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The redhead is crawling across the room to a wooden box. I stalk over to it, kick off the lid, and pick up the pistol inside.
“Is this what you wanted?” I roar, aiming the gun at his head. “Nobody touches my woman. Nobody thinks about touching her. I’ll execute every single one of you.”
Switching my aim between them, I back up slowly toward Harper.
All of them are battered and broken, unable to stand, nursing their injuries.
Kneeling carefully—they could be faking—I scoop my arm under Harper and lift her gently, cradling her to my chest as I walk toward the exit. I aim the gun the entire time, fully prepared to kill any or all these bastards, if that’s what it takes.
They didn’t have time to do what they wanted, but it doesn’t matter. They tried. They weregoingto, and that’s enough.
“Nobody leaves,” I snarl, kicking the door open. “Out. All of you. You’re going to wait for the police.”
When they don’t move, I give one of them a sharp kick. That gets them all going.
As the sirens finally reach us, they crawl into the cold night air, kneeling against the wall.
* * *
“They’re keeping her for observation,” Adam tells me when I return from giving my statement to the cops. “They didn’t… get what they wanted from her. They didn’t do that, but the doctors want to make sure the drug doesn’t mess with her system.”
I nod, still feeling amped-up, running a hand through my hair.
“What did the cops say?” Adam asks.
“They’ve been looking for these creeps, apparently,” I say. “It’s a sick game they play. They take turns. Spiking women at clubs and then taking them there.”
“Jesus.”
“Is she awake?” I ask.
“She’s still groggy. They say she’s not ready for visitors yet.”
Adam and I sit together in the cold, clinical atmosphere of the hospital.
“I was at Eva’s grave,” Adam whispers. “I didn’t have my phone with me. Her other contacts were Eva and Tiffany. Tiffany was still in the club, in no state to save her… and Eva obviously couldn’t help. Christ, Bryson, if you hadn’t been here…”
“I was,” I say. “I’d never let anything happen to her. I’ll always protect her.”
He looks at me for a long time, his eyes red, his lips trembling.
It’s like he’s silently asking me,Are you saying that as a friend or something else?
“They’re lucky they didn’t take it any further,” I snarl. “I would’ve killed them. Every single one. When I saw her on that mattress… I think she should stay with us for a while. There is another spare room.”
“I was thinking the same,” Adam says, still giving me that look, as if he wants to ask a question, but he’s scared of the answer. “Are you going to get into any trouble?”
“No,” I tell him. “The cop laughed about it when he mentioned breaking the gate, the door, and the assault on those bastards. I might have if one of those pricks had forced me to take it further. But a few broken bones? They got away lucky.”
“Thank you,” Adam says, his voice cracking. “Seriously. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost her, too.”
“Me neither.”
We sit together, thinking of the terror Harper must have endured, not knowing what would happen next. There’s still rage in me, boiling, as I relive the moment again and again.
The door bursts open. Tiffany runs in, her heels clicking on the floor.
“Is she okay? Is she safe? Oh, God, I’m so sorry.” She collapses in a heap on the floor, shuddering.
