Page 173 of Shattered Pieces

“Go back to your room. There could be more,” Caden snapped, but she gave him a stern look.

“And leave you out here?”

“I think we have it handled,” I said dryly, tapping the gun against the guy’s head.

“Do you know who they are or what they want?” she asked, keeping her distance. She was going to have to replace the carpet, they were bleeding all over it.

“Their names are dead, gone, and injured, and two would like a casket, the other some handcuffs,” I smiled, not meaning to make a joke out of it, but my nerves needed something new to focus on.

“That’s not funny. Get off him,” she scolded.

“Only if someone has handcuffs. He’s still kicking,” I grumbled, not at all surprised when Caden vanished into his room and reappeared with cuffs in hand, much to his mother’s horror. He helped me slap the cuffs on him, then I stood and eyed my handiwork. “Not bad.”

“Aurora, get away from him,” Josie scowled, telling me she was really frazzled because she never called me that. “Where are the police?!”

“This is why you don’t rely on cops,” Hunter drawled as he materialized at the top of the stairs in a hoodie and sweats like he’d been in bed too, taking in the scene. “Recognize them?”

I didn’t bother asking why he was here, he probably had alerts set up for our damn system. If he’d been in bed, he’d gotten here super fucking fast.

“Nope. They didn’t make demands or anything, just tried shooting,” I shrugged, motioning to the gun. “Am I in trouble for using this?”

“No, just don’t tell them where you got it. It’s untraceable,” he answered, moving closer to brush my hair from my face. I probably looked like a hot mess from bailing out of bed and shooting people. “You’re okay?”

I nodded, the adrenaline crash starting to hit me. “We’re not hurt. Should you be here? Won’t they think that’s suspicious?”

“We’re not hiding anything. You had to defend yourself. It’s going to be a long night though because they’ll definitely drag you in for questioning. You just got released from prison, even if the case didn’t stick. They’ll have their eyes on you.”

“This is ridiculous. I’m calling the department and the security company to turn the alarm off,” Josie bit out, stalking back to her room to grab her phone, and Hunter started talking, wanting to get as much out as possible before Josie came back.

“This can’t have been the Soldiers, they don’t want Rory dead. Psychos would do their own dirty work too.”

“The Soldiers tried to take her out in prison though, didn’t they? Could it be the Reapers? She was fucking their leader’s wife,” Caden offered, but I shook my head.

“Doubtful. Archer’s already approached me and thanked me for having her back in there.”

“That might have been before he found out you were also putting her on her back,” Tyler joked, clearing his throat when no one laughed. “Sorry.”

Hunter looked thoughtful, but not convinced. “Potentially, he could be pissed about it, but pissed enough to break into this place and start shooting? Doubtful. I’ll ask him if he knows anything about it. I also don’t think it was the Soldiers in prison. Something doesn’t add up with that.”

“Um, I’ll ask Archer myself, thank you very much. If he’s got beef with me, then he can say it to my face,” I hissed, making him shrug.

“Fine, but if I have to drag a third crew into a war over you, I will. If he did it, I’m killing him.”

“You can’t do that.”

“Why not?” he asked seriously, and I honestly didn’t have an answer for him. The alarm stopped not long before Josie scurried back out while on the phone, describing the scene, and Hunter sighed. “We should wait in the kitchen. Put the guns away, but keep that one where the cops can see it when they get here. Keep it away from you too so they don’t think you’ll use it against them. Cops are jumpy.”

Caden stashed his gun away, and Hunter hauled the injured guy behind us as we headed downstairs to wait, leaving him on the floor where we could see him.

Josie frantically spoke to the cops when they arrived, and as expected, they were more than happy to haul me to the station for questioning.

“I’ll bring her,” Josie scowled, but the cop snorted.

“Sorry, Josie. She needs to ride with us.”

“Let her get dressed first.”

“No one is leaving this room until we’re done.”