enough to worry about. She did too, now.
But she’d seen the guys in the SUV and hated the way they’d stalked toward Nick.
When the other car had come around the corner, she thought perhaps, if she warned them, they would take that into consideration. She couldn’t hide when there was trouble. After a long, painful moment of consideration, she didn’t take the gun. She didn’t like weapons and didn’t want to look as if she was an aggressor. A helpful neighbor, that’s all.
She’d gone up to the car window and waited until the driver, a big hulk of a man with a nose that looked crooked and flat, lowered the window. The man next to the driver gave her a pleasant, warm smile.
The hulk looked more dangerous, so she’d talked to him. “Hi, I’m so glad you’re here. I’m a little afraid. Some really scary guys”—who look kind of like you—“are up ahead on this road.”
“Hello, Ms. Jensen,” the smaller one had called to her.
That had been a bad moment, but he’d only gotten out of the car, shaken her hand, introduced himself as Bert and politely asked her if she had a gun before asking Duffy to do a quick search. “Just to make sure,” he’d said almost apologetically.
She didn’t trust that cold-eyed Bert, but he’d actually seemed grateful as she dropped the neighbor thing and told him that she and Nick had found what he was looking for. “We’ll go find out,” he said. “All of us.”
It had seemed like things were going all right until she was left behind with the skinny one called Les and big, bald Duffy.
Once everyone else had gone into the house, those two had walked right up to each other—and unfortunately, she stood between them.
“I kind of have to use the bathroom,” she told them. No lie. “Do you think we could just go inside for a minute or two?”
They ignored her. The ugly look on Les’s face was chilling. What could happen to a man to make him wear an expression like that? At least he was staring at Duffy and not her.
“How’s the bitch?” Les asked.
“Jesus, you really are a pig.”
“I guess you’re still living in the dark, aren’t you, asshole? You’ll find out.”
Duffy sucked in an audible breath.
For a moment, Ames thought they were talking about her. Then she realized these two had history—one that involved a woman. Les’s ex, maybe? Or maybe Duffy’s sister? His mother? A dog?
Usually, she’d be sort of interested in the tension. Speculation about a situation might keep the Back Porch and Arnesdale buzzing for months, and though Ames tried not to care, she could get sucked into the drama as easily as anyone else.
At the moment, and after another glance at Les, she decided she was glad these two left her out of the conversation.
She tried to slide out from between the two glaring men. “I think I’ll just go to—”
Les seized her arm. “You’re not going anywhere.”
Duffy grabbed her other arm, almost as hard. He sneered at Les. “You know that’s your problem, asshole. You never treat women with respect.”
Les’s grip tightened. He pulled her hard so she had to move toward him, but Duffy didn’t move an inch.
“Um, you guys? You’re hurting me?”
They paid no attention to her. A shriek formed in her throat, but she swallowed it when she realized they might hear her in the house. That wasn’t going to help matters. She tried to tug her arm out of Duffy’s grip.
Les scared her more, but at least he was closer to her size. Putting her body into the motion, she gave a sharp yank away from Les, then yelped as pain radiated through her shoulder.
Les stumbled forward, bouncing into her, and then both of them collided with Duffy.
The two hoods let go of her so fast she stumbled and fell. Then the men were on each other, yelling, punching and kicking.
Duffy pulled out his gun. Les grabbed his wrist. Ames rolled and scrambled away from them on her hands and knees. The gravel bit into her skin, but she didn’t want to stand and make herself a bigger target.
Duffy’s gun popped with a sharp report that made her jump. She felt rather than heard herself scream. A few seconds later, shouts came from the house. Nick appeared on the porch. But the shouts seemed to echo back from the road. A lot of voices.
She looked up the road and there were Jake, Gopher, Dennis Phillips, all running around