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“That’s it then,” Manson said. “We need to find them. Tonight. Now.”
“Manson, I don’t want any of you to get hurt,” Jess said. “Alex wants a reaction. Hewantsyou to come after him.”
I shook my head. “No. Alex wants a reaction but he doesn’t think we’ll come afterhim. He’s too goddamn proud to think he’s vulnerable. If he thought we’d come for him, then he never would have dared to do this.”
“We’ll prove him wrong,” Jason said fiercely. “No onefucking touches our girl.”
Jess’s voice was desperate as she said, “You don’t have to do anything. This could fuck up everything you’ve worked for. What if you get in trouble? What if you’re arrested? What if —”
“What if I fucking stand here and do nothing?” Lucas said. He’d stepped back, leaning against the wall with his hands clasped behind his back. It was a position of self-control as he struggled to keep it all contained, but anger was leaking out of him. It was the first trickle of a flood before the dam broke. “What if I let that asshole hurt someone I care about and do fuck all about it?” His jaw tightened, vehemently shaking his head. “He’s not getting away with this. No way in hell. Apparently, I didn’t hit him hard enough last time, but we’re fixing that this time around.”
It didn’t matter what the consequences would be. I wasn’t used to feeling like this; I was generally a calm dude. Most shit would just roll off my shoulders, the vast majority of circumstances weren’t worth getting violent over.
But there were no rules once someone I loved was hurt; there were no limits, there was no caution. This wasn’t just payback; it wasn’t petty revenge.
This was punishment. This needed to happen to ensure that Jess was never, ever put in danger again. The thought of what could have happened if she’d been alone, if she hadn’t had pepper spray, if she hadn’t gotten away...
Holy shit, I could hardly stand to even think of it.
Lucas paced up and down the living room, too worked up to sit still. “Where was this? I need fucking directions.”
“They won’t hang around the trail,” Manson said. He was seated on the couch right behind Jason, having not taken his eyes off Jess for even a second. “Call Billy’s Bar. You still know one of the bartenders, don’t you? Call him and ask if they’re there.”
Lucas stalked out of the room, and within a few seconds, I heard him talking to someone on his cell.
“I can take you to Urgent Care,” I said, gently brushing Jess’s hair back from her face. But she shook her head.
“It’s okay. I’m okay. The ice is helping.” She squeezed my hand as I held it, giving me a small smile. “I’m okay, Vince. Really.”
“Except you fucking aren’t,” I said. Christ, I felt like I might shatter into pieces. I was sick with anger, with worry. I should have been with her. I should have been there. We all knew what Alex and Nate were capable of, weknewthere was danger. How could I have been so foolish to think she would be safe?
“Do you want me to stay, girl?” Julia said, wringing her hands as she stood nearby. “I’ll call out of work tonight. I’ll tell them there was an emergency.”
“You don’t have to do that.” Jess smiled tightly, her breath hitching with pain. “I’ll text you later, don’t worry about me. I’m safe here.”
As Julia departed, Lucas returned.
“They’re not at Billy’s,” he said. “At least not yet. But he’s going to call me if they show up.”
“We need to find them,” Manson said. “I don’t care what it fucking takes.”
“Please don’t go anywhere,” Jess said, her eyes widening as she tried to sit up. I pressed her back down.
“Relax, baby, just relax. Let me give you something for the pain, okay?” I practically had a pharmacy upstairs, but I didn’t want to leave her side. I looked at Jason again, pleadingly. “Can you get my box from the attic? Under the bed.”
Manson took over with the bag of ice as Jason got up. He didn’t say a word, but his expression said plenty. Fury was etched into his face; it was knotted in his shoulders and clenched tightly in his jaw.
Starting fights and trashing the cars — I could find it in me to forgive that. But when they went after Manson and Lucas at the sideshow, I knew we had to get them back. Now that they’d gone after Jess...
They were going to wish they were dead men.
“I’m sorry, Jess,” Manson said. He was holding the ice against her ankle, and every time he moved his hands, they shook. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” she said. Her breathing had finally steadied as Jason returned with my box of pharmaceuticals. As I rummaged through it, she said, “Give me the good shit, please.”
“One of us should have been with you,” Lucas said. “I should have —” His cell vibrated with an incoming call, and after one quick glance at the screen, he picked up and said, “Are they there?”
I could only barely hear the man talking to him, but I heard a desperate plea. “Just don’t start shit, okay? I’m seriously on my last warning here. If you show up because you have a problem with these guys, then —”
