A Righteous Kill Read Online Free PDF Page A

no business going all white-knight and shit.
    “In here, man,” he forced out, walking to the door to wave the brother in. It was that or slam and lock it against him and the rest of the world.
    Yeah, he was one tired bastard if he was considering something so stupid.
    “Ramirez.” Rown’s amber eyebrows lifted in surprise as he narrowed green eyes identical to Hero’s. He wore workout sweats, a T-shirt that struggled to contain his muscle, and flip-flops. He’d likely been roused from bed by Di Petro’s call. Luca had never seen him out of his cheap ass Men’s Wearhouse suits. The same ones that hung in Luca’s own closet, or the one he wore now. The man was built like a comic book hero with crazy-wide shoulders and a disproportionately lean waist. He shoved past Luca into the room.
    Were it not his sister lying on the bed, Luca would have shoved the guy back. Right out the third story window. He let it slide though. For now. The wild, frenzied worry in the other man’s demeanor told him his fellow agent was ripe for violence. And this big mother-fucker may not work homicide, but Luca couldn’t predict the outcome of that particular battle.
    “Hero? Hero, what the—” As if on instinct, Rown reached to take her hand, then recoiled when he saw the thick bandages covering all but the tips of her fingers. “What did he do to you?”
    Hero didn’t answer as she had sunk back into unconsciousness.
    Her brother leaned over as if looking for a safe place to touch her. With the scratches and contusions now swelling and coloring her face, her injured hands, and the various tubes attached disappearing beneath the covers to God-knew-where, he obviously didn’t dare.
    “ Damn. ” Turning away from her, he seemed to search for something to throw. Or smash. Luca knew the urge all too well.
    “She woke up a second ago.” He kept his voice even and non-threatening. The situation between them could go south very quickly. They were on the same side here. No reason for their respective testosterone to clash. “I think she was asking for you. She’s pretty out of it.”
    Rown turned and his eyes focused as they zeroed on him. He seemed to get a hold of himself and nodded, his jaw still clenched. Luca spoke this language all too well. Don’t unlock the teeth until you can trust yourself not to do something ridiculous like snarl or roar.
    Make gestures instead.
    Luca answered the question in Rown’s eyes. “She was pierced in the hands and the left side, then nearly drowned in the river. Lost a good deal of blood, but they replaced it and fully expect her to pull through. Here’s the surgeon’s cell number. He went home, but said to contact him anytime.”
    Vibrating with obvious rage, Rown looked at the extended card for a sec and then took it. “Thanks.”
    “Yeah.”
    “And for…” he gestured to the chair.
    “Yeah.” Luca stuck his fists in his pockets. “She was pretty scared. I didn’t want her to wake up alone.”
    A spark of defensive anger flared in Rown’s eyes.
    “We didn’t recover a purse or any identification,” Luca explained. “You were called as soon as we knew who she was.”
    After a quick mental evaluation, Rown nodded and ran frustrated fingers through short, auburn hair and linked his fingers behind his head, causing his biceps to threaten the seams of his sleeves. “John the fucking Baptist?”
    Luca nodded. “Looks like.”
    “That makes no damn sense. Doesn’t he only kill hookers? How the hell did this happen? My sister is no prostitute.”
    Luca cleared his throat. “How… sure are you of that?”
    “Sure as shit.” Rown pushed an extra folding arm-chair out of the way hard enough that it bounced off the wall and advanced on Luca, who just shrugged and stood his ground.
    “I have to ask. You know that.”
    “Oh dear,” Barbara moaned from the doorway. Luca thought it was because she caught the murderous glint in Rown’s eyes. But at that moment, either a rioting mob