Rock Chick Regret (Rock Chick #7)(108)

Jerry ignored Daisy. “Your father’s got a message for you.”

My eyes went wide.

Then my back went straight and my chin went out.

All right.

I’d had enough.

This was not happening.

I’d had a tough day. A tough week! A tough f**king life!

I was going to take no more.

“Is that so? Well I have a message for him too,” I snapped back.

Jerry’s hands went tight on my arms, so tight, they hurt.

“Quiet and listen to me.”

“Last warning, stand back.” Daisy got in closer.

I ignored her and leaned in. “No, you listen to me. No messages, no nothing. My father doesn’t exist anymore. You tell him that.” Then, for good measure, I used one of Hector’s badass lines, “Got me?”

Jerry ignored my fairy princess/bimbo groupie badass and returned, “Sadie, I’m warnin’ you, Seth is losin’ patience with you.”

Ice Princess gave him a Chill Factor Sub-Zero Glare. “Do I look like I care?”

He leaned in and we were nose-to-nose right before he said threateningly, “Girl, you better care.”

“Take your hands off her.” I heard Eddie say from behind Jerry and I looked around to see him standing there, feet planted wide, arms loose at his sides and looking unhappy.

Jerry let me go and turned to Eddie. Then he gave an amused hoot.

“Detective Chavez,” Jerry said in an ugly voice. “Now I’m confused. I thought it was your brother who was tappin’ her ass.”

I gasped.

“Uh-oh,” Ava said from beside me as Eddie’s body went visibly taut.

Jet, Daisy, Ava and I huddled as Eddie warned Jerry, “You got one second to disappear.”

“Yeah?” Jerry taunted, pretending to look around. “You sure you wanna try to get a piece of me? I don’t see Nightingale at your back.”

“Eddie, let’s just go,” Jet put in.

“Move away,” Eddie told Jet, not taking his eyes from Jerry.

“Eddie –” Jet kept trying.

“Jet,” Eddie clipped and that was all he had to say. Jet shuffled us all back, we moved as one in our Rock Chick huddle, all of our eyes locked on Eddie and Jerry.

“Fuck, you think you can get a piece of me.” Jerry sounded amused.

Eddie didn’t say a word, he didn’t move, his eyes didn’t leave Jerry.

“This is gonna be fun,” Jerry went on and Eddie still didn’t reply, pushing Jerry to ask, “You gonna stare at me all night?”

Eddie still didn’t move.

But he did speak.

“No, I’m gonna ask you what Townsend would think if he knew you been meetin’ with Donny Balducci.”

What?

Jerry and Donny?

No way.

Jerry’s eyes narrowed. “You been watchin’ me, spic?”

I gasped again, this time angrily.

“Oh Lord,” Ava muttered.

“What did he just say?” Jet asked, her voice trembling.

“Stand down, Jet, I think Eddie’s got this covered,” Daisy told Jet, pulling the huddle back another few steps.

Eddie had gone silent again but the air had changed, it became heavy and very, very scary.

Jerry waited for a reaction to his racial slur and, when none was forthcoming, he (stupidly, if you asked me), decided to create one.

His arm reached out, he planted his hand in Eddie’s chest and I saw him give a shove.

I stared and my mouth dropped open.

I was certain he’d given a shove but Eddie’s body didn’t move.

No kidding, it didn’t move an inch.

Solid as a rock.

I watched surprise slide across Jerry’s face, surprise I was pretty certain sure was mingled with a hint of fear as Eddie encouraged in a low, menacing voice, “Keep goin’.”

“Fuck you!” Jerry clipped and immediately threw a punch.

Quick as a flash, Eddie ducked but came up, body cocked to the side and swinging, he landed a fist in Jerry’s stomach and I heard Jerry’s awful grunt.

“Oh for goodness sake, we’re missin’ Stella,” Daisy said as if Eddie’s fight with one of my father’s henchmen was akin to an annoying traffic delay on the way to a movie and I looked at her, mouth still open. She was digging in her purse (not all Rock Chicks went purse-less) and she came out with a stun gun.

Oh boy.

This was getting worse by the second!

Jerry threw another punch, Eddie’s chin jerked back and, again, Jerry missed his target but Eddie moved swiftly and landed another blow, this time to Jerry’s kidneys and this time Jerry’s grunt was filled with pain.

“Give me that stun gun! I want to stun that jackass!” Jet cried, her hand going out to wrap around Daisy’s wrist and the now crackling stun gun.

That’s when Jet and Daisy started to scuffle, both trying to get control of the stun gun.

And there it was.

The night got even worse!

My eyes swung from Jet and Daisy to Jerry and Eddie as Jerry went at Eddie, advancing quickly. Eddie was retreating but he was weaving almost casually (not joking, casually!) while Jerry tried some one-two combinations but none of them connected.

We had an audience now, people were amassing in the hall to watch but no one seemed to want to get involved. That was, no one except a big blond man who was shoving his way through from the back.