Page 32 of Rowe

“Hey, wait. I’ll take you back,” said Rowe.

“No. No, I’m leaving.”

Everyone stilled at the table. All of the men staring at her at once, but she didn’t buckle under their gaze. Sadie, Margo, Ramey, and Summer were at the next table and walked toward Mara, holding her elbows to steady her.

“We can take her back to the cottage,” said Summer.

“No,” she said shaking her head. “I want to leave this place.”

“What? Why?” asked Rowe.

“Why? You’re treating this as a joke! That man is dangerous. He will kill anyone in his path to get what he wants. Haven’t you figured that out yet? He killed six women, at least. I would have been the seventh. He’s sending men out and he, himself, is searching for me. That’s not something a man like Rossi would do.

“You all think this is funny. Give him diarrhea, sic the alligator and the Komoda dragons on him. Laugh, laugh.” The men sobered, staring at Mara’s face as tears began to streak her pale skin. “I’ve lost my sister. My niece is dead because of this man and I’m next. You think I’m just going to sit here and watch him pick you off like ducks in a carnival? No. I’m leaving.”

“No, you’re not,” said Rowe standing. She started to speak and shook her head. “Maybe we’ve treated you like glass and haven’t impressed upon you who we really are. You’re not fucking going anywhere because if you do, you’ll be dead by morning.”

“Rowe,” cautioned Sadie.

“No. She gets to hear this.” He turned to Mara. “Are we laughing? You’re damn right. Men like Rossi always think they’ll win, always think they have the upper hand. It takes men like us to prove to them they don’t. A little at a time. Make them nervous, make them angry. They will always make mistakes.”

“And what if those mistakes kill you?” she yelled. The entire cafeteria quieted, turning to stare at her. She started to cry, heavy sobs. “God. I’m so pathetic. I can’t say or do anything right anymore.”

“You’re not pathetic,” said Ramey. “You’re scared, you’re hurt, you’re confused, and you’re mourning. That’s not pathetic. These men are different, Mara. As you can tell. They’ve seen things that none of us can fathom seeing. They spend their lives protecting those who can’t protect themselves, and that includes all of us.”

“She’s right,” said Summer. “We can see why this would be hard for you, but you’ve seen it all in action before. Firefighters who choose to run into danger when everyone else is running away. Police Officers who face crazed men and women holding weapons, praying that they don’t have to discharge their own. Tell me that’s not crazy.”

“It-It’s different,” she stammered.

“It’s not different,” said Rowe moving closer to her. “As warped as it might seem, this is how we release stress. There will always be men like Rossi. Men who believe that their money will buy their way out of everything. Men who believe that crime pays a lot better than honest work. Sadly, it usually does. But in the end, they can’t escape the justice heading their way.”

“Rossi is one of a million men in this world taking what he believes is his to take,” said Ham. “We’ve met most of them. Many we’ve killed. Many more we’ve stopped and are waiting until they lift their ugly heads again. On this property, no one can touch you. No one. But if you leave, you are vulnerable and will not survive for long. We know this for a fact.”

Mara said nothing, Rowe standing beside her. His huge warm hand was now holding her elbow, the women a half-step away.

“Give it some time, Mara. We promise that this is where you should be and nothing will happen to you,” said Margo. “We should know. Most of us have been exactly where you are right now?”

She looked at all the faces; the ones still seated at the surrounding tables. They were filled with concern, empathy, compassion. All the things she didn’t deserve at this moment. She saw the two faces she wanted to address the most.

“Did you, did you really speak to my niece?” she asked Julia. Joseph was beside her, Noah, and Tru across from her.

“We really did,” she said softly. “I know it’s hard to believe but she’s fine now. Happy and with her mother.” Mara nodded.

“I’m glad. They needed to be together.” She turned back to the men, looking directly at Rowe. “Alright. I’ll stay. But there’s one more thing you need to know.”

“What’s that?” asked Ham.

“Kiera was Rossi’s granddaughter. I killed his son when he tried to take her from me.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

“You didn’t think that was something we needed to know?” frowned Ham.

“I knew he would come for me no matter what. Nico Rossi raped my sister outside a bar one night. Everyone looked the other way. He left her in the alley, beaten, bleeding, and hopefully dead. He was wrong.

“She walked to the nearest taxi and came home. It was just me and her. I cleaned her up and the next day she described the man that raped her but didn’t want to report it. I did some searching online.”

“Online? You searched police databases, didn’t you?” asked Mike.