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“Exactly.”
“And you say that’s the excuse the government gives for what it does. You’re doing the same thing.”
Suddenly Taylor’s hand lashed out and cracked Jimmy across the face. He fell to the ground. “Don’t you talk to me that way!”
“You bully!” Tessa screamed at him. “I thought the one thing that might be good about you is that you wouldn’t hurt children.”
Taylor looked stunned. “You brainwashed him. You wanted him to provoke me, you bitch.” He waved his gun frantically. “I ought to blow your head off and take a picture of that. I bet that would get attention on Facebook.”
“They’d take it down, Mr. Taylor.” This came from Kayla. She sounded calm. “Ever since the terrorists posted videos of beheadings, they’ve cracked down on images of violence.”
“You brat.” He spun to face her. “You’re just trying to stop me.”
“Of course I am. You’re being creepy.”
He moved toward her, and Tessa shot over to grab his shoulder. He spun, bringing his gun around so that the flat side caught her on the side of the head. The room spun, and she crumpled to the ground. Taylor pointed his gun at her, face bright red. “You’ve interfered with me and my family for the last time.”
She looked up at the blurry figure standing over her and heard a familiar throaty roar.
“I think you’ve got company, Mr. Taylor,” Kayla said, coming over to where Tessa lay.
As a startled Taylor ran to grab a rifle from the bus, Tessa felt an uncontrollable urge to laugh.
Kayla squatted next to her and whispered, “I’m glad you’re okay, Miss Lee, because I hear Uncle Jett’s bike, and I think the shit is about to hit the fan.”
Tessa didn’t like to hear that sort of language coming from a twelve-year-old, but she had to admit the girl was probably dead right, and she did like the message.
Tessa stood transfixed,head pounding, frozen in place, as Harvey pointed his rifle out through a missing pane of glass in the door and fired at the bikers.
Ronan and Jett. What if they were shot? Her heart fluttered. She couldn’t see what was happening, but Taylor’s stern expression told her that at least they weren’t dead yet. He was sighting, getting ready for a second shot when he suddenly went flying to one side. Kayla was all over him. She’d crashed into him from behind and fallen on him, swinging wildly with a wrench she’d found somewhere.
As he recovered, he roared with rage and swung an arm to the side, knocking her away and scrambling to his feet. As Kayla got up, he raised the rifle, holding it like a baseball bat. Tessa moved toward him, but Jimmy jumped in front of his father, shaking his fists. “Don’t you dare hurt her,” he screamed.
Seeing his son in the path of his swing, he checked the blow, hesitating. While he thought, Kayla got up. Taylor turned toward her menacingly, and she stepped forward, bringing her foot up to catch him squarely in the crotch, and he cried out and crumpled to the ground. Tessa grabbed the rifle and jumped back out of his reach.
She’d never fired a rifle and hoped she would never have to, but she kept it trained on him.
She saw Taylor trying to get up and shouted at the kids, “Everybody run for it. Through the office.”
As if they’d read her mind, all the kids and the two adults were already heading that way. Tessa followed behind, casting glances back over her shoulder. As Taylor struggled to his feet, he pulled out his pistol. She’d forgotten about the damned pistol, and now he was waving it and shouting for them all to get back in the garage, but it was too late. They burst out into the hot desert sun, scattering.
Taylor moved fast and was right on Tessa’s tail as she went out the door. A roar of a beefy engine told her Ronan and Jett were close. She knew it had to be them, especially since Kayla had recognized Jett’s bike engine.
Taylor stopped and turned to face the oncoming motorcycles. “He’s got a gun,” she screamed, but Taylor had already raised his pistol and was taking aim. The men closed in fast, and they moved apart, forcing him to aim at just one. Startled by the move, Taylor pointed first at one, then the other, before snapping off a shot.
Tessa screamed as she saw both bikes go down. Ronan was in the air, flying at Taylor as his motorcycle spun on its side. He smashed into the man, knocking him down on the dusty asphalt and then rolling past him. Ronan was up first, and as Taylor got to his knees, Ronan lashed out with a foot, catching him in the ribs, and sending him spinning again. Before he could move, Ronan was on him, pounding the man with his fists.
Jett got off his bike, limping slightly, but he didn’t let it slow him as he joined in the fracas. They soon had Taylor huddled on the ground in a ball of submission. She admired their restraint as they stood up, stopping the beating suddenly when they saw the man was senseless. Ronan pointed at the gun. “Would you mind picking that up? It wouldn’t do for the prints of a convicted felon to be found on a gun.”
“I’d rather not have mine on them either,” said Jett as he limped closer, wiping at a bloody spot on his forehead. There was blood on his T-shirt too.
“Are you okay?” Tessa went to him and pulled up the shirt after giving him a quick, frantic kiss. “We have a first aid kit in the bus,” she said.
“Here it is,” Kayla said, and Ronan and Jett both enveloped her in a hug.
Ronan looked at Tessa. “Tessa, are you okay?”
“Just a headache,” she said softly.
