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She leans down, gives the boy a hug, and then she is walking back toward us with a grim expression.
“Let’s go.” Avery shoots a glare at her brother. “Tell Mom and Dad that I said goodbye when they get here.” She walks on without looking back, and I turn around to see Deacon rubbing a hand through his hair.
“Ugh. I fucked up,” he murmurs.
“Yeah, you did,” Remy supplies. “Karen? Man, even I wouldn’t be that stupid.”
“No,” Deacon snaps irately. “You’ll just show up at a party where you know the woman you love is gonna be, just to try and get her to talk to you.” He rolls his eyes and shakes his head. “Even though we all know she isn’t gonna give you the time of day.”
Parker is watching them from across the yard. She is sitting with a group of boys, distracting them from the adult drama.
We are distracted—a mistake. None of us are watching Avery. Until her scream fills the air.
Instantly, my hand is on my gun and Remy is at my side. We move in the direction Avery had gone, but we aren’t alone. Deacon and his men are there, too. Smartly, they wait for us to go first, guns drawn.
Once we move around a large truck in the drive, the scene becomes very clear.
“Get this crazy bitch off me!” Leroy screams.
Remy chortles. Deacon and his men all stop, laughing outright. None of them step forward to help the man currently lying on his back, cradling an obviously broken arm, with blood pouring out of his nose.
I’d likely never forget the image in front of me, either.
Avery, straddling him with one hand wrapped in his hair and the other slamming into his face. Over and over again.
“She’s a fuckin’ psycho!” Leroy roars in pain as her fist connects with his cheek.
“He shouldn’t have fucked with her.” The same man that had stuttered before says, crossing his arms over his chest, but none of them move. “She’s the scariest person I’ve ever met in my life.”
Everyone stands there watching, but I can’t. The uniform demands that I do something. Even if Avery makes me want to walk away and I don’t even know anything about her.
“Avery James, you’re under arrest for assault.”
The cuffs on my belt unsnap, and I lift her off him easily enough. Once I have her up, she collapses in my arms. Completely out of steam, silent sobs tear through her body. With nothing else to do, I carry her away from the crowd of men to the cruiser. I haven’t even been able to get the cuffs on her wrists yet.
“He attacked me.” She whispers quietly once we are out of earshot of her brother. “He grabbed me by the throat, and he said that he was going to kill me for ruining his chance to join Twisted Kings.”
Her admission changes everything. Already, I’m thinking about how I can apologize for making an assumption, but explain that I had seen it so I had to act. My mouth is open, ready to speak, ready to tell her that I’ll be arresting the man she defended herself from, when I see the tears in her eyes. Rarely do I hate my job as a police officer, but in that moment, I do.
Before I can respond in any way, the radio on my shoulder crackles and a call breaks through.
“10-74, I repeat 10-74.” My brother Keegan’s voice sounds garbled, and a gunshot rings out through the open mic. “Corner of Main and State.” Then, nothing but silence.
I freeze, unable to process what is happening. Remy comes running a moment later, and I leave Avery standing there staring at us confused. “Cut her loose, we’ll handle it later if the guy wants to press charges. I doubt it, though. Deacon keeps a tight lid on anything relating to the club or his family.” All business, Remy jumps behind the wheel of the cruiser.
“Units 6 and 21 responding,” I call in, immediately hearing every other officer in Birch responding the same way.
10-74. An officer needs assistance. Not just any officer, either. My little brother, fighting for his life and sounding scared for the first time since he’d joined the force.
“Hurry,” I tell Remy needlessly as he speeds down the road with the siren flashing and horns blaring around us.
All thoughts of the fiery brunette are left behind as we race to my brother’s last known location. Panic, the likes of which I’ve never experienced before, fill my soul and make it almost impossible to breathe. With every second that passes, thoughts of Keegan’s panic-filled voice fills my mind.
We arrived to chaos.
Two bodies are on the ground, face down.
I know the brightly colored tattoo on the officer’s arm, even from thirty feet away. I’d gone with Keegan to get it the day he’d turned eighteen. Every step I take toward the fallen officer leaves a hollow piece in my soul.
