Chapter 10

Bethany didn't want to stay parked where she was so obviously exposed, especially in case whoever was inside her place could see her. So Bethany put her vehicle into Reverse and backed out of the spot that she normally used and pulled around the corner. There she stopped and waited, hoping that Conall would show up sooner than later.

It made her angry to think that somebody was in her place, but, more than that, it terrified her. Was Page really that stupid? He was headed down a pathway that would get him into some big trouble, but, for everybody's sake, it would be nice if they could stop it before he went too far. Doing shit like this wouldn't help or make anybody's day. Even as she watched anxiously, her palms started to sweat, while waiting and waiting for Conall to show up. When she saw a vehicle that looked remarkably like his, she let out a breath of air, sagging back in her seat.

"Finally," she muttered, then realized that he didn't know where she was. She flashed her lights, hoping he would see that, and, within a few seconds, his lights flashed back.

She grinned. "Always nice to work with somebody who understands," she muttered. As he drove closer, she hopped out of her vehicle and ran toward him. He pulled up, shut off the engine to his truck, hopped out, and opened his arms.

She immediately bailed into them, feeling a sense of security that she hadn't felt in a very long time. When she looked up at him, tears were in her eyes. "Sorry, I didn't know who else to call," she muttered.

"It's fine," he said. "You did the right thing."

She rolled her eyes. "You know the sheriff won't agree with that."

"I've brought them in on a few things already, so they're probably ready for me to leave town."

She nodded. "Maybe, but it will be a sad day for the rest of us when you do."

He looked at her and then smiled. "It's nice to know I'll be missed."

"Oh, you'll be missed," she confirmed instantly. "You've made yourself right at home, from the moment you arrived."

"Not intentionally," he murmured, "this has never been what I thought I would be doing."

"So, tell me more about Bacchus."

He glanced aroundand realized that they were literally only a block or two from where Bacchus and Michael were. "I wonder how is it that you didn't see Bacchus from here. He would have been going past this place during the day."

"Exactly. It's the during the day part. Remember?" she asked. "I'm at work."

"Right, that makes sense."

He wondered if there was any way to get Bacchus here, but it was probably better not to involve the dog, since Conall didn't know how good Bacchus was at following commands, especially after being out of regular work and training all this time.

He would love to work with him though. At least enough to make sure that all three of the people—Mariam, Michael, and Danny—involved with Bacchus going forward knew how to work him, because nothing was worse than having a dog with exceptional skills and not put them to good use. Especially if it meant the dog could do something to help save them when they got into trouble.

He chuckled, then looked back at her place. "I will fill you in on Bacchus, but I think we need to deal with this first."

"What is it we're dealing with anyway?" she asked, as she stared at the lights still on in her apartment. "How do we even know who's in there?"

"I would suggest," Conall said, "that we go find out."

She grabbed his arm and held him back. "What if they've got a gun?" she asked, and then she hesitated. "We already know for a fact that Page has one and doesn't mind using it. I don't want to insult you, but you've got a prosthetic."

He frowned at his leg and shrugged. "So what?" he asked. "I got it fighting a war overseas. I would just as soon have fought a war closer to home and had the same results," he admitted. "Believe me when I say that war is exactly what we're talking about here. Whether we like it or not, something bizarre is going on here because I can't see that kid doing what he's doing without somebody else pushing him to do it." And, with that, he held out a hand. "Come on. Let's get up to your place."

"Do you think we should call the sheriff again?"

"I've already told Badger. He is my liaison with the War Department, so he's getting somebody over here."

"Oh, good," she muttered, shuddering. "The deputy didn't seem all that concerned when I called."

"I presume they'll listen to Badger, even if they won't listen to us."

"The fact that you think they won't even listen to you is already horrific," she noted, frowning at him.

"Very few people cross Badger and get away with it," he shared, with a chuckle. "I don't know whether you've got crooked cops, lazy cops, or just really overworked cops. However, I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, although we should have company already, and nobody's here."

"I know," she muttered. "I called them what seems like ages ago. I had hoped they would get here before you and deal with it, so you didn't have to."

"Oh, that's kind of you," he teased, with a knowing nod, "but unfortunately, in a case like this, that's often where we're at."

"It shouldn't be," she declared.

"No, it shouldn't be, but that doesn't change things, does it?"

She glanced up at her second-floor apartment. "But we don't know who's in there waiting for us."

"No, we don't, and they probably don't know that we know about them either. Although having left lights on makes it unusual for them to still be there."

She shook her head. "Still, it seems like a really bad idea."

"Maybe it is, and we don't have to go up, if you don't want to." He stepped away from Bethany. "I'll go in and check it out."

"No, no, no, no," she argued. "You're not doing that."

He smiled. "Unless they're prepared to kill us and to go really hardcore into whatever nasty little slide they are on, they'll have to find some way to deal."

"But what if Page is prepared to kill us?"

"Then I want you to stay here," he said, "and honestly you shouldn't be here at all." He considered the building in front of them. "Why don't you go back to your vehicle and stay there?"

"No. No way I'm letting you go in there alone."

He glanced at her sideways. "You want to wait for the deputy?"

She nodded. "I want us to wait for the deputy."

"And if the cops don't come?"

She winced. "I'm really hoping that's not the case."

Suddenly the decision was taken from them, when a gun nudged Conall in the back. He stiffened and a voice came, hard, yet barely a whisper. "Don't bother turning around, you cripple."

He didn't say anything, but glanced down at Bethany. She was staring up at him, horror in her gaze. He gave her a reassuring smile. "Easy now," he said, recognizing Jake's voice.

"Yeah, easy," Jake said in a mocking tone, "like what the hell? Would you just get your asses into the building, please? We've all been waiting around long enough."

Conall nodded and led the way up front. Bethany followed, her hand gripping his tightly. With his free hand diving into his pocket, he grabbed his phone and managed to find the Redial button, while they were pushing their way into the building, making it look like they couldn't quite get all three of them through at the same time. Conall was shoved to one side and told to get the hell out of the way and again called a cripple.

He wondered what kind of people took advantage of those weaker than themselves. It certainly wasn't Conall's style, but it seemed like they had a bad batch of that type in this town.

She looked over at him, but he had managed to hit Redial and left his phone in his pocket. He knew that Badger would figure it out pretty fast. If there was one thing he could count on, it was Badger's response. "What is it you want from us?" Conall asked, trying for a nervous voice.

At the sound of his tone, she looked at him in horror, but he gave her a wink, so she settled somewhat.

"You're causing trouble, that's what. So it's time for you to learn a lesson."

"Really? And what kind of lesson do you think you'll teach us?"

"You'll see soon enough."

Conall rolled his eyes, turning to Bethany. "You don't have an elevator?" Conall asked her.

She shook her head, frowning at Conall. "No, we don't have an elevator. I've been planning on moving. The lack of an elevator is kind of a pain, but it's just… It's only the second floor, and I've been really busy."

Prodding them, Jake muttered, "Shit, stop bitching. You'd be in much better shape if you were on the fourth floor, you know."

She didn't say anything but glared straight ahead.

"Then again," Conall told the gunman, "just imagine what kind of shape you would be in if you weren't using a gun to make people do what you wanted. I mean, you could get a job and be a decent person."

"I don't need to be a decent person, and I don't need to listen to your shit," Jake snapped. "Work is for losers."

"Or for people who want money."

"I get all the money I need," Jake snapped again, "and it sure as hell doesn't come from working."

"That's interesting. What kind of tricks do you have that you can get money without working for it? I may need to learn that myself."

Jake snorted. "Just shut the fuck up," he roared.

At the secondfloor, they opened the door at the top of the stairwell, and Conall was the first to go through. They walked forward until they came to her apartment door, where she stopped and looked at Jake. "You want me to open it?" she asked him.

"Yes, I want you to open it," Jake declared, staring at her in amazement, "Shit, I would never bring an animal to you."

"Ah, so you do know who I am," she muttered. "I wondered. I also know who you are, Jake. I wondered if my lovely assistant and her boyfriend had something to do with this."

"She's a piece of cake, isn't she?" Jake laughed. "We'll put her to good use for now, but then she's done. We don't need that kind of brainlessness around us. We need women who can think for themselves, not like Mel."

"Oh, and here I thought you just wanted women who didn't think for themselves," she replied, with a fake laugh. "You know, the kind you can beat up and brutalize and have them coming back for more."

"Yeah,… well, that gets pretty tiring after a while," Jake muttered. "It's fun to start, but it gets boring quickly."

She shook her head, feeling the anger surge up her throat. "Too bad, but, if you were more of a man," she snapped, "you could get yourself a real woman."

"Oh, one like you, I suppose," he said, with a jeer. "Look at you, standing there, holding hands with a cripple. If you were all woman, you wouldn't need to be picking up a cripple like that. You could get a real man yourself, though you are kind of old."

She stared at him and then started to laugh. "Good God," she muttered, "do you believe all that drivel you keep spouting?"

Jake smacked her hard across the face.

She bolted backward, holding her hand over her cheek, only to see a second guy exit her apartment, knocking Conall to his knees.

Conall braced himself,ready to get up, when Jake pressed his gun against Conall's temple.

"Don't even think about it," he said. "I ain't got no patience for you right now."

"Really?" Conall asked, looking up at him. "Looks to me like you've got loads of trouble already."

"No, I don't, and I'm not interested in your opinion," he declared. "This is a warning, and we'll be back, if you don't listen and stay the hell out of our business."

He snorted. "What business? What did we ever do to you?" He stared at him. "What are you doing? Other than hassling the locals and not paying for coffee?" he asked, with a smile. "Is that seriously the level of crimes you guys are involved in?"

"I would be careful, if I were you," Jake growled.

"Yeah, I'm shocked at the audacity. Here you are, waving a gun around, because you're scared of getting caught shoplifting?" Conall stared at him. "That's pretty low, but I guess that's all you guys do. It's like your specialty, right?"

If glaring could kill, Conall would be dead by now. "You ain't got the balls or the brains to do anything else."

Jake's gun hand came up again, with the pistol directed at Conall's face.

Conall shook his head. "I wouldn't do that again," he said. "You've been getting away with these nonsense crimes because you're young and stupid, but, after this, it ain't happening."

Jake swore. "You don't know anything about us."

"No, I sure don't, and I don't really want to either. I mean, anybody can see stupid coming at them," he stated, "so the fact that you guys can't is seriously amazing."

"What?" Jake stared at Conall, wild-eyed, clutching the gun harder and harder.

"No," his cohort yelled.

Conall trained his gaze on Jake's buddy, and Conall could see fear in his partner's expression.

"We leave him alone," his buddy told Jake. "It was a warning, just a warning."

"You guys still haven't told me what the warning is about though," Conall repeated, staring at Jake. "How am I supposed to know what to avoid, if you don't tell me?"

"Consider yourself warned, cripple. We won't say it again."

"Oh, I get it now. You're hooked up with that punk-ass kid Page, who is driving things into the ground here in town."

At that, they looked at each other and asked, "What are you talking about?"

"You think you're the only gunmen in town raising hell? No, you've got competition now," he revealed, with a smile. "Stupid competition, but then you guys don't look like you're all that bright either."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Jake muttered.

Conall glanced over at Bethany, who even now still held her cheek. His gaze hardened. "I won't fucking tell you, not after you hit her like that. You're nothing but a coward. Don't worry if you don't find him.… I'm guessing Page will find you soon enough."

And, with that, he pushed Jake back and stood, then walked over to put his arms around Bethany. When he turned to look back, he told Jake and his buddy, "Get lost. If you're here to give us a warning, you've given it, so get the hell out."

The two men stared at him, nonplussed, as if this reaction was the opposite of what they expected, but Conall didn't give a shit. He was more concerned about Bethany and the blow to her cheek. He glared at them. "That's your last warning, now get the fuck out of here."

Both men seemingly took his advice and disappeared. When the door slammed behind them, he wrapped her tighter in his arms.