Chapter 28
Twenty-Eight
Axel
The next two days had been painfully slow with everyone on edge, waiting to see what would happen. Charlie kept an eye on her phone, but no further text messages had come through. It was like waiting for an attack, not knowing when or what to expect.
Another storm had started to roll in, bringing record-breaking snow.
Part of me hoped that the storm would be enough to keep whoever was after Charlie away and buy us more time until she could safely deliver the baby, and I could get them out of town.
But deep down, I knew better because life was never that kind.
It was getting late in the day as the bar started to empty when the door opened and two guys I hadn’t seen before stepped inside.
I felt my stomach drop the second I saw them, knowing exactly who and what they were there for.
I glanced at Jo, noting the way her jaw was clenched as she glanced over her shoulder to take them in.
I knew avoiding them would do nothing, so I took a deep breath, pulled my shoulders back, and walked to the other end of the bar.
“What can I get you?” I asked, making eye contact with them as they scanned the room, obviously looking for someone.
The tension mounted around us as Jo stayed put on her barstool, a good distance away from them, with her hand casually by her side in case she needed to reach for her gun.
That was the thing I loved about Nowhere—everyone was usually armed.
“Nothing,” one of them grunted as he continued to search the room. It wasn’t like it was a large space, and most of the tables weren’t occupied. He frowned, making the eye patch move slightly, showing a teardrop tattoo beneath his eye. “We’re looking for someone.”
“Well, I can’t really help you there.” I clenched my jaw and balled my fists at my side beneath the bar.
While I wanted to jump over the bar and beat the shit out of them, I needed to stay calm.
The last thing any of us needed was me causing unnecessary trouble.
Maybe we would get lucky, and they would give up on finding Charlie here and leave.
“I can get you something to drink, or you can leave and be on your way.” I knew my tone was curt, but it was hard to be friendly. Thankfully, the town of Nowhere wasn’t known for being friendly, so at least I fit in with the rest of the town.
The other one slowly turned his head my way and glared at me with the darkest eyes I had ever seen. They were almost black, probably to match his lifeless soul.
“We’ll go when we’re ready,” he snarled, a black dragon tattoo sticking out from under his sleeve as he slammed his hand down on the counter. I glanced down, immediately recognizing the tattoo on his hand as the one that was in the picture of Jason.
I briefly locked eyes with Jo and gave her a subtle nod as she reached for her cell phone, her fingers quickly moving across the screen.
We had spent the past few days working on a game plan for when something happened, and part of that plan was for Charlie to hang out in the kitchen with Ashley unless she was upstairs in the bedroom.
Either way, Charlie was not to set foot in the bar from then on out.
Jo slid her phone away from her and picked up her glass, taking a sip as she gave me another subtle nod, letting me know she had texted Ashley to let her know we had company.
So far, there were just two of them, but I knew better than to trust that, and I had no idea how many might be waiting outside or searching other businesses in town.
“I don’t think so,” I said, standing straight and squaring my shoulders. “I don’t care who you are or who you’re looking for. This is my bar, and you’ll fucking leave when I say you will.”
I reached under the bar and grabbed the baseball bat I kept there, setting it in front of me where they could see it. I wasn’t an overly intimidating man, but I also wasn’t weak and had no problem bashing their skulls in if it meant keeping Charlie and the baby safe.
“Like fuck we will.” The guy with the eye patch cocked his head as he looked at it and subtly lifted his jacket as he turned to the side, making sure I saw what he was packing.
I rolled my eyes, wondering if they knew just what they were getting themselves into.
He assumed because I got my bat out that I wasn’t armed myself, or that the entire fucking bar wasn’t carrying some sort of weapon on them.
I quickly looked around the bar, taking note of who was still there, watching, and taking in the situation.
The Yorks had moved to the other side of the room, where Mr. York was sitting in front of his wife.
They were both older, but I knew that Gary could handle himself if needed.
They were also sitting with the Packson brothers, who had a reputation for getting into trouble and were always armed.
Everyone in Nowhere was armed because most of us had a history that required us never to let our guard down.
“I don’t see her,” the guy with the eye patch and teardrop tattoo said.
“Maybe we need to look around,” the other guy suggested, giving me a cold, calculated look.
“Over my dead body.” I gripped the bat in my hand and locked eyes with them. “Leave. Now.”
The one with the eye patch leaned down, resting his arm on the bar as he angled his body toward me.
“Your dead body is easy. Consider it done. Now, either you’re going to get out of our way and let us do what we came here to do, or we’re going to take that pretty little blonde over there that you keep making eyes at and show her a good time.”
I felt the bile rise in my throat as Jo spun around on her barstool and faced them.
Fuck. This was going to go sideways real quick.
“Are you over there talking about little ol’ me?” she asked, batting her eyes at them.
I held my grip on the bat as I rolled my neck on my shoulders. This day was going to get worse in a matter of seconds. They had no fucking idea the trouble they were walking into with Jo. Even I wouldn’t mess with her.
“Maybe,” the guy replied, pushing off the bar and taking a few steps toward her. He was about to have a lot more problems than whatever happened with his eye if he didn’t stop fucking with Jo. “See something you like?”
“Actually, I do.” She lifted her eyebrow and glanced at me with a smirk before she leaped forward, grabbing the gun from his back holster before spinning out of his grip. She could have pulled her own, but I knew she took his just to show him how stupidly he had fucked up.
“What the fuck!” he roared, reaching for it before he tried to grab her.
“Now I think you need to listen to my friend here and get the fuck out of the bar. Better yet—get the fuck out of town and don’t fucking come back,” Jo said, her eyes narrowed as she aimed his gun at his chest.
“Fuck man,” the guy with the dark eyes and dragon tattoo on his hand said with a snort as he shook his head before lowering it. “You get distracted and fuck up every time pussy is around. Can’t fucking take you anywhere.”
He stepped forward and pushed the other guy out of the way as he drew his gun, firing it before I could even blink.