wait at the Café du Monde, where it would
    be safer. And then the next thing I knew they were after me—Thank God you came when
    you did."
    Her gratitude seemed to make him uncomfortable.
    "C'mon," he said, tilting his head toward the street. "I'll walk you home."
    She hesitated at his offer. "I live down by the zoo. It's too far to walk."
    He looked