by Mia Malone
“You’re a clever man.”
“I know,” he said calmly and held his laughter back.
“And frustrating,” she snapped.
“I know that too. Sissy tells me often enough.”
“I like her.”
“I like her too,” he chuckled. “And I promised her I’d do the fucking grocery shopping on my way home so we’d best get going.”
“Okay. Groceries. I’ll help you.”
***
The asshole was heading home. Raz followed him on a plane up to North Dakota where he apparently had other friends from one of his many times in prison. From there he headed west. Headed home. Roddy called to tell them the fucker was back at the ranch his father owned and that they’d keep an eye on him. It seemed as if the video hadn’t reached him, which was what Raz had said was most likely since they hadn’t found any social media accounts linked to him. The situation seemed to be under control.
Joke’s investment in the small brewery had become a more significant investment which in the process had made him a fucking soap producer, something his friends found so hilarious he had to stay away from them for a couple of days. Then he gave them a bar of soap each and told them to use it. The ribbing stopped within hours, and it didn’t take long before Day asked him where he could buy another one. The others didn’t say shit about it, but he heard from Lee that she’d bought one for Gibson and that it was used.
The girls were scheduled for another visit, although only a long weekend and only if the asshole stayed where he was which he seemed to be doing.
The summer season was busy, but he found the time to sit down with Paddy and figure out the construction work needed on the house. It would cost a lot less than he’d expected and look a lot nicer, which made him wonder why the hell he hadn’t sorted that shit out years ago. Sissy walked in when they were about to put the papers away, and she started asking questions.
“Construction work,” he said and pointed to himself. Then he pointed at her and said, “Pillows.”
Paddy left quickly and the discussion that followed ended with the fabulous bout of make-up sex he’d aimed for, after which they sat down and went through what Paddy’s crew would do. Then he had to tell a grinning Paddy to change a few things.
Everything was humming along nicely.
Too nicely.
Joke didn’t like the way his gut told him things were too fucking quiet and was about to contact Raz to see what was going on when his phone rang.
“Roddy,” he said.
Something was not fucking right. If Roddy had good news, he’d call his daughter.
“He slipped away.”
Fuck.
“You sure?”
“His brother told us. Said their youngest sister had seen the video and talked about it at the dinner table. She’d taken fucking screenshots. Said the asshole left yesterday or even the day before.”
“He has a sister?”
“Two sisters. Their old man had a kid every ten years.”
“Ten years.”
“Almost to the month. Four children, exactly ten years apart from four different wives. The first wife is the only one still alive. She lives in a small house on the property.”
“Weird. Is the asshole the oldest?” Joke asked.
“Yup.”
“Can you trust the brother?”
“Not sure, but I will anyway. Won’t hurt and he’s a good man. Long story but he is.”
“I’ll find Sissy. We’ll put her away somewhere safe.”
“You need to know a couple more things.”
“Yeah?”
“You met Niels Hansen.”
Took him a few seconds to understand that Roddy was talking about the Norwegian sniper who had come to see Sissy. Fuck, that felt like a lifetime ago.
“Yeah.”
“He’s in Wilhelmine. Has been with us since he came to see Sissy earlier this year, but the fat bastard isn’t so fat anymore, so he’s been on the roof of your sister’s diner since the day after you called about that fucking video.”
There had been a sniper on the roof across the street, and Roddy fucking Hagen hadn’t told him.
“That’s several weeks,” Joke said instead of sharing what he thought about that piece of information.
“Yup. Black has been on standby with a club down in your parts and has been for a while. He’s heading your way with a couple of them, coming in from the south. Ice is in Vegas still, but he’s getting on a plane as we speak. He’ll have a car waiting at the airport.”
“Raz will head down too.”
“Yeah. On his way, left fifteen minutes ago,” Roddy confirmed. “We’ll get moving later today. Flying down.”
“Right. Gotta go.”
“Good luck.”
“Roddy?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m nothing like her ex.”
“Counting on that.”
“He’ll have to walk through me to get to her. You have to be prepared for whatever shit happens to you and your men if he tries because swear to God, I will kill the fucker.”
“Counting on that,” Roddy repeated calmly.
“Later.”
Joke walked out through Oak’s front doors like he had a million times before, and turned a corner he’d turned just as many times. Sissy was upstairs so he’d get her and –
There she was.
Standing in the alley between the houses, a few steps away from Main Street. Facing a man whose face was familiar from photos Joke had seen, but still wasn’t. The man was six years older than Sissy. Two years older than himself, and the bastard looked like he was in his seventies. What little hair he had left hadn’t been cut in a while, and the way his belly hung over his belt emphasized the too tight shirt where a button was missing.
Joke didn’t stop walking until he was standing in front of Sissy, moving his arm slightly to make sure she was behind him. She sucked in air, and he hoped to God she would remain silent. The man in front of them was frowning, but there was a look in his eyes as if he would explode any second. Then he raised an arm and aimed a gun at them.
“I won’t let you harm her,” Joke said quietly.
As he spoke, the gate at the far end of the alley opened, and a young girl took a step toward them. She held what looked like a gift wrapped present with a huge pink bow on it in her hand but froze when she saw the look on Joke’s face.
Essie Alvarez, Mimi’s friend.
Fucking shit. Joke turned his gaze back to the man in front of him. Please, little girl, he thought. Please back away.
“I saw you with her in that video,” the man rasped out. “She was mine.”
The back gate was still slightly open, but Essie was gone. If she’d understood what was happening, she might run for help. Fuck. Fifteen years old and Carmen was a great woman but would she have told her kids to be on the lookout?
“She’s mine now,” Joke said, hoping to keep the man talking.
Someone would come.
“I love her,” the man said, and Joke felt Sissy take a firm grip of his belt at his back. “I’ll shoot you if I have to. Shoot her too.”
Joke knew every angle of this place. He knew how the houses were laid out in this town where he’d spent his whole life. If he could move them, the sniper would get a clear shot. Five feet to the side. Six at the most. If he was there, the fucking Norwegian could take the asshole down.
“Not a good idea, man,” Joke said and twisted an arm backward to Sissy’s hip, shifting her with him as he moved slightly to the side.
Sissy followed him.
“I will,” the man said.
“This isn’t love,” Joke murmured and moved another step. “Love isn’t putting a bullet in her. It’s taking it for her.”
Something flashed in the man’s eyes, and he snarled something angrily. Joke kept moving slowly.
“You don’t have to do this,” he said quietly.
“Shut up,” the man grunted.
Joke kept moving, inch by fucking inch. Just a bit more and the man who might be on the roof behind him should have a clear shot. He also knew he had time on his side and if he just waited, help would come.
“You were everything to me, Louisa,” the man suddenly whined. “Why couldn’t you see that?”
Sissy moved but steps were coming up behind them, and Joke exhaled slowly. He knew who was coming because he’d grown up with those steps. No one else would march right into a shit situation like the one they were in. No one.
Except for his brothers.
“This is not a good situation, man. Why don’t we go inside? We can have a few beers and talk,” Paddy said smoothly to his right.
Joke recognized the soft click to his left. Mac had brought his gun out.
Behind the man, the gate was slowly pushed open, and Gibson stood there. His son Cal was just behind him and then a car parked behind them. A whiff of fucking cologne told him who was standing behind Sissy and he felt his lips twitch. Fucking Day and his damned European habits.
“I don’t need to talk,” the man said, and his arm started shaking.
“Sniper behind us, Pad,” Joke murmured. “Roof. Jenny’s.”
Paddy had grown up in the small town too. He and Mad had both spent their lives there, and they knew. Mac shuffled backward, knowing that he was blocking the shot. Paddy took a quick step to the side.
“Look,” he said calmly, trying to get the wild-eyes man’s attention. “We can –”
The shot rang out with no warning and Joke didn’t feel anything at first. Then a burning sensation spread in his chest, and he went down with a grunt.
Mayhem broke out around him. Shots were fired from all the fuck over. People were shouting, someone came running, and all he could see was Sissy’s beautiful blue eyes. Blue like the glaciers high up in the mountains. Beautiful.
“Lee!” Gibson roared. “Lee, get in here! Someone find Parks!”
Parks, Joke thought. Fucking clever kid. Surgeon.
Everything hurt and the blur around him made his head spin, but he didn’t care. Those blue eyes kept him focused. Alive.
“Baby,” Sissy whispered. “Hang in there. Help is coming.”
He heard a loud thump and saw Tug throw his huge box with emergency supplies down next to him. Lee was there, and her face was hard in a way he hadn’t seen before. Focused.
“Move back, Sissy,” she barked.
“Love you,” Joke tried to say but getting air into his lungs was suddenly so hard.
He moved his lips anyway and kept holding her gaze.
“Love you,” he mouthed again.
“I love you too,” she said. “Hang in there, Zacharias.”
He wanted to tell her he would, but the edges of his vision were getting gray, and all he could do was hold on to her sharp, focused eyes.
“Sissy,” he mouthed, but then everything went black.
***
Sissy
I screamed when Joke jerked in front of me, and once again when he fell to the ground as if in slow motion. I tried to make his fall easier but he was too heavy, and I went down with him. Shots echoed all around me, and I heard someone roar. People were screaming and running away. Or toward us.
The chaos around me suddenly seemed to stop existing, and I couldn’t react to what was going on. Everything I had in me focused on the man in front of me, down on the ground with a godawful stain spreading over his chest.
“Baby,” I whispered. “Hang in there. Help is coming.”
Tug brought the first aid kit, and Lee was there. A young man who looked a lot like Gibson came running and I was shoved to the side, but I didn’t let go of Joke’s blue, sweet, sweet eyes.
I tried to hold him with me just by keeping his gaze locked to mine. Then he murmured my name and closed his eyelids slowly.
I took a step back and watched as they worked furiously to stop the bleeding. Sirens were blaring in the distance, and the red stain on Joke’s chest spread out around him.
“He’s losing too much blood,” the young man murmured.
My world shifted back into focus suddenly, and I gasped. A strong arm moved around me, but I pushed it away and crouched down.
“Is that the biggest danger to him?” I asked.
“Don’t know,” the man muttered and glanced at me with gray, cool eyes.
Yes. Gibson’s middle son. The surgeon. The trauma surgeon. Lee had worked in the ER. Parker was young, but he’d know what to do. We would find a way.
“Do we have to wait for the ambulance?” I asked.
“What?” Lee snapped impatiently.
“Do we have to wait for the fucking ambulance?” I roared. “He’s bleeding out. Get him into Mac’s car. Rush him to the hospital where they have fucking blood instead of waiting for a goddamned stupid ambulance.”
They froze, and then Parks turned to look at Mac.
“Let’s go,” he said.
They loaded Joke into the backseat. Lee was half on top of him, pressing down on the wounds and Parks got into the seat next to Mac. Then I stood there, watching them roar down the street, sirens blaring and blue lights flashing.
“Sissy,” Gibson said quietly.
“No,” I snapped and looked around until I found her.
“Jenny,” I shouted. “Joke’s blood type?”
She just stared at me, and I moved.
“Focus,” I yelled as I walked toward her. “He’s gonna need blood so what’s his blood type?”
She straightened her shoulders suddenly, and I saw how she snapped back from that place full of fear and shock she’d been in just seconds earlier.
“Of course,” she said. “O-positive.”
I winced because I wouldn’t be able to help him then. O-positive was common, though. Others would have it too.
“You?”
She nodded.
“I’m O-positive too,” Day said next to me.
“There are others. There must be others,” I said. “It’s a small hospital, so they’re gonna need you. Load up your cars and get up there.” My breath hitched, but I refused to give in and turned to the crowd that had gathered. “Spread the word,” I shouted. “He’s O-positive. Don’t worry if you don’t know what you are. Anyone who can donate blood should head for the hospital.”
People started moving, and I heard a rasping sound next to me.
“I’ll spread the word,” Tug said. “Wrong blood type so can’t fucking do it. Can roar from the rooftops, though, so that’s what I’ll do.”
“He’ll make it,” I said.
“Lot of blood,” Tug rasped out and looked down on the ground.
“He’s a damned giant. He’ll make it, Tug. Go. Get the town to help him.”
“Yeah,” Tug said, nodded and walked off.
“Sissy,” Gibson said again, and I snapped at him again.
“Call my dad.”
“I’m on it,” Paddy said, and I heard him greet my father tersely as he walked away.
“Sissy,” Gibson repeated and tried to put an arm around me.
I slapped it away.
“I have to –” My face scrunched up before I could stop it but I clenched my teeth and made myself calm down. “I have to call my girls, Gib,” I whispered.
Our eyes met finally, and his calm gray gaze eased some of the pain in my chest.
“Let me hold you up when you do,” he said calmly and held his arms out.
I nodded, and then I leaned my cheek on his chest. Let him hold his strong arms around me and felt the steady beat of his heart as I made the most godawfully horrible phone call I’d ever made.
While I listened to my girls crying and Dante trying to hold them and himself together, I looked at the man on the ground. Deputies were moving around him, but then someone put a blanket over his face, so I looked away. I tried to remember how it had been back when we were young, but I couldn’t. I didn’t know who he had been anymore.
All I knew was t
hat I hated him.
Chapter Seventeen
Joke
Yelling.
Joke wanted to laugh because there was a lot of yelling going on so he figured he couldn’t be dead. It also felt like he was floating around on a cloud, which further confirmed his status as living unless he actually was dead and had gone to heaven. Since he’d always assumed he wouldn’t qualify for heavenly bliss and had no intentions to wear one of them fucking ridiculous long white gowns required in that place, he surmised that floating on a cloud meant he was heavily drugged and not pushing one single daisy up just yet.
“You can’t sit there,” someone shouted.
“Don’t fucking care.”
Joke felt his mouth twitch.
Gibson.
The sounds of people yelling and moving increased, there was a deep bellow suddenly, and he opened his eyes slightly.
“Hey, baby,” a soft voice whispered in his ear.
Aha. He might be in heaven after all.
“Sissy,” he rasped out. “Are you naked?”
“What?”
“Heaven. If you’re naked, then I’m in heaven. Means I’m dead.”
“You’re not dead.”
“Okay,” he murmured. “You’ll be naked later.”
Then he closed his eyes and smiled.
***
“I don’t fucking care. I’m going in there.”
Joke made a huge effort to open his eyes, but the lids seemed to be glued together. He wanted to tell Cady that gorgeous college-going young women didn’t use that word. Small-town men who owned bars did. She didn’t.
“I don’t fucking care either.”
That pushed his eyes open.
College-going girls were mostly adults, so he had limited control over Cady’s choice of words, but he’d be damned if he’d let Mimi –
The door opened with considerable force and he watched the girls walk in.
“Language,” he rasped out.
They stopped and stared at him. Then both of them started crying.
