Bad Boy's Touch (Firemen in Love Book 3) Read Free

with obstruction of justice too.”
    For a moment, I forgot about hitting on her. I couldn't seriously get arrested; my boss would kill me. He didn't tolerate criminal mischief these days.
    Look how fast he canned Max – and all he did was drive a fire engine through a store window.
    “Look, Madison. Maybe we can work something out.”
    “Bribing an officer is highly illegal, I'll have you know,” she grumbled. “And don't call me that. Stop acting like we're friends.”
    Another cruiser drove away with two of Rico's guys in the back. She'd called for backup to collect Ian and Rico, but they hadn't gotten here yet. That meant we were alone for now.
    Maybe I could use that to my advantage.
    “You're making a huge mistake. If you take me to jail, it will end very badly for me. I'm kind of in the public eye. I can't be seen getting thrown into a cell.”
    “Perhaps you should have thought about that before making so many bad decisions.”
    “You wanna be responsible for getting me fired? The only thing I'm guilty of is knocking out that asshole's tooth.”
    Rico cussed at me and flipped me off. Madison wasn't amused.
    “You've got the wrong guy in cuffs. Do you realize how much good I've done for this city? How many lives I've protected? All the buildings I've kept from burning to the ground?” I forced myself to smile. “You never know. The next person I save might be you.”
    She hesitated. Rico shouted at her.
    “Don't listen to his white-knight bullshit! This fool's even more dangerous than me. He's a snake, that's what he is. Strikes when you least expect it.”
    “Shut up,” she hissed. “Both of you are coming with me. You can argue about your personal problems once we get to the station.”
    That son of a bitch! If it weren't for him, she just might have let me go. Now what?
    Her radio beeped. She dropped my arm to pick it up.
    “Sorry for the holdup,” said a man on the other end. “There was a truck accident on the highway and we're stuck in traffic. You want me to call another unit over?”
    “No, I can handle this one on my own.”
    Here was my chance. She wasn't looking at me, wasn't paying attention. I could run. Would probably make it into the building before she reacted.
    Ian waved his arms and gestured wildly at the employee exit. He was thinking the same thing.
    “See you back at the station.” She put the radio back and reached for me. “Okay, enough wasting time. Get in.”
    I dug my heels in. “Wait a minute. C'mon, just hear me out.”
    “I've already heard you. Now do what I said or –”
    A loud crack echoed from somewhere down the alley, then something whizzed past our heads. Holy shit; was that a bullet?
    “What the...”
    Another one came from the opposite direction, narrowly missing us as it ricocheted off the pavement.
    “Gunfire!” She drew her pistol. “Everyone get down!”
    At the end of the alley stood several of Rico's gangsters. They'd parked to block the exit so Madison couldn't get out. Moments later, another couple of cars blocked the north entrance too.
    “Bitch, you let Rico go or I'm gonna kill you!”
    I wasn't dumb enough to stand around waiting to get shot in the head. Time to move – whether Madison liked it or not.
    Rico bolted into the strip club. Ian grabbed the door before it slammed shut and waved to me.
    “Hurry up!”
    I ducked low to the ground and ran for the door. Bullets flew around me in all directions, bouncing off brick walls, hitting cars, and shattering windows. By some miracle, none of them hit me.
    Madison glared at me over her shoulder. “Get back here or you are in serious trouble, Silver!”
    “Sorry,” I yelled over the noise. “But I ain't in the mood for dying tonight.”
    Her angry screams were the last thing I heard before the heavy door slammed shut behind me.

Chapter 2 - Madison
     
    Which was worse: the hail of bullets raining down on me, or my prisoner escaping into a strip club full of terrified topless