Rock Chick Redemption (Rock Chick #3)(131)

“Let’s go,” Luke said.

He started moving me toward the door. I noticed something happening; Eddie and Carl either both sensed imminent danger or had received non-verbal, badass-boys communiqués gliding through the air like radio waves. They were also on alert and on the move.

“What’s happening?” I asked, not fighting it but going with Luke, fear was no longer crawling along my skin but biting into me. Then, panic hitting me, I said, “We have to find Hank.”

I no sooner said it when Hank and Marcus entered the room. Hank was striding with a purpose, his eyes locked on me, his face like stone. Marcus didn’t look much different and was moving in the same way, his eyes scanning the room, likely looking for Daisy.

“Hank’s here,” I told Luke, beginning to pul away to go to Hank.

Luke yanked me to his side then stopped dead.

I took my eyes off Hank and turned to look at Luke. In mid-swing, my glance caught on something familiar. My head stopped and I stared.

Bil y was standing in the doorway to the room.

His arm was raised.

In his hand was a gun and it was pointed at me.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

When My Life Began

I had to admit, Bil y looked good.

The man-on-the-run thing was working for him. Faded jeans, his beat-up leather jacket hanging on him just right, his thick, blond hair was messy, his eyes were wild.

Other people had noticed Bil y but I didn’t think they thought he looked good, mainly because they also noticed his gun.

I felt panic tear through the crowd. I heard smal screams, felt people moving and caught Eddie and Carl’s voices cal ing commands to the edging people.

Al of this happened as if it was far, far away. Mostly, in those first few moments, it felt like just Bil y and me in the room.

“Hand her over,” Bil y demanded, looking at me, stil pointing the gun at me, but addressing Luke.

Luke’s response was to shove me behind his back.

This meant Bil y was aiming his gun at Luke.

“No!” I shouted, coming out of my frozen bout with terror.

At the same time, Bil y screamed, “Godammit, give her to me!”

“Don’t even think about it,” I heard and my eyes swung to the left.

I saw Lee had a gun trained on Bil y.

“Fuck you!” Bil y said, swinging his gun wildly, aiming at Lee.

I felt my stomach clench and my lungs squeeze and visions of a tangerine and chocolate wedding faded into an even worse nightmare.

“Bil y, no,” I said, moving around Luke. “Don’t, I’l go with you.”

“Luke, get her out of here,” this came from Hank, who was several feet behind Lee and moving forward.

He also had a gun and it hit me, in a vague, slightly crazed (okay, maybe entirely crazed) way, how easily he handled it, just like he drove his 4Runner; natural, like he was one with the gun. His right hand around the butt, finger on the trigger, the left hand cupping his gun hand. Both his arms were up, but cocked loose, his head was tilted slightly to the side and his gun and gaze were aimed at Bil y.

Luke had already shifted in front of me, stepping back, forcing me to move with him. The crowd was stil easing away. I noticed people exiting the room just as I saw Marcus, also carrying a gun, sliding along a back wal .

“Don’t move!” Bil y shouted. He hadn’t noticed Marcus and he swung his gun back at Luke and me.

“Bil y, don’t. Please,” I begged, peeking around Luke’s body.

Luke kept moving back, he was unfazed by the gun as wel as unarmed.

Bil y didn’t listen to me. He fired.

Luke’s body jerked.

I screamed.

The gunshot caused pandemonium. My scream wasn’t the only one. People were no longer cautiously moving but now running everywhere, clearing the room.

Luke didn’t go down. Instead, he shoved a hand in his jacket and pul ed a gun out of a shoulder holster and trained it on Bil y. I barely noticed, because Bil y was now pointing his gun at Hank.

Both Lee and Hank were side by side, maybe three, four feet between them. They’d both advanced while Bil y had fired and were only six feet away from him.

Both brothers were in a faceoff with Bil y.

This isn’t happening, I thought with dread and then I didn’t think anymore. Instead, I moved quickly, thanking my many years of practice in high heels, because they came in handy. I came wide around Luke so he couldn’t grab me and started toward Bil y as fast as I dared.

“Luke, get her out of here! ” Hank’s voice cracked through the room.

“Bil y, I’l come with you,” I said, moving forward more quickly to avoid Luke, pul ing at a strength I had no idea I possessed and ignoring Hank. Al I could think was that if I had anything to do with it, Bil y wasn’t going to shoot Hank or anyone. I didn’t know if he’d hit Luke but if he had, that was the end as far as I was concerned.

“Shoot him, Luke,” Lee said.

“Roxie, get out of the way,” Luke ordered from behind me. Then when I didn’t do as he ordered he said to Lee, “I can’t get a clean shot.”

I made it to within arm’s length of Bil y and his hand came out and nabbed my arm, twisting me and pul ing my back to him so hard I slammed into his body. His arm wrapped around my waist.

He was using me as a shield.