He smiled. “I guess that’s one way to curb an extended visit.”
We knocked on Jenna’s door. When she answered, I could see she wasn’t happy.
“Don’t do this, please.”
I shook my head. “I’m doing this for you and every other female those idiots may ever meet in their futures, which if they don’t play their cards right could be very short.”
“Colton!” she scolded.
I shrugged a shoulder. “I’m not going to let them get away with it anymore. There is nothing their daddies can do to me. I don’t care what kind of empty threats they try to throw at me.”
“You’re so stubborn,” she said, stamping her foot.
I grinned. “As are you.”
I leaned down and gave her a quick kiss while Abby’s back was to us.
“Please, be careful,” she whispered. “I really don’t want to see anyone actually hurt.”
“We’re just going to talk,” I said, my hands up in a pose of innocence. “That’s it.”
She wasn’t buying it. “Remember, you’ll be in public.”
I nodded. “I know. They’re the ones that chose to meet at the diner. I think they’re actually a little worried, which is exactly what I want. I want them scared.”
I waved goodbye to Abby and made my way out the door, pausing and turning back to look at her.
“And Jenna?”
“What?” she snapped.
“We still haven’t had that conversation. When this is settled, we’re going to talk.” I didn’t give her any room to argue.
She closed the door in my face. I chuckled as I made my way back to my house, shouting at Kevin to move his ass.
“You think this is a setup?” Kevin asked as we drove to the diner.
I shrugged. “What could they possibly do? They’re pussies who prey on women. I don’t see them opening fire on us when we pull up.”
We drove into the parking lot, scanning the area and not seeing anything alarming. Dealing with Aaron and his buddies would be like eating cake compared to what we had to face with Axel and his real thugs.
I walked into the diner first, Kevin right behind me. I saw one of the guys, Darren maybe.
“Where’s your pals?” I asked, pissed that we’d been stood up.
“We had a feeling this would get a little loud. They’re out back.”
I raised an eyebrow, smirking. “Really? That’s your story?”
Darren shrugged a shoulder. “Are you afraid?”
Kevin burst into laughter. “You boys are either stupid or clueless or maybe both. Let’s go. I’ve got shit to do today and educating little boys about how to treat women is not something I want to waste a lot of time on. I don’t know if guys like you have a chance at actually learning, which is great for guys like us. We’ll be there to take care of all the women who want nothing to do with your sorry asses.”
Darren glared at him. “Whatever. Are you here to settle this or stand around and yap like a bunch of girls?”
Kevin and I exchanged a look. We knew damn well we were walking into some kind of setup. Neither one of us was overly concerned.
“Lead the way, big man,” I said with a dangerous smile.
He looked a little nervous. Good.
We followed him to the small alley behind the diner and were greeted by this two buddies and an extra guy.
“Oh good, they evened the odds a little,” I quipped to Kevin.
He was smiling. “Good, I’d feel guilty if it was just the three of them.”
“Oh yeah, you guys like to run your mouth a lot, don’t you? Look around. You’re outnumbered,” the man he knew to be Aaron said, stepping forward, clearly feeling invincible with what he thought were odds in his favor.
“Look, we’re not here to fight you,” I said, raising my hands.
“Oh really?” one of the guys snapped.
“What if we’re here to fight you?” Aaron shot back.
“Then that would be really stupid,” I said with a grin. “We’re here to tell you to cut the shit. Leave Jenna alone. She wants nothing to do with you. She’s never going to hook up with any of you. None of you are man enough for her.”
Aaron and Bryce exchanged a look. “And you are?”
I shrugged a shoulder.
“Bullshit. This is our town. You guys are nobodies. Pack up and leave, go back to wherever it is you came from. Around here, we don’t appreciate guys like you sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.”
“Well, that’s too bad because you’ve messed with me, and now it is my business. I told you to back off several times. You kept pushing me. Now, here we are, standing in a back alley like a bunch of teenagers. In the real world, this is not how grown men act.”
“Oh, really? We’re men. We handle our business anyway we see fit.”
“From your mommy’s basement?” Kevin teased.
That hit home for at least one of them.
“Look, we don’t need to get into a fight over this,” I told them all. “Leave Jenna alone. Stay away from my house, my rig, and me in general. We don’t want any trouble, but you are really pressing the limits of my patience.”
They broke into laugher.
Kevin sighed beside me. “You know how this ends, right?”
I nodded. “I think I do, but I had to try, right?”
“Oh, is that supposed to scare us? Look around you. There’s four of us, two of you. Why don’t you run on back home to Jenna?”
“Look, this can go one of two ways,” I said in what I thought was a very calm and rational tone. “You boys just take a step back and I’ll just head on over to the police and show them the footage from my security camera, the one where you shattered my window, or we take care of this little problem once and for all. Either way, you’re going to pay. I know for a fact that once we’re finished here, you won’t be a problem for me again and you definitely won’t be a problem for Jenna.”
When Jenna asked me, I could honestly say I tried to handle the matter peacefully.
The four guys exchanged a look, and the next second, they attacked. Kevin and I managed to stay on our feet, fending off blows while delivering rather soft hits. I didn’t want to kill them. They weren’t small, but they were no match for us. We did this for a living. It was like sparring with some of the high school kids that used to go into the gym back in Boston.
The boop boop of a police siren brought the fight to a halt. The four guys were on the ground, with me and Kevin standing over them in our fight stance. I knew it didn’t look good for us.
“Don’t move,” a voice shouted.
“Well shit, I didn’t see it going down like this,” Kevin mumbled.
“Jenna is going to be so pissed,” I replied, feeling sweat dripping into my eyes.
“Turn around slowly with your hands up.”
Kevin and I both turned around, our bloodied hands in front of us. There was a sheriff with a gun pointed at us and another man standing next to the car, hands on his hips as he stared us down.
“I want them arrested,” the man demanded.
I heard one of the guys moan on the ground behind us. “They attacked us, Dad.”
I rolled my eyes. This must be the head honcho of Beatrice, Nebraska. He certainly didn’t look like much to me.
“Shut up, Aaron,” the man who looked like he had enjoyed one too many of his diner’s cheeseburgers snarled.
I heard movement behind me and glanced back to see all four guys getting to their feet. They were bloodied and bruised but none of them had been hurt all that badly.
“You two, step forward,” the sheriff commanded.
“Lock them up. I’m pressing charges for assault and battery!”
The sheriff put his gun in his holster. “Frank, when I need your statement, I’ll let you know. Right now, it’s best you take yourself back inside.”
He leaned his head to his shoulder and spoke into the walkie talkie, asking for backup. Aaron started to f
ollow his dad when the sheriff stopped him.
“What?” Aaron pouted.
“You’re all going in,” the sheriff announced.
Frank spun around, stomping back toward the car. “What the hell are you talking about, Adam? You saw who attacked who. My boy got his ass kicked! He needs a hospital, not a jail cell.”
The sheriff looked at Aaron. “Sir, are you requesting to be seen by a medical professional?” he formally asked.
“No, I’m fine,” Aaron muttered.
The sheriff turned to look back at Frank. “You heard him. He is declining my offer of medical attention.”
“Bullshit! Look at his face. He got the shit beat out of him!”
“I did not, Dad.”
“Boy, shut up. You’re an embarrassment.”
“I don’t know what went down here. I got a call about a fight taking place. That tells me they were all involved. Too bad your boy didn’t learn how to fight a little better.”
“You better watch your tone, Adam. Remember who put you in that job you love so much.”
The sheriff laughed as he opened the back door of his patrol car. “I remember just fine, Frank. Now go back inside before I haul your ass in for impeding an investigation.”
I looked at the man who was as round and red as a tomato, and I felt like warning him about giving himself a stroke.
Backup arrived within minutes. Kevin and I were put in the back of the sheriff’s car while the other four were divided between two other cars. None of us were cuffed. I got the feeling by the smirks on the faces of the cops that no one was all that surprised by the situation—or the least bit bothered. I knew they couldn’t get me for much more than a misdemeanor and I was willing to take it. It had felt too good to bust them up just a little bit. They were certainly deserving of that and more.
Chapter 36
Jenna
I got the phone call. The one phone call, and to say I was pissed was an understatement. Did I not warn him? Morons.
“Hey,” I said when Rose answered the phone.
“What’s up?” she asked.
“I take it you’re not at work?”
She laughed. “Nope. I’m actually scheduled off today. What’s up?”
“Do you think you could come over to my house and watch Abby for a bit?” I asked, getting up from the couch to walk into the backyard for a little privacy.
“You have Abby?”
“Yes, I need to go pick up Kevin and Colton—from jail,” I said dryly.
“What?!” she shrieked.
“They had their little talk with Aaron and the gang.”
Rose burst into laughter. “Good! I hope they beat the shit out of them!”
I rolled my eyes. “Well, they’re in jail so I’m guessing they did.”
“I’ll be right over. I cannot wait to hear how this turns out. I really hope Kevin and Colton knocked some sense into those losers.”
“You’re a violent woman, Rose Michaelson,” I scolded.
I could hear her laughing as she hung up the phone. I went back inside and changed into something I hoped looked mature and respectable. I wasn’t entirely sure how one dressed to pick up a kind of boyfriend from jail. When Rose showed up, I left, not wanting to get into the discussion in front of Abby. Rose was still smiling when she arrived, telling me she was far too gleeful about it all.
When I got to the police station, I was told the sheriff wanted to interview me. I felt a pit in my stomach. Damn him for getting me mixed up in all this.
“Hi, Sheriff,” I said, taking a seat in the uncomfortable wooden chair on the other side of his desk.
“Good afternoon, Jenna. I’m sorry to have to bring you down here, but I have a few questions I was hoping you could answer.”
I nodded my head. “I’ll certainly try.”
“Well, I’m sure you know there was a fight this afternoon. Your boyfriend—”
“Not my boyfriend,” I said, interrupting him.
He nodded. “Your friend, Colton, and his buddy, Kevin, aren’t saying much. Aaron and pals, on the other hand, have a lot to say. They say Colton showed up at the diner with the intention of starting a fight because Aaron hit on you and Colton didn’t appreciate it.”
I rolled my eyes and let out a deep breath. “No. Not quite. Aaron, Darren, and Bryce have been harassing me for quite some time. I’ve never said anything because I didn’t want to risk losing my job. Well, turns out, I got fired after I slapped Aaron for grabbing my butt at work.”
“Frank fired you?” the sheriff asked, writing something down on a sheet of paper.
“Yes, he said I was late, which I wasn’t. Anyway, one of the times the harassment was happening, Colton happened to be eating lunch at the diner with his little girl. He asked them to stop and not talk like that in front of his four-year-old. Dumb and dumber got mad and tried to fight him in the diner. I stopped it.”
The sheriff was nodding his head. “What’s this about a broken car window?”
I took another deep breath. “Aaron went to Colton’s house and shattered his back window about a week ago.”
“You saw him do this?”
I shook my head. “No, but Colton did, and I believe him.”
“So why today? Why did they get into it today?”
I grimaced, thinking of what happened to set it all off. “Aaron called me yesterday, saying some really horrible, threatening things, and Colton happened to be there. The two had a few words over the phone. Colton and I talked about how to handle the continued harassment. He called Aaron and asked if they could sit down somewhere to talk. Aaron told them to meet at the diner.”
“Is Aaron an ex-boyfriend? Am I dealing with a love triangle here?”
I scrunched up my nose. “No!”
“Then why was Aaron calling you?”
“I assume either his dad gave him my number from my employee file or someone from the diner did. I’ve never given Aaron my phone number. I’ve never liked him. He’s not a nice guy.”
The sheriff nodded his head, acting as if he understood. “I see.”
“Look, I know fighting was wrong and I asked Colton to let it go, but it was escalating. I was actually a little worried for my safety.”
“I understand. Frank is hollering about pressing charges. If he wants to do that, there’s not a lot I can do to stop him. However, I’m not citing him. He’s not under arrest. As far as I’m concerned, it was about damn time someone gave the kid a hard lesson he should have been taught ten years ago. I’ll talk to Frank and let him know you have plenty of reason to press charges against his son and I will be more than happy to charge him with harassment—if that’s what you want to do.”
I shook my head. “I just want it to go away. I want them to leave me alone and I’ll leave them alone. I don’t want my job back. I never want to work for Frank again.”
“Probably for the best.”
“So, are they free to go?” I asked, hoping it was that easy.
He nodded his head. “They’re free to go. Try to keep that man of yours on a shorter leash.”
I laughed. “He’s not my man.”
“Sure, he isn’t.”
“How bad are Aaron and the other guys hurt?” I asked, almost afraid to know.
He chuckled. “Oh, I don’t think anybody is going to be out dancing anytime soon, but no one needed a hospital. I don’t know what you said to your boyfriend, but he kept it all pretty minimal. I don’t know if I would have had the same restraint.”
“Not. My. Boyfriend,” I reiterated.
The sheriff laughed and led me down a long hall before opening a door with a small window in it. Colton and Kevin were sitting in chairs at a table, both of them with their arms crossed over their chests and scowls on their faces.
“Gentlemen, Miss Jenna here is ready to take you back to your rig. I suggest you head right over there and pick it up. Frank is threatening to have it towed out of there.”
The men stood, and Colt
on refused to meet my eyes.
“Thank you, sir,” Kevin said, extending a bloodied hand.
The sheriff looked down at the offered hand and smiled. “Thank you for doing a little clean up. Now, you two stay out of trouble. Next time, I won’t be so lenient.”
“Will do, sir,” Kevin said, shooting a look at Colton.
I walked out of the room and glanced through the small window of the room across the hall. My mouth fell open when I saw Aaron’s face. Through his one good eye, he was staring back at me. I slapped a hand over my mouth to hide the satisfied smile that involuntarily spread across my face.
“Thank you,” Colton muttered as he walked past me.
I followed the men out into the bright light of a warm day, climbing into my car. We drove in silence to the diner. I dropped them off and headed home without saying a word. Colton was right behind me when I pulled into the driveway.
“Jenna, wait,” he called out when I started walking toward the door.
Kevin walked past me and gave me a small smile before knocking on my front door. Rose let him in, looked at me, and shut the door. I spun around, hands on my hips to face Colton.
“What?” I snapped.
“Please don’t be mad,” he said, his voice pleading. “I didn’t want it to go that way. They wouldn’t let up. They forced the issue. Kevin and I tried to walk away.”
I took a minute to study his face and didn’t see any bruising. Once again, the man had escaped relatively unscathed. He must be a ninja, I decided. He was certainly not the size of any ninja I had ever seen, but he seemed to avoid being touched—ever.
He reached out for me and that was when I saw the evidence of what had gone down. I grabbed his hand and turned it flat to look at the knuckles. They were bruised and bloodied. I stared at his hands for a long time. They were violent hands. I dropped it, looking up at him.
“You could have walked away,” I said in a low voice.
“Jenna, they were never going to leave you alone. What if they would have gotten drunk one night and overpowered you? I couldn’t risk them hurting you.”
In the back of my mind, I shared those same fears, but I wouldn’t admit it to him. I was not a violent person. I hated killing bugs.
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