Chapter 11 #3
A few women screamed, and suddenly there seemed to be a stampede away from the side of the room where the fight was happening.
“Lexie?” she heard Midas ask, but then a woman tripped over a bag someone had placed at their feet while they were at a table and smacked right into Lexie. Her phone went flying out of her hand and landed on the floor a few feet away.
More people screamed, and now it seemed as if everyone was yelling. Lexie grabbed the woman who’d run into her. “You okay?”
She nodded but immediately turned and headed for the exit, along with many of the other people who’d been in the room.
It was complete chaos for a minute or two as half the room did their best to disappear out the front doors at the same time, the other half yelling.
Some were encouraging the fight, others were trying to stop it.
Lexie tried to calm the few kids who were there and keep people from pushing others over and trampling them as they tried to get to the door.
Looking around, Lexie saw her phone had been kicked under a nearby table, and she scrambled on her hands and knees to grab it. “Midas?” she yelled a little hysterically when she brought it up to her ear.
“What the fuck is going on?” Midas barked, sounding a bit hysterical himself.
“It’s okay,” she said.
“Seriously, talk to me right now,” Midas ordered. “What’s happening?”
“Theo got in a fight,” she said.
“Damn him,” Midas muttered.
“No, it wasn’t his fault. I mean, I’m not one hundred percent sure if it was or not, but I’m guessing it was the other guys who came in. They weren’t very nice.”
“What does that mean? Dammit, Lexie, you need to start explaining. Pid’s on the phone with the cops right now. They need to know what they’re about to walk into.”
“He’s on the phone with the police?” Lexie asked, confused. “But you guys are on a boat in the middle of the ocean.”
“Exactly. Which means I can’t get to you as fast as I’d like. So the next best thing is sending in the police. Now tell me what’s happening so I can tell Pid, and he can tell the officers.”
“Oh, well… I think things are good now. Most of the people here left when the fight got nasty. Jack and Pika have two of the guys who were being assholes in headlocks, Ashlyn is talking to Theo and—oh shit.”
“Oh shit, what?” Midas asked impatiently.
“Natalie got her shotgun out. She keeps it back in her office. She’s keeping the other two guys from doing anything stupid. I need to go help!”
“No! You need to stay right where you are, hopefully well out of range of that shotgun or some asshole’s fists.”
“I’m okay, Midas. It’s fine. Natalie’s got the situation under control. I’ll call you when everyone’s calmed down.”
“No, Lex, don’t—”
But she’d already clicked the off button. She felt guilty about hanging up on Midas, but she really did need to help her coworkers and not hide under a table, completely useless.
She scooted out and walked to the other side of the room, heading for Ashlyn.
“Is he all right?”
“He’ll have a hell of a black eye, but damn, I had no idea Theo could fight like that,” Ash said.
Lexie looked at Theo—and this time she did take a step back when she saw the look on his face.
He. Was. Pissed.
At her? She couldn’t tell. The amount of anger emanating from the man was scary as hell. Despite that, she couldn’t take her eyes from his, and they stared at each other for a long moment.
A noise at the door broke the weird connection she and Theo seemed to have and when Lexie turned to look at the entrance, she saw half a dozen police officers headed her way with their guns drawn. Without thought, she lifted her hands in the air, letting them know she was unarmed.
She saw Theo mimic her out of the corner of her eye, but the policemen and women didn’t seem concerned about them. All their attention was on Natalie.
“Drop the weapon!”
“Put the gun down!”
Several seconds went by in confused chaos as the officers ordered Natalie to disarm, while she and Jack tried to make sure the cops knew what the hell had happened.
Thirty minutes later, Lexie was sitting at a table watching an officer talk to Natalie, another taking notes as Pika explained what had happened, and a third and fourth attempting to talk to Theo, who was sitting on the floor against the wall staring straight ahead, not talking at all.
The four men who it seemed had started the altercation had been taken away to the police station.
From what Lexie understood, three had active warrants and the fourth man tried to deck one of the cops, so he was arrested on the spot as well.
She’d already given her statement to an officer when the front door burst open once more.
The officers all turned to face whatever the new threat was, their hands on their weapons, but all Lexie could do was sigh in relief.
She had no idea how in the world Midas and his team had gotten downtown so quickly, especially if they’d been on a boat in the middle of the ocean somewhere, but she was so damn happy to see them, she immediately began to shake.
Midas took in the room, and the second he saw her sitting at the table, he headed in her direction. Mustang reassured the officers that they were from the Naval base as Midas hauled her up out of the chair and into his arms.
He buried his head in the crook of her neck and squeezed her almost to the point of pain.
“Ease up, Midas,” Aleck said. “You’re squishing her.”
Lexie felt his arms loosen a fraction, but he didn’t let go of her for several moments. Then he eased back, but only far enough so he could meet her gaze. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” she said, running her hands up and down his arms soothingly.
“Fuck,” he muttered.
“Sit,” Aleck ordered. “Before you fall down.”
“I’m not gonna fall down,” Midas told his friend, turning his head to glare at him.
“Just making sure. I mean, I don’t think you even breathed the entire trip here.”
“How did you guys get here so fast?” Lexie asked.
“Fast? Shit, it took forever,” Midas said.
Aleck shook his head. “We told the guy driving the zodiac that if he got us to port in seven minutes or less, we’d give him a hundred bucks. Money talks.”
“But then you still had to get here from the base,” Lexie said in confusion.
“Yup. The Naval police gave us an escort,” Aleck said.
“Oh, man. I’m sorry, Midas. I shouldn’t have hung up on you. If I’d explained, no one would’ve had to go to so much trouble. I’ll pay back whoever paid the money to the boat guy.”
“Like hell you will,” Aleck said under his breath at the same time Midas spoke.
“You shouldn’t have hung up on me,” Midas agreed, shaking her a bit. “Do you know the hell I went through, wondering what the fuck was going on here? If you were hurt?”
“I told you I wasn’t,” Lexie explained.
“No, you didn’t. Lex, all I knew was that there was yelling and screaming, then you said there was a fight and Natalie was armed. Someone could’ve overpowered her and taken the shotgun and hurt you or the others. Shit…” he said, closing his eyes. “I’ve never been so damn scared in my life.”
And just like that, Lexie felt terrible. She hadn’t meant to scare Midas, didn’t know the man was even capable of being frightened. But looking at him now, it was obvious he’d been completely freaked out. She put her hand on his cheek. “I’m okay,” she said softly.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Aleck back away and give them some privacy.
“There we were, having a hell of an eye-opening conversation, giving me all sorts of ideas, then the next thing I know, there’s screaming and you aren’t on the other end of the phone anymore.
Then you come back and say everything’s fine, except you sound hysterical and Natalie has a shotgun and you hang up on me!
I swear to God, Lex, I just aged about thirty years.
Please, I’m begging you, never do that again. My heart can’t take it.”
“I won’t,” Lexie said immediately. And she meant it too.
She’d never had someone as worried about her as Midas apparently was.
She truly hadn’t thought much about hanging up.
But if the roles were reversed? If she’d been talking to him and realized something bad was happening around him and he’d hung up on her?
She wouldn’t be happy. He was letting her off way easier than he should’ve.
She knew it, and vowed to be a better girlfriend in the future.
“Careful,” Pid said from nearby.
Midas looked at his teammate, then wrapped an arm around Lexie’s waist and pulled her out of the way of the two policemen leading Theo toward the doors.
“Oh, you aren’t arresting him, are you?” Lexie asked, frowning.
“No. We’re just taking him to the hospital to be looked over. He doesn’t seem to be in his right mind,” one of the officers said.
Theo looked at her, then locked eyes with Midas. “You should take better care of her,” he said in a low grumble.
“Excuse me?” Midas said.
Lexie could feel the angry vibes coming off him.
“It’s her fault,” Theo said. “You should watch her carefully.”
Midas growled. Honest-to-God growled, deep in his throat, and Lexie was alarmed enough to move so she was between him and Theo.
“Easy, man,” Mustang said, putting a hand on Midas’s biceps.
The cops quickly led Theo away, and Midas said, “What the fuck was that?”
“He’s not in his right mind,” Mustang said. “You can’t take anything he says to heart.”
“That sounded like a threat to me,” Midas told his friend. “And he blamed her for whatever happened here. You said you weren’t anywhere near them when the fight started, right?” Midas said.
Lexie ignored the slight tone of accusation in his tone. He was stressed, and she couldn’t really blame him. She wasn’t too happy with what Theo had said herself. She’d gone out of her way to be nice to the man, and she had to admit that he made her nervous.
“Right,” she told Midas and the rest of the team, who were now gathered around them. “I talked a bit to Theo, small talk, then came over here when you called.”
“The cops mentioned one of the four men who were here said something about you,” Slate added, speaking up for the first time. “Then claimed Theo jumped him for no reason. They hadn’t even said two words to him when he attacked.”
“Will he get in trouble?” Lexie asked, concerned about the mentally handicapped man now.
Midas sighed and shook his head.
“What?” Lexie asked.
“You. The man all but threatened you, and you’re worried about him.”
“Jail’s not going to help him,” Lexie insisted.
“And being allowed to roam free starting fights is?” Jag asked.
Lexie pressed her lips together in frustration. “No, but he needs medical help. And maybe a friend more than he needs to be locked up and the key thrown away.”
“Lexie! Are you sure you’re all right?” Ashlyn exclaimed, trying to push her way through Slate and Pid to get closer. But Slate didn’t budge. “Hey, can you move it?” Ash complained, pushing harder.
Slate looked more amused than anything as he finally stepped to the side. Making it obvious that the only reason she was getting through was because he was letting her.
“I’m fine. I wasn’t ever in any danger,” Lexie said. “How’s Natalie? I can’t believe she stepped in with her shotgun like that.”
“She doesn’t take shit from anyone. It’s why she’s such a good manager. I’m assuming this is Midas?” Ash asked, nodding at the man holding her.
“Oh, sorry! Yeah, guys, this is Ashlyn, one of the other full-time employees at Food For All, and, Ash, this is Midas, and these are his friends. Aleck, Pid, Jag, Slate, and Mustang.”
“Dang, girl. You didn’t tell me you’d hooked up with a Hotty McHotterson…or that his friends were so easy on the eyes.”
Pid stood a little straighter and puffed out his chest a bit. Everyone laughed. Except Slate.
“Cut it out, asshole,” he muttered, lightly punching Pid in the arm.
Ashlyn frowned. “Look who’s calling who an asshole,” she muttered back, taking a step away from Slate so she wasn’t within arm’s reach.
Which bothered Lexie. Even if she and Slate were getting off on the wrong foot, he wouldn’t hurt her. But apparently Ashlyn wasn’t convinced. Lexie quickly tried to deflect the tension. “Natalie was amazing. She won’t get in trouble, will she?”
“Naw, she’s good,” Ashlyn said. “I think things here are about as settled down as they can be. Why don’t you go ahead and head out.”
“Oh, but don’t you guys need help cleaning up and reassuring everyone when they come back that things are okay?”
“We’ll be fine. Have a great weekend. By the time you come in Monday morning, things will be back to the same old boring routine.”
“If you’re sure…”
“I am. I already got the go-ahead from Natalie. And she told me she’s gonna look into hiring some extra security maybe. You know, some big hulks to hang around in our busy times, like Friday afternoons, just in case.”
“Oh, that’s good. I’m sure that will help make people feel better too.”
Ash turned to Slate. “You need some extra cash? You’re mean-looking enough…you’ll scare any bad guys away.”
Slate narrowed his eyes and glared at her.
She laughed, but it wasn’t a relaxed and carefree sound. “Chill. I was just kidding. If you keep frowning, your face will freeze like that.” Then she smiled at Lexie before heading into the back room.
“I like her,” Jag declared.
Slate turned his glare onto his friend.
Jag held up his hands in surrender. “If looks could kill,” he muttered.
“She’s got a point,” Aleck added. “You’re extra surly today.”
“Whatever,” Slate said. “We gonna get out of here or what?”
“Right. Now that the excitement is over, Slate’s impatient to get going. No surprise there,” Pid said with a chuckle.
Lexie couldn’t help but grin. She was already getting used to these guys. The way they kidded around and were almost brutal about it. “Thank you all for rushing to my rescue,” she told them.
“We’re a little jumpy,” Mustang said. “After Elodie’s incident, we’re a bit faster to react…or overreact, as the case may be.”
“Well, I appreciate it. I’ve never had anyone really care much about me before.”
“We care,” Aleck said seriously.
Lexie smiled at him.
“I’ll walk you to your apartment,” Midas said.
Lexie frowned as his teammates headed for the door. “Oh, but you came with them.”
“I’m not leaving you,” he told her.
Right. It seemed he was still a bit on edge. Lexie couldn’t blame him. “Okay.”
“We can take a taxi to my place.”
“The bus goes out that way,” Lexie said.
“No. That’ll take too long. Taxi or Uber,” Midas said.
Lexie shrugged. “All right. That works.”
“Come on, we’re leaving.”
Lexie let Midas grab her hand, and she waved to her coworkers as he shuttled her out the door and toward her apartment.