While Luke pul ed me with him, I heard Shirleen shout,
“Come see Shirleen! Jet’l bring you. You’re welcome any time!”
I noticed the crowd was pressing in. The bouncers pushed through and started lining the stage.
Luke stopped and he bent to my ear. “Get close to my back, hold onto my belt, keep your head down and move with me.” I nodded. “Let’s go,” he finished.
My fingers curled into his belt, I fitted my body to his back and he pushed through the men pressing towards the stage. We got halfway to the door when Luke stopped.
“Where you takin’ this sweet thing?” someone I couldn’t see asked.
“Step aside,” Luke said in a voice ful of warning. I figured the man would just step aside. At Luke’s tone, anyone in their right mind would step aside.
“Don’t feel like –” the guy, voice now bel igerent (and to my thinking, pretty f**king stupid), started to say, then I felt Luke move swiftly and economical y.
Then he started forward again.
“Watch your feet,” Luke said to me.
I looked down and we stepped over the man who was now unconscious on the floor.
Holy cow.
We didn’t have any trouble going forward then. We were given a wide berth.
Luke put me in the Explorer, rounded the hood and got in beside me.
While he was starting the car I said, “I’m worried about my friends. And Lottie. That didn’t feel good.”
“That wasn’t good,” Luke said, hitting a button on the on-dash phone.
It rang in the cab once and Luke was reversing out of the spot when we heard, “Yeah?”
“Tel Lee his woman is in another situation. Smithie’s.”
“Got it,” the voice said.
“Eddie’s woman too,” Luke said.
“Got it.”
“The sister as wel .”
“Check.”
“Out,” Luke said.
I heard the disconnect.
I stared at the phone.
“That’s it?” I asked.
“My assignment is you, not them,” Luke explained.
“But –”
“Lee’l take care of it.”