AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her eyes were squinted with spite, and bitter lines bracketed her mouth. “Not for long; it won’t be.”
The door to the backroom swung open, and the lady returned with a box in her hands. Miss Hernandez took it, popped her card over the paying console, and stalked away without a second look at me.
The attendant looked at me then her eyes flew to the door, “Ummm?”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said, but the tension from seeing her did not lessen when I paid for my things with my credit card. As I left the bakery, I only thought, “Not for long, it won’t be…what does that mean? Sounds like they already have a plan in place…what is it?”
When I got into my car, I had the windows up and called John. He answered, “Hello?”
“You remember when you said you don’t believe in coincidences? Well, I’m starting to follow you on that because Miss Hernandez was right behind me inNutterbutters. She denied the almost-accident, but I don’t care about that. What worries me is what she said before she left.
“Granted, I should have been a girl scout, but this time, I taunted her saying that her reality is that her boss would never catch up to you, and she said,not for long, it won’t be,” I told him. “I can’t help but think they’re planning something even worse than the calves.”
“This is what I am afraid of,” he replied grimly. “But what I hate even more is knowing I don’t know what to expect from him or when it will come.”
* * *
The next morning, as I was about to hold out the door for Samantha to slip inside my car, ready for our next shopping trip, three vehicles, Ms. Hernandez’s included, came screeching to a stop at the step of John’s house.
I’d had to yank Samantha away while she, West, and four men jumped out in nothing less than an ambush. West took the steps in one jump, only for the screen door to bang open, and Ben came out with a shotgun in hand and John right behind him.
“Why the fuck are you on my land?” John growled. “You’re not welcome here.”
“When one of your people decides to threaten one of mine, you’re damn sure I will be here, unwelcome or not,” West sneered.
“Threat? What threat?” John yelled back. “You’re insane. I’ll give you one minute to get off my property, or I will call the police.”
I quietly opened the door and whispered to Samantha, “Get in now.”
Her eyes, wide with questions and fear, made me even more determined to protect her from what would happen. With a quiet nod, she sunk into the backseat, and I closed the door right as West said, “Maria told me that woman over there threatened her saying you were going to wring her neck the next time you saw her over a simple misunderstanding.”
What?
I spun around and glared at the two. “Excuseme?”
West looked at me and then cut his eyes away dismissively, but I was not having it. I stood by John and then looked at Miss Hernandez’s smug face. “I didn’t say anything of the sort to you.”
“Yes, you did,” she replied.
“When?” I demanded. “Were you high? I only asked you in the bakery if you followed me and looked at me as if I were mud under your fake Louis Vuitton boots, so don’t lie. We can return to that bakery and get the attendant to prove it.”
“Sure, we can,” Miss Hernandez replied, her smile sly, which made something twist in my stomach.
I was sure they had done something to ensure the lady wouldn’t testify. Had they paid her off, or had her dismissed?
“All I am asking is an apology from her,” West replied.
John’s head snapped back, and fury darkened his face. “You mean you want me to give you the same thing you refused to give me? Get off my land, West.”
West’s first punch was unexpected, and John could not block it, and the sound of West’s fist smashing against John’s face made me feel sick. The sick sound of flesh and bone hitting flesh and bone had nailed my feet to where they were, and even when the chock passed, everything in me wanted to leap in, but I could not move.
When West's second fist flew out, John turned and flicked his head away from the punch. John dodged the blow and threw one of his own. His fist connected with a crack against West’s jaw. John dropped a little and went in low, plowing his fists until West lost his balance and, the next instant, tumbled down the stairs.
My attention flew to Samantha, and I spun to see Sam’s wide-eyed and pale face, and everyone around seemed as shocked as I was. But then, a flicker from the corner of my eyes had me looking back to see John as he pressed his scuffed boot into West’s chest.
John leaned down and said in no uncertain terms, “Get. Off. My. Land.”
He pulled his foot away and watched as West scrambled to his feet and went off to his car before they hopped in and drove away—but before they left, the two shot a secret smirk as if West’s humiliation meant nothing to either of them.
