Adam sighed. “Yes, damn it. Pretty much. Maybe we should take a page out of Hank Stinson’s book, and hold some self-defense classes.”
“I don’t know,” Norm said. “Who would these classes be for? The women, or the would-be perps? Because it sounds to me as if the women have that whole self-defense thing covered.”
“You just wait.” Jake shook his finger at them. “You just wait until it’s your heart in your throat. Then we’ll all very politely convene back here and you can tell us how right we were, and we can line up to say we told you so.”
“What we get out of this, so far, is that you’re pretty certain Ricky Wilde will make his way here—as stupid and stoned as he is.”
“Son, stupid and lucky seem to go hand in hand.” Adam nodded once to underscore his words.
“The N.Y.P.D. has not apprehended the little bastard.”
“He grew up in the city, and while he never said, it’s clear to us now he likely had some gang ties.” Will was pretty certain they hadn’t vetted Wilde as well as they should have.
“That’s what Detective Cruz thinks. So they’ve alerted every state force between there and here…” Adam shrugged. “But we all know that every state agency is stretched, financially. If he does get caught, it’s looking like it’s just going to be a matter of kismet.”
“So that means you’re going to come up with a plan of some sort?” Will looked around the room.
“The last time we tried that, it didn’t do us much good. We’ll circulate a picture of him. As well, you have to know that we take a real good look when a stranger comes to town.”
“Yes, we did know that.” Will looked at Norm, who nodded. “If there’s anything more you need us to do, just let us know. We have contacts out in LA who may have a line on him.”
“You’re thinking of the bail bondsman who’s sent their number one bounty hunter after him?”
“Norton runs an agency that tends to deal with folks who, because of the negative publicity, tend to be low flight risk. He’s a good guy. He’ll let me know if Katrina is closing in on him, or not—that’s who he usually hires to round up his skips.”
Adam frowned, and then reached for his cell phone. His thumb manipulated the screen. “Kat Lawson is actually Katrina?”
“Yes—and she’s tough and smart. We haven’t met her, and only know of her through Norton. He’s told us she gets her man—even if he outweighs her by a hundred pounds.”
“Huh.” Adam looked over at his brother Jake whose smirk could have meant anything. “I guess it’ll get real interesting if she shows up here, too.”
Will didn’t know what Adam meant by that. Norm laughed. “She’s not like some of those characters you see on television, Adam. She’s a pro. If she comes to Lusty, I’d be willing to bet she’d check in here with you, first thing.”
“Good,” Adam said. “I like to know who’s in and around my town.”
“Could be things are going to be getting very interesting around here in the next little while.” Jake looked like he knew something the rest of them didn’t. Considering he was in charge of the Lusty Town Trust, Will guessed he probably did.
Chapter 9
FADE IN:
EXTERIOR URBAN SETTING, DAY
Old corner grocery store lower west side New York. The building looks weathered and worn, the windows are dirty, with dated posters visible through the grime.
DISSOLVE TO INTERIOR, THE UPPER APARTMENT, SMALL, CRAMPED AND CLUTTERED.
TONY RAZOR, former gang member and now a vigilante, sits at the wooden kitchen table, a glass half full of amber liquid beside him, the open bottle next to it as his fingers work the keyboard of the laptop. His friend, Jonesy Winters, the same best friend who helped him get his revenge on the bastards who killed his Pammy, is helping him again. This time, Tony needs to locate the two scumbag image consultants who ditched him, and left him holding the bag. Jonesy doesn’t have much money, but he has just enough, and he has a car…
His fingers worked the keyboard with precision. He used the site, Everywhere Earth, to map the route to Lusty, Texas. Hell, it’s barely a dot on the map. What are those two suits doing in a place like that? Total distance from New York was slightly more than sixteen hundred miles. He could do that in what? A couple of days, driving straight through? Jonesy had given him enough weed as well as a few hits, so he figured he could do that, no sweat. What would that translate to, shooting time? He tried to think back to the shooting of Razor’s Edge, to the script.
He shook himself. What the fuck. Script? Hell, I’m more tired than I knew, thinking my life is a fucking movie script. If it was, then my Pammy wouldn’t be with the angels.
But she was and it had given him immense pleasure to send her killers in the opposite direction.
The printer spit out the last page, and he grabbed it up. He blinked for a moment, trying to remember what else he needed. Ah, yes. Keys and cash. And then he needed to get the hell out of town.
The Bruiser’s pals weren’t too happy Tony had offed that gangbanger. They’d be looking for him. New York was too hot for him right now.
He squatted down and searched the pockets of the man lying motionless on the floor. He found the keys, and grinned when he liberated a couple of Benjis tucked inside the dude’s wallet. He stuffed the bills into his pocket. With his take from earlier that day, when he’d lifted that old lady’s purse in the grocery store, he had enough for a few hundred of those miles.
Gas prices were down, proof enough that Karma was on his side.
He got to his feet, and looked down at the poor sap. Razor didn’t recognize him. Likely some fool who’d shown poor choice in picking his friends. He’s probably one of The Bruiser’s friends.
He looked up, toward the window. Outside, night was falling. It was the perfect time to leave Gotham. He had a quest to fulfill, and he needed to get to it.
Tony Razor was back in business.
Tony Razor? Rick Wilde shook his head. He was getting confused, and he couldn’t afford to be confused. But one thing he did know, and he figured his subconscious was pointing him in the right direction.
He did need to approach this situation the way Tony Razor would. And really, the truth was that he was Tony Razor. No, this wasn’t Razor’s Edge, or even the sequel, Razor’s Cut.
He’d write a whole new fucking adventure. Razor’s Revenge. That had a nice ring to it. Razor’s Revenge. He’d find those two scumbag conmen in Armani suits, and he’d make them live up to their word.
We have a fucking contract and they are going to honor it! All he had to do was find them. They’d tell him what to do, just like they had in the beginning. This time, he’d do as they said, and then everything would go back to normal. Everything would be cool.
He grabbed up the printed-out the route. He was more than ready to leave this city behind him.
New York had been Tony Razor’s home, but the time had come to move forward, to find a new home, a new place to belong. He had a quest, and wrongs to make right. Once his quest was accomplished, once his honor had been restored, he’d find a new place to call his own. He could never go back and have what was, but in time, his grieving heart would mend, and he’d find a whole new life and maybe, eventually, a whole new love.
* * * *
Jacqui had said yes to a Friday night date, and she really was happy with that decision. All they told her was that they were going into Waco, that the date was in two parts, and that the dress code was most definitely casual. So she’d put on jeans and a T-shirt. She’d also tossed on a jacket, because the temperatures this mid-January day were most definitely still on the chilly side.
She’d tried to guess, as they headed to the city, what they might be doing that was going to be, in their words, “a lot of fun.”
Her guesses didn’t even come close to reality.
“I can’t believe you’ve never done this before.” Will sounded genuinely surprised.
Jacqui looked down at the
top of Will’s head. He was squatted down in front of her, tying her laces. She guessed that it was a good thing he wasn’t looking at her face just then. There wasn’t a mirror anywhere in sight, but she knew the sensation of a sarcastic scowl when she felt it, and that was very likely the expression she was wearing.
“I can’t believe I’m doing it now.”
Will did look up then. “It’ll be fun, sugar plum.”
Beside her, Norm was bent over, tying his own skates. Will stood up, wearing a look of accomplishment. Her own never before worn footwear—boots with wheels on the bottom—were now securely in place.
“Why do I have the feeling that if we were up in New York, the air would be cold, and there’d be blades at the bottom of these things instead of wheels?”
Both men’s smiles just then looked so boyish, she couldn’t help but smile back.
“And there’d be sticks in our hands, too.” Will said. His eyes fairly sparkled. What was it about boyish enthusiasm in men that made a woman swoon? Jacqui was certain she wasn’t the only one those looks affected this way.
“We’re adjusting to our new reality,” Norm said. “So instead of bemoaning the lack of an ice surface for skating, we’ve come here.”
“This is Texas?” Jacqui fought the urge to laugh. She’d reverted to her southern roots, speaking the statement as if it was a question. “It’s a part of the south. We don’t generally have ice skating here.”
“It’s a sad lack if you ask me,” Will said. “But as Norm just said, we are adjusting to our new reality. Are you ready?”
“I have no idea.” Then she grinned because she sensed they really were missing home just then. She knew what it was like to feel like a fish out of water, so she decided the least she could do was be kind, and maybe try to take their minds off their homesickness. “Just be careful with me because it is my first time.”
“Well, now.” Will said only that, and then each man took hold of one of her hands and pulled her to her feet.
Jacqui gave a little scream as her feet began to roll back and forth, resisting her efforts to control them. If they hadn’t been holding onto her, she would have fallen on her ass.
Norm gathered her in close. She wrapped her arm around him, grateful that he held her until she found her footing.
He grinned. “You have to know, Miss Jacqui, some pain is to be expected the first time. But we’ll try to make it good for you.”
“I’ll hold you to that, slick.”
“Just hold on to me and you’ll be fine.” He started to lead her toward the wood floor, where so many other people on roller skates seemed to be having no trouble at all going around and around in a circle, while music played.
Will wasn’t on her other side. “Wait! I need help on my left side, too!”
“Sorry, sugar plum. The rink rules state that only two people can hold hands at one time.”
“Well, that’s just not fair!”
“Aw, sweetling, I’m touched,” Will said.
“Well, don’t be. I just figure that my chances of not falling are improved if I have one of you on either side of me.”
They reached the place where people entered and exited the skating surface. There was a small step down that felt to her like a six-foot drop. She thought she’d already gotten an idea of what it was going to be like during the trek from the bench to the floor, but she was wrong.
The skating surface was a heck of a lot slipperier than what she’d “rolled” on so far.
Jacqui’s legs wobbled, scissoring back and forth in rapid motion. With supreme effort she brought her legs together and clamped down, locking them in place. Norm kept one arm wrapped around her and with the other he held onto the sideboard.
Laughing, Jacqui copied his pose. Then she slid her other arm from around him and clamped it on the board, too.
“I take it that is a gesture of non-confidence?” Norm was laughing. “You don’t trust me to hold you up?”
“I thought I was saving you from following me down to the ground.” Her legs were already tired from the way she was holding them together. She loosened her muscles, and laughed when her legs separated, each rolling off in a separate direction, until she forced them back together again.
“Take a minute and try to find your center,” Will said. He was on the other side of her, standing perfectly still, the rat. How could they do that? How could they stand so still with so little effort?
“Okay, okay, this is silly. I can do this. Someone give me their hand again.”
“Here, sweetheart.” Norm held out his hand, and then held hers tight. “Let’s try once around the track. We have to stay by the boards—that’s another rule of the establishment, for beginners.”
“They sure have a lot of rules around here.”
“It’s why we prefer to skate, in the winter time, out at the farm.” Will kept up the conversation as they made their way around the rink.
Jacqui had her left hand in Norm’s and her right hand on the boards. Will and Norm were likely trying to distract her, and that was fine.
“Our Uncle James and Aunt Lynn have a place out in the country. They moved there when we were kids. Their farm has a pond that’s not very deep. In the winter, it freezes solid.” Norm said.
“We’d go out for weekends, strap on our skates, and then just do whatever we wanted on that ice. We were mostly boys, so that meant hockey—no rules, and no holds barred.”
“Sounds dangerous.”
“That’s what our moms and aunts said.” Norm still had his hand covering hers and their arms close. Jacqui began to feel as if she might be getting the hang of this.
“Our dads and uncles were there to make sure we didn’t do anything too dangerous,” Will said.
“Why do I have a feeling that your uncles’ and dads’ definition of too dangerous didn’t match your moms’ and aunts’?”
“Because you’re a clever woman,” Norm said.
Will stayed beside them all the way around the rink, and then he traded places with Norm. Jacqui did begin to get a bit more comfortable, so that after the third or fourth time around, she was able to stay upright by just holding one of their hands without the added support of having their arms locked together.
“Do you need a bit of a rest?” Will must have noticed that she was tiring. She considered herself fit, but after more times around the rink than she could count, her legs were sore.
“Yes, damn it.” She exhaled, ruffling the hair that hung down over her forehead. “Ticks me off, but I am tired. This is work.”
“Sweetheart, you’re using muscles you’ve never used quite like this before. The first few times are going to take it out of you.”
She knew he was right. “Why not help me back to the bench and then the two of you can take a few turns on your own, without me.”
“That wouldn’t be much fun,” Norm said.
“We appreciate the offer. But, Jacqui? Given the choice of skating free or sitting with you, we’ll sit with you.”
Damned if that wasn’t one of the nicest things anyone had ever said to her.
It surprised her to realize they’d been skating for nearly an hour when they led her back to the bench. Both men seemed pleased with her effort, and her willingness to try something she’d never done before. She thought they were just going to rest for a while and go back, but they informed her that part one of date night was over.
It felt strange to have her running shoes on her feet again, and those first few steps, as they headed out of the skating rink were wobbly.
Norm snickered. Jacqui gave him a playful swat. “It kind of reminds me of the first time I went riding, out at the ranch. My legs were a bit wobbly then, too, when I tried to stand after I got off my horse.”
“First time we took a cruise,” Will said, “same thing.”
“So it’s normal and I shouldn’t feel too bad, is that what you’re saying?”
“It may have escaped your notice, sweetheart, that y
ou didn’t once fall. That’s quite impressive, as there aren’t that many people who don’t, the first time they skate—whether on roller skates or on ice skates.”
“Huh, you’re right. After the first couple times around, I kind of stopped worrying about it so much.” Because she knew they would catch her, and keep her safe.
“So we can do it again sometime?” Will asked.
“Maybe.” And she vowed to try and find other activities they might enjoy doing together more than roller skating. Of course, one activity in particular came to mind. Jacqui bit back her smile. She wouldn’t mind doing some mattress aerobics with these two.
She liked them, a lot more than she ever thought she would. Not only that, they definitely turned her on. She could honestly say that before kissing Will and Norm, she thought the power of kissing as foreplay to be highly overstated.
She sure as hell didn’t believe that anymore. In fact, she thought she might almost be able to have an orgasm just from kissing those two city slickers.
“Let’s eat.” Will raised his eyebrows twice, and she laughed. Despite the odd bit of flirting and the clever use of words, she knew he was talking about going to supper.
“I’m hungry,” she said. Then she grinned. “And I could eat, too.”
“We know just the place to get some good food,” Norm said. “We found this roadhouse the first weekend we went exploring in Waco.”
It was called Rowdy’s, and featured what Jacqui always considered comfort food. She was a carnivore at heart—she made sure she ate her veggies and salads, but considered them the price she had to pay for her steak and ribs and pulled pork.
Jacqui considered herself curvy, not fat, and had been blessed with having other women in her life—mainly her aunt Holly, but her Grandmother Bethune, too—who had always encouraged her to love herself just the way she was.
The noise level at this roadhouse wasn’t too bad, and when they were seated in a booth near the back, Jacqui was pleased they could hear each other.
Love Under Two Extroverts [The Lusty, Texas Collection] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 9