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“Let him out. Now. We’re leaving.”
“What about the money?” The man who speaks has a flat, broken nose. I realize he’s got a gun in his hand, but I must’ve stopped him from aiming it when I quickly pointed mine at them.
“We’re leavingnow,” Duke roars, stepping forward. “Or I’ll shoot you in the fucking head.”
“You’re a fighter, my friend, not a killer.”
“You’re wrong,” he snarls. “I beat my own father to death with my bare hands. What do you think I’d do to you? Last chance.”
I gasp, wondering if I heard him right or if the violence is giving me crazy hallucinations. He killed his owndad?
“Fine, fine,” the man says, sighing like this is all beneath him. “Let the kid out.”
One of the men opens the door to the bathroom. A moment later, Ryan walks out, thoughwalksisn’t exactly correct. He weaves from side to side, clearly completely drunk. I’ve seen him like this many times. It was always when he got the most vicious.
“Come here,” Duke snaps angrily.
Ryan looks around the room, eyes narrowed. When he finally sees me, he pauses, shaking his head as if I’m a phantom of his imagination and he wants to get rid of me.
“We’re leaving,” Duke snarls when Ryan is standing at his side, the other side to me, meaning we don’t have to stare at each other. There’s too much happening now for him to give a damn I’m here, but what about when the chaos stops?
“If you want to start a gunfight, you’ll win,” Duke says. “I’m sure more of you are armed, but a few will die. Is it worth it, fellas? To die here?”
“What sort of man beats his own father to death?” the man with the broken nose snaps. “What sort ofcowarddoes a thing like that?”
Duke clenches his jaws. His temples pulse. I can feel the rage emanating from him, but it’s nothing compared to when the man dragged me into the bar, and Duke turned and saw us. It was like the world would end if he didn’t do something.
Slowly, Duke backs toward the door, reaching out with one hand and putting it across my body. Ryan stumbles along with us. “You two go first,” Duke says when he’s at the door. “Molly, you may need to help—”
“I’m fine,” Ryan snaps, stumbling through the door.
I follow him. A moment later, Duke bursts onto the street. He yells at me and Ryan to get to the car while aiming the gun at the door. I run quickly, throw the door open, and then grab the keys from the foot well where I dropped them.
Ryan climbs into the backseat, groaning. Our eyes meet in the rearview. He frowns at me, a complicated look in his eyes. It’s like part of him wants to snap at me and call me names, but the other… I don’t know. Maybe he wants to apologize, but then his lip curls. It’s classic Ryan. He opens his mouth to speak and closes it when Duke jumps into the car. He throws the gun on the ground and slams the door, speeding away.
“Is everybody okay?” he says, the tires screeching as he takes a corner and heads for the highway.
“I’m going to be sick,” Ryan grunts.
“If you puke in my car after pulling this shit, I swear to God, I’ll disown you,” Duke roars, then takes a long, slow breath, glancing at me. It’s like I can read the message in his intense eyes.I couldn’t let them hurt you. I’ll never let anybody hurt you, but that’s probably just wishful thinking on my part.
Ryan groans and leans against the door, putting his hands over his face.
“Fifty thousand.” Duke goes on. “What thefuckwere you doing there?”
“I don’t know, Dad. I was at a bar. They said it was a friendly game. I think someone spiked my drink.”
“You weren’t supposed to be drinking today,” Duke says.
Does Ryan have a drinking problem? I’ve never thought about it in those terms, but I know he drinks a lot. I always just figured it’s college. It’s what people do. Rachael probably drinks too much, too, though I wouldn’t say anything. Most of my classmates drinkloads.
“I know,” Ryan mutters, then shudders.
“You could’ve gotten yourself killed. You could’ve gotten me killed. Worse, you could’ve gottenMollykilled. How would that feel, getting an innocent woman murdered? Getting your own dad murdered?”
“Dad, I’m s—”
“I don’t want to fucking hear it!” he snarls. “Goddamn it. We’re getting you help. I don’t care what you say. I don’t care if you don’t think it’s that serious. We all could’ve died tonight. It’s that easy.” Duke snaps his fingers. “Just like a fight. One moment, one hesitation. Except we’re talking bullets here, son, not fists. Not kicks.Bullets.”
