“Get back in the car, lock the doors!”I yelled to her.
But Andy had already circled around, dragging a struggling Zelda with him.“You really thought you could hide from me?”he sneered at Penny.“You think this fucking gorilla can protect you?”He yanked Zelda’s arm hard enough to make her cry out in pain.“Tell your boyfriend to back the fuck off before I break her arm.”
Zelda’s eyes met mine over Andy’s shoulder, wide but determined.I saw the calculation there, the decision forming before she made her move.Smart kid.She went suddenly limp in Andy’s grip, dropping her weight so unexpectedly that, even though she was slight of build and still a growing adolescent, he had nearly lost his hold.In the split second he needed to adjust his grip, she twisted, driving her heel into his instep and breaking free.
“Zelda, run!”I shouted at her.Of course, Zelda darted, not away, but toward her mother.
Penny’s attacker had regained his footing and was reaching for her again.In a move that would have made any action hero proud, Zelda launched herself onto the man’s back, her arms wrapping around his neck, fingers clawing at his eyes.The distraction gave Penny the opening she needed.She drove her knee up between his legs with enough force that I almost winced in sympathy.Almost.
I turned back just in time to see the guy I’d just dropped with a dick shot charging me again, this time with something glinting in his hand.A knife, the blade catching the winter sunlight.I sidestepped, grabbing his wrist and twisting until I heard the bones snap.He screamed, the knife dropping to the ground.I kicked it under the Bronco, then delivered a blow to his temple that saw the man drop like a stone.This time, he didn’t get up.
A sharp pain exploded across the back of my head.Stars burst behind my eyes as I staggered forward, catching myself on the hood of the Bronco.Andy’s third man, the one I’d missed, had circled behind me, a crowbar in his hand.Warm blood trickled down my scalp as I turned to face him.He must have had shit aim and caught me with a glancing blow or I’d have been knocked out at the very least.Dead if he’d had any arm strength whatsoever.“You should’ve minded your own business,” he growled, swinging the iron again.
I caught it mid-swing, the impact jarring up my arm.“Theyaremy business.”I yanked the iron from his grasp, then swung it like a baseball bat straight into his solar plexus.The guy gasped in pain before sinking to the ground, struggling to breathe.With any luck I’d ruptured his diaphragm, taking him out of the fight completely.
Blood dripped into my eye from a gash on my forehead, blurring my vision.I wiped it away with the back of my hand, taking stock of the situation.Penny had managed to break free from her attacker, who was now doubled over and cursing.Andy was advancing on Zelda again, murder in his eyes.
Another car screeched to a halt and two more men climbed out and managed to tackle me to the ground before I could make it to Penny and Zelda.The impact knocked the wind from my lungs.I rolled, trying to throw him off, catching glimpses of the scene around me.Penny pulled Zelda toward her as Andy’s face contorted with rage.
“You think I’m going to let you walk away?”Andy shouted at Penny.“After everything you’ve cost me?You and those fucking brats?”
I drove my elbow into my attacker’s face and shoved him off, struggling to my feet just as the other one joined the fight, grabbing me from behind.I felt myself tiring, the blow to my head making the world swim in and out of focus.
“Penny!”I roared, catching her eye as I grappled with both men.“Take the girls and run!NOW!”I bellowed, throwing one attacker into the other, buying Penny and Zelda a few precious seconds.
Penny grabbed Zelda’s hand, reaching back into the Bronco for Kira.She yanked both daughters close and turned toward the woods that lined the roadside.
Blood streaming down my face, I planted myself between them and their pursuers.Andy’s face twisted with fury as he watched his quarry escaping.He started after them, but I managed to get a foot out to trip him up.He face-planted on the gravel at my feet, and it was all I could do not to laugh at the bastard.
Andy wiped blood from his split lip, his eyes narrowing as he glared at Penny.“I’m sick to death of you and your brats,” he spat, his polished facade completely gone.“Do you have any idea what you’ve cost me?”Behind him, his men regrouped, circling like wolves.I felt a familiar heat building in my chest -- the same protective fury that had erupted fifteen years ago when I found Julie with that bastard.The rage that had cost me a decade and a half of my life.But this time was different.This time, I had something to fight for, not just against.
“Let them go, Andy,” I growled, widening my stance.Blood from the gash on my forehead trickled into my eye, and I blinked it away.“This isn’t going to end how you think.”
He laughed, the sound sharp and ugly.“Look at you -- bleeding, outnumbered.You think you’re going to walk away from this?”His gaze shifted to Penny, who was backing toward the tree line with the girls.“You stupid bitch.Did you think I wouldn’t find you?That I’d just write off what you stole from me?”
“I didn’t steal anything!”Penny shouted back, her voice steady despite the fear I could see in her eyes.“Everything I took was mine!”
Andy snapped his fingers, and the man with the tire iron lunged toward Penny, catching her arm before she could retreat farther.She cried out in pain as his fingers dug into her flesh, and something in me -- something I’d kept carefully controlled since the day I crushed a man’s skull with my bare hands -- broke free.
I moved without conscious thought, my body responding to a threat against what was mine.Three long strides brought me to the man holding Penny.My fist connected with his jaw with a satisfying crack that vibrated up my arm.He staggered, his grip on Penny loosening.I didn’t give him time to recover, delivering a knee to his midsection that doubled him over.
“Keep going!”I shouted at Penny when she turned to look over her shoulder.
One of the guys I’d already injured recovered enough to charge me from the side, driving his shoulder into my ribs.The impact sent us both sprawling onto the ground.Pain exploded across my torso where I likely had at least one cracked rib.I rolled, using my size to my advantage, and pinned him beneath me.Three rapid punches left him dazed, but one of the other men was already back on me, wrapping his arm around my neck in a chokehold.
Through the struggle, I caught glimpses of Penny pulling the girls toward the tree line.Zelda was half-dragging Kira, who looked paralyzed with fear.They were almost there.Almost safe.I just needed to buy them a little more time.
I drove my elbow back into my attacker’s sternum and broke his hold, spinning to face him.Blood dripped steadily into my eyes now, my vision swimming in and out of focus.My breath came in ragged gasps, each one sending shards of pain through my ribs.
“Shouldn’t have gotten involved,” the big guy snarled, spitting a tooth onto the ground between us.“This ain’t your business.”
“Family is always my business,” I growled back, keeping my body between them and the retreating figures of Penny and the girls.That’s when I noticed Andy wasn’t engaging in the fight.Instead, he’d circled around, moving through the brush to cut off Penny’s escape route.I watched in horror as he emerged from the trees directly in Penny’s path, grabbing Zelda by her jacket before they could change direction.
“Let me go!”Zelda screamed, twisting in his grip like a wild animal.“Mom!”
Penny lunged for her daughter, but Andy shoved her backward hard enough to send her sprawling to her ass on the ground.Kira stood frozen, clutching Mr.Hoppers to her chest.
The sound that emerged from my mouth didn’t sound human.I fought with renewed desperation, needing to get to my girls.The three men tried to hold me back, one catching my arm while another landed a blow to my already injured ribs.The third one hopped on my back, wrapping his arm around my neck in a choke hold again.Pain exploded through my body, but I pushed through it, breaking free with a surge of strength born of pure unadulterated rage.
