Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 34926 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 175(@200wpm)___ 140(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34926 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 175(@200wpm)___ 140(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
It took all of ten minutes for me to gather my meager belongings and stuff them into my backpack. Chase was silent the whole time, standing with his back to the closed door of my room like a solid boulder. His jaw clenched and I realized he was upset about something. The last thing I wanted was to put him out when he’d been kind.
“You didn’t have to come with me, you know.” It was the only thing I could think of that would put him in a bad mood. Maybe he wanted to get back to the bar. Or maybe it was the party. Lord knew there was plenty of entertainment from what I saw. I doubted there was a woman on the place who wouldn’t volunteer to make his evening more enjoyable than I was right now.
“I know.” It was all he said, watching me intently.
“That’s it. That’s everything.”
Again, his jaw clenched. I ignored him and put my backpack over my shoulders.
Chase and I stepped out of the second-floor room onto the outside balcony walkway. We’d taken two steps when a hulking figure emerged from a doorway and swung a bat straight at Chase’s head.
Chase realized just in time and blocked the bat with his hand, catching it with a loud smack that had to have hurt. If it did, Chase didn’t show it. He yanked the bat away from his attacker, throwing it over the railing. Two more men came at us with yells, one grabbed me, clamping an arm around my neck and backing away several feet while the other two fought Chase.
His arm was so tight, I clutched at it, just trying to drag in a breath. I was short and this guy was way taller than me. When he backed us away from Chase, he lifted me off my feet. By my head. I kicked and fought as hard as I could. Unable to scream, I knew I was on my own.
One of my kicks must have caught something important, because the breath left the guy’s lungs in a putrid fume. His hold lessened and I was able to slide under his arm, freeing my neck and letting me drag in a breath of air. But the fight wasn’t over. I knew better than to sit there just breathing. Looking up, I saw the guy bent double, clutching his groin. I scrambled to my back and kicked out, catching him in the nose with enough force to send blood flying.
The big bastard fell backward, smacking his head on the concrete when he landed. Immediately, I was on my feet, turning back to Chase where I knew he fought against at least two opponents.
The fight was pretty one sided. Chase, though outnumbered, was a hell of a fighter. He quickly snapped the arm of one of the men before taking out the other one’s leg. Howls of pain echoed in the night, prompting doors to open down the line. No one offered to help or call the cops. Like I expected it in this place. Most everyone here was into some kind of petty illegal activity. What was one more fight to them? It would be more likely someone would be taking bets on the winner.
Just as Chase gave a vicious kick to the thigh of the man still trying to fight despite his knee injury, two more men joined the fray. I ducked into the doorway and out of the way of the men fighting. I was about to run for the help I knew waited for us in the truck when I realized it was Cliff and Deadeye who’d stepped in. Cliff put himself between me and the other men while Deadeye engaged the last man.
I shouldn’t have worried. Deadeye and Cliff were on the landing helping Chase while Daniel pulled the truck around to the stairs, ready for us to climb in and get the hell out of there. The second the truck came into view, Cliff urged me in that direction while the other men finished. I resisted, not wanting to leave Chase behind even though Deadeye was the much better choice to have his back if things got worse.
It was only then that I recognized the three men who’d attacked us. Butch and his buddies from the bar. Chase wasn’t even winded. He leaned down to Butch. The man’s right leg was at two odd angles. One above and one below his knee. No doubt the break was extensive and wicked.
“Next time I see you motherfuckers in this town is the day you fuckin’ die.” This was a side of Chase I’d only caught glimpses of before. He was a straight-up killer in that moment. I had the distinct feeling that the only reason he let Butch live was because there was a handful of witnesses to what was going on. Somewhere, there might even be someone recording the fight to post to social media. Seemed the thing people did nowadays.