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Everleigh's fingers shook as she typed. Craig's stare was enough to set her nerves on edge, but she refused to let him see it. Henry stood right behind her. Myles was near as well, watching the area to make sure they weren't ambushed. After what felt like hours and was actually, well, three hours, they'd gotten through all she needed to prepare her report and the next phase of this negotiation, which was the finalities. She looked at Gerard as she explained, ignoring Craig, since he was being an asshole.
"The next step will be for everyone to get together and work this out. The town hall is large enough and we've set the date for tomorrow morning at eight o'clock."
Craig bellowed. "I'm busy."
Everleigh turned to him and snipped. "Doing what, slashing someone's tires?"
The smirk on his face was about all she could tolerate.
Gerard's brows furrowed. "What's that all about?"
"Last night, Craig and an accomplice, came to the hotel where I'm staying and slashed the tires on my vehicle."
Gerard turned to Craig. "You're so close to removal I can't believe you can't feel it."
"You don't have the fucking balls."
Jasiah leaned in to look past his father. "He does and so do I. All this talk about people needing to feel safe and you're doing everything you can to fuck this up."
"You don't know anything, boy."
"Jasiah. My name is Jasiah and I'm not your boy."
Craig stood and glared at Jasiah, which caused both Jasiah and Gerard to stand.
Henry leaned down and put his hand on her arm. "Stand up and get out of the way, Everleigh."
She stood and lifted her leg over the bench she sat on. Henry pulled her slightly behind him, his hands were at his sides and balled into tight fists.
Two men ran toward them, each taking a position between Gerard and Craig.
One of the men yelled, "That's enough. All of you stop it right now."
Gerard and Jasiah stood back. Gerard held his hands in the air in compliance.
She moved in front of Henry, though she stayed close. Addressing Gerard and Jasiah again, she said, "If Mr. Howard refuses to come down, the two of you will need to come down with the authority to make the agreement, if one is made."
Gerard nodded and held his hand out to shake. "We'll be there. If he isn't, we'll have the authority to enter into an agreement."
"Thank you." She turned and began moving to the truck. She moved deliberately so she didn't show fear, but she wanted to get out of there - and now. She saw the children working again and froze.
Henry whispered in her ear, "Keep going."
"I can't."
She turned and addressed Gerard. "These children should be in school, not working like chattel."
Craig began racing toward her, "You don't fucking get to tell us how to raise our..."
A sharp thwack sounded as Henry's fist hit the left side of Craig's jaw. Craig went down like a two-thousand-pound rock, and she stared as he held his jaw in his hands and whimpered.
Gerard and Jasiah joined the group as they stared down at Craig. Gerard then looked into her eyes. "We agree with you and would like them to attend school. Please put that on your topics for tomorrow. Also, it looks as though Craig may not be able to speak much tomorrow, so God's watching over us."
Gerard nodded but said nothing else and Henry turned her around by the shoulders and ushered her to the truck.
He opened the door for her and used his left hand to help her in. She bit her bottom lip, knowing it was her fault his right hand likely hurt right now. He hustled around the truck and Myles did the same to his truck. The instant Henry had situated himself inside, he pushed the button to start his truck and she saw his hand had some swelling.
"I'm sorry."
