“We love you, Charlie. You know that.”
“I know.” She stepped away, wiping her eyes. “Just wish you guys would tell me what’s going on. I can’t protect you if you don’t tell me.”
“Yeah,” Max said, her hand caressing Charlie’s cheek. “We’re not falling for that, Charlie.”
Stevie shook her head. “Not even a little. But the tears were a nice touch.”
“Come on! Tell me!”
“No! You’ll just go on a rampage.”
“Tell me . . . or I’ll start taking out people anyway.”
“We’ll tell you,” Stevie said, pointing at her sister, “if you promise not to flip out.”
“Fine. I promise.”
* * *
Shen was wondering if he should go looking for Stevie when he saw Charlie tearing through the packed dance floor—a group of She-dogs were singing the Go-Go’s “We Got the Beat” and it had set off a firestorm of bad dog dancing—and heading straight for him and Dutch.
He nudged Dutch with his elbow.
“You better run.”
“What?”
Charlie shoved some wild dogs out of her way before raising her gun and aiming it at Dutch’s head.
But then Max and Stevie were there, running up behind her. Stevie grabbed her eldest sister around the waist and Max put her hand over Charlie’s weapon, removing the slide and disabling the weapon all in one motion before she tackled her sister from the front and carried her back through the dancing crowd.
Shen looked at the wolverine, who’d jumped into his arms at the sight of Charlie coming for him.
“Seriously?” Shen had to ask, still holding the man like the giant baby he clearly was.
“What do you want? I panicked.”
* * *
Charlie had her arms crossed over her chest and she seethed while her sisters paced in front of her.
“You promised,” Stevie reminded her.
“I lied.”
“How do you expect us to tell you anything when you lie to us?” Max wanted to know.
“I should have killed Dutch the first time I met him.”
“He was twelve!”
“Your point?”
* * *
“They’re coming back,” Shen warned and Dutch immediately got behind him. “I am not your human shield.”
“You are at the moment. She likes you, hates me, and I’m relatively certain she wouldn’t kill an innocent person just to get to me.”
“That does not make me feel better.”
The three women walked up to them and Stevie gestured at Dutch. “Go ahead,” she pushed when Charlie just stood there.
Charlie took a deep breath before she exploded with unadulterated rage. “You scumbag! I should have killed you when I had the chance! And you, Shen! I am so disappointed in you! You’re supposed to be a protector and—”
Shen didn’t hear the rest of what Charlie had to say because her sisters each hooked an arm through one of Charlie’s and carried her back to where they’d come from.
* * *
“That’s it.” Stevie marched up to Charlie. “You will be nice and you will apologize to Dutch and now Shen!”
“I will not.”
Charlie could be very obstinate so Stevie did something she only did with her sister when she was forced. Right now, she was forced . . .
“Aaaaaaah!” Stevie screamed in her sister’s face.
“Do not—”
“Aaaaaaah!”
“Stevie, stop—”
“Aaaaaaah!”
“You better promise,” Max warned. “Or she’ll just keep it up.”
“Aaaaaaah!”
“I will not apologize but—”
“Aaaaaaah!”
“—I will let it go!”
Stevie studied her sister. “You promise?”
“Yes.”
“You’re not lying again, are you? Because I will keep this up. All. Night. Long.”
“Her energy is limitless when it comes to this,” Max reminded Charlie.
“I know. I know. But I will tell you both that I’m very disappointed in you. You for not telling me that Devon is out,” she said to Max. “And you for helping a woman you still refer to as ‘that evil cunt.’”
“She is an evil cunt. But what’s going on is more important than my never-ending hatred for Irene Conridge.”
“PhD,” Max tossed in.
“Shut up!”
* * *
“Hey, they’re coming . . .” Shen looked around. “Are you hiding behind the bar?” he asked when he spotted the top of the wolverine’s head.
“Do you blame me? That woman is a nut!”
“I thought wolverines were as tough as honey badgers.”
“Oh, we are. But, unlike badgers, we’re not crazy.”
“Well . . .”
Charlie and her sisters stopped, and Charlie stepped a little closer.
“Shen, I have to say that I’m . . . disappointed that you did not come to me when you found out what Stevie was up to.”
“I feel bad, too, but she is so persuasive.”
“What did it for you?” Max flatly asked. “Her skinny-ass legs or her nonexistent tits?”
Max’s head jerked back at the blow to her nose from Stevie’s elbow while Charlie continued her chastising.
“And