CHAPTER 19
RYKER
As we walk into the grocery store, Ezra is beaming up at me. She grips my arm and gives a gentle squeeze. I love seeing her like this—carefree. It’s quite a sight, one I cherish.
Still, I can’t entirely calm down. Even as I take her in, I can’t help but scan around us as well. Normally, I’m on edge and always aware of my surroundings, but it’s even more now. Bobby was seen on the edge of town yesterday, but he never went home and it wasn’t one of my brothers who saw him.
If it had been a brother, Bobby would already be answering all my questions.
When Ezra knocked on my office door not long ago with hope written all over her face, I knew she was going to ask me for something I wasn’t going to want to give. Still, I was curious and looked up from my computer with an arched eyebrow.
“Opal is headed to the grocery store. I want to go with her,” she blurted out the words without trying to make them pretty or couch them in false coquettishness.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” I tried to argue even though I knew I was going to give into her.
Why wouldn’t I? She hasn’t asked for anything and has been laying low on my land. I also couldn’t give in too easily.
Her face scrunched up and her hands landed hard on her hips. “I’m going,” she insisted.
I watched her for a moment and took in her indignation and her frustration. It was adorable.
“I’m going,” she said the words again as if that would push me closer to agreeing.
“What do I get if I say yes?” I had to ask. There was no way I was going to let the opportunity pass to make some sort of wager.
“Blowjob?”
Ezra didn’t hesitate. She simply threw the offer onto the table.
“Deal.”
I’m not a stupid man and I sure as hell wasn’t going to start down a path of idiocy with a blowjob in the balance.
She giggled and shook her head like I was the one losing out. Maybe I could have gotten more, but I think it’s a fair trade in the end.
Now I feel this unease in my gut as we move through the grocery store. I want to hurry them along, but every time I try, Opal shoots me a look. She and Ezra have been chatting away steadily. Sidewinder has been dawdling, at least it’ll look that way to anyone watching us.
If anyone is.
Every time I catch his eye, something passes between us. The same unease. The same feeling as though something is about to happen.
Ezra’s steps seem to slow, like she can feel it too. We’re almost at the end of an aisle at the front end of the store when Bobby steps into view and lunges at Ezra. He grabs her arm and pulls her to him.
“Ezra,” his voice is ragged, “I need to talk to you. Right now.”
“Bobby,” Ezra shrieks and tugs her arm out of his grasp. She pushes him slightly and both of them stumble before righting themselves. Her voice is incredulous, but with more than a hint of fear, “What are you doing?”
I reach toward Ezra, but I’m a step too far away. Before I can close the distance between us, Bobby pulls a gun out of the back of his pants and points it right at my woman.
Everything freezes. Not just Ezra and Opal, but everything. The air feels charged, like it’s waiting. Then it speeds up again and I look at my prey. Really look at him.
He looks panicked; I can see the wildness in his eyes. He’s walked into this situation and he already feels cornered.
Ezra lets out a ragged breath and takes a step back. She freezes when Bobby snarls, “You need to come with me.”
“That’s not going to happen, Bobby,” I speak up.
For the first time, he looks at me. His eyes widen, but I already know he’s not giving up. The way his hand tightens on the gun tells me everything I need to know.
“You have to,” he looks at Ezra again, a touch of pleading in his voice. “I need to know what you said and to who.”
“What she said about what?” My question lands hard in the aisle.
I already know Sidewinder will be clearing the other aisles and coming around to flank him. There’s no doubt in my mind that he’s moving around where I can’t see him.
I’m pissed Bobby caught us where he did. It’s a natural bottleneck. It’s not like pushing over one of these dividers is easy. Shit like that isn’t how it is in the movies.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about. He called me. He told me you saw us,” his words are on the verge of panic.
“Bobby,” Ezra starts and my gut tightens with her words and the way she softens them, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Opal looks confused, but she kind of curls in on herself as she grips the shopping cart.
I don’t think she’s afraid, I think she’s just trying to take herself out of the equation as much as possible.
She’s not shrieking and the grip she has on the cart’s handle is tight enough for her knuckles to go white.
“Yes, you do,” Bobby growls. “Either tell me who you told about what you saw or come with me.”
“I don’t,” Ezra’s voice is shaky this time.
I want to reach for her, but I’m not sure I can. The idea of setting him off makes me hesitate. I can only hope we can keep this calm. For now.
That doesn’t mean Bobby is going to survive.
“You do,” Bobby screams and I can hear the collective gasp from the people who are still in the store. “You know exactly what I’m talking about,” he snarls the words.
Playboy is going to be pissed that he missed this. Once he hears about it, he’s going to pout. I just know it, but when I called him about having my six at the store, he said he had someone in his tattoo chair.
He’s going to be insufferable.
“I really don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ezra tries again.
“He said you had a camera,” Bobby insists like it’s evidence. “You always have a camera. Did you take pictures? Did you see?”
He’s not making a lot of sense, but it’s enough. Ezra holds herself very still like she’s not sure what to do or what to agree with.
Does it even matter?
“I need to know what you saw and what you said,” he hisses the words, his eyes darting around like he just remembered where he is.
He looks like he’s on something, but I’m not sure. Bobby has never been the smartest student in the classroom and being erratic doesn’t come as a surprise. That’s just how it always was.
People gave him leeway, probably more than they should have at times, because people thought he was a little off and a little slow. I think most people probably thought of it as grace.
But look at where we are now.
Bobby motions with the gun. “You’re coming with me. We need to talk,” his voice is insistent, as if the longer this goes on, the more it seems to tip in his favor.
He’s becoming more confident by the moment. It’s dangerous.
When Ezra stays quiet for a beat, uncertainty rolling off her in waves, I step forward and Bobby swings the gun in my direction. Good. That’s where it belongs.
I step in front of Ezra and motion to Opal for her to get down. She crouches behind the cart and I’m glad there’s so much inside of it already. Snake would fucking kill me if anything were to happen to his sister.
Ezra clings to my cut, I can feel the tightness of her grip, the way she’s seeking comfort and strength. The tremble in her body, the fear I know she’s feeling right now, makes me want to roar and beat Bobby until he’s a bloody heap.
I’ve learned not to strike too early. At least right now I’m shielding my Ez.
“You need to stay back,” Bobby’s voice is weak and thready, like he’s already starting to crumble.
“If you only want to have a conversation,” my voice is cold, “why do you have a gun in your hand?”
His eyebrows pull together, as if he’s confused, but he shakes it off and stands a little taller.
“I’m going to find out the answers to my questions.
I have to find out. If I take this to the boss without even knowing what she knows,” he’s glancing away from me, like he’s talking more to himself than to me.
I almost sigh because this is pathetic. But if he wants to monologue the whole thing for me, I’m not going to stop him. Whatever he’s on isn’t helping the situation.
“I need answers, or I’m dead,” there’s more resolve in his voice and his eyes snap back to mine and they’re slightly more focused.
“She doesn’t know anything,” my words are flat.
“That bitch knows something. If she talked, she’s dead,” he spits the words out. Ezra’s hand trembles against my back.
I chuckle, the sound is dark and brings an eerie calm to the store. Like it’s holding its breath. Waiting.
“You’re afraid of your boss,” my words curl around him, my voice dropping an octave, “but you have no issue pointing a gun at me and my woman.” Bobby’s eyes widen, but I’m not done.
“Not to mention if you wanted to keep a low profile,” I can see him thinking about my words, processing them, “making this kind of scene in the grocery store was monumentally stupid.”
Fuck.
The moment I say ‘stupid’, his eyes snap back to mine and fill with crackling fire, unhinged at its core and driven by chemical madness along with years of spite.
Not everyone showed Bobby grace.
Still, here we are.
I hear a low click, human, not metal and my muscles tighten. Sidewinder is in position.
Bobby shakes his head, his voice becoming a hiss, “Don’t call me stupid. I know she knows something,” he rants.
I’m not paying attention. I’m counting.
Three.
Two.
Before I can move to take him down, Sheriff Lyons comes into view, using one of the checkout stations as cover. His voice booms, “Bobby, put down the gun.”
Fucking hell.
“No,” Bobby snaps and looks over his shoulder before he looks back at me.
“Okay, son,” Lyons tries to make his voice placating, but it falls short. “How about we talk about this? What is going on here?”
I almost roll my eyes, but I keep them fixed on Bobby. On his hands. On his eyes.
They’re shifty. He’s uncertain and the fear is starting to overtake him. He’s not a criminal fucking mastermind or anything, but that doesn’t mean the situation isn’t dangerous.
But he keeps the gun trained on me.
That’s enough.
For right this moment.
“You don’t need to get involved, Sheriff,” he sneers the title like it’s a curse and I almost chuckle.
“Well, I’m here now,” he tries to sound congenial.
It doesn’t work.
“How about we talk about things,” Lyons offers again.
“There’s nothing to talk about. I need to have a private conversation with Ezra,” his words are almost crazed. It’s like his mind can’t let go of the idea of having a talk with Ezra because it’ll be the solution to all his problems. “She’s going to come with me.”
“That’s not going to happen,” the steel in Lyons’ voice is easy to hear.
But what surprises me is the hint of fear in the words as well. When I glance at him, his focus is entirely on Bobby.
Bobby keeps shifting his focus between us. His breathing picks up, like he’s realizing just how caged he is. How exposed he is. How this has no chance to end well.
When Bobby turns back toward me, I see corner of Lyons’ eye tighten. A moment. A hesitation.
“Bobby,” Ezra’s voice is shaky, pleading, “if you could calm down and put down the gun, I would talk with you. Right now, you’re scaring me.”
His hand lowers slightly just as Ezra starts to peek out from around my arm. When a clattering sound comes from where Lyons is taking cover, Bobby startles and he squeezes the trigger.
I see it happen. Slow and then fast; time seems to bend.
I don’t think about it and take a step. It’s just enough to ensure Ezra is completely covered. A searing pain rips through my abdomen just as another gun is fired.
Bobby’s body freezes and a bullet explodes through his head before he drops to the ground. I go down to one knee, my jaw clenched.
“Titus,” Ezra’s scream is almost as painful as the feeling of that bullet hitting me.
I try to stay up, but the strength leeches from my limbs. Only after I look to find the crimson stain of blood spreading from where Bobby has fallen do I allow myself to collapse onto my back. My breathing becomes shallow and labored. I fight against the pain and the need to close my eyes.
Ezra’s face comes into view, tearstained and filled with anguish.
“I’m okay, Teach,” I try to rasp the words, but I don’t know if she hears them.
“Titus,” she pleads, “don’t leave me.”
Everything goes dark.