Fire popped through my veins like an explosion. I surged to my feet, knocking the bar stool behind me onto the ground. I crossed the room with tunnel vision.
Sunny Harper stood facing the bar top, that strong, straight back as she was bullied from behind. Her slitted eyes remained forward, her jaw locked in a way that almost contorted her face. Flush covered her cheeks, her hands curled to fists at her side. Restraint.
Shocking restraint.
No,practicedrestraint.
The cowboys to her right were leaning inches from her, sensing blood, their anger fed from a day of gossip about the death of the pastor’s son. The Aldridge twins were chiding her from the back. A pack of dogs around the injured deer.
My entire body lit with rage.
“You like to target Christians, Voodoo Bitch?”The fat redneck to her right leaned forward.“Why don’t you come to my house next time? I’ve got a stake in my back yard I’d like to show you…”
His buddy picked up a strand of Sunny’s curls.“Bet these kinky, black pubes light up real quick.”
The redneck grinned a nasty, yellow-stained grin.“Bet it smells about the same, too. Let’s see…”
My hand clamped down on the fat bastard’s forearm as his hand reached for the switchblade on his belt. My other hand grabbed his buddy’s wrist, twisting it until he dropped the curl and his head slammed onto the bar top. A pitcher of beer toppled over, a handful of bottles shattered on the hardwood floors.
Chaos erupted.
I flipped open the knife I’d swiped from fat boy’s belt and leaned into his buddy’s ear. “You ever touch one strand of hair on that woman’s head again and your fingers won’t be the only nubs I’ll cut from your body. You understand me, cowboy?”
I dipped as a fist whizzed through the air next to me—less than three inches from Sunny’s face.
That was it.
I snapped.
I spun Sunny’s body away from the center of the chaos and slammed my fist into the redneck’s face.
The two-hundred-fifty pound bastard locked up like a plank, flipping a table on its side as his body hit the floor. The crowd scattered like ants. I grabbed Sunny’s hand and addressed the blonde bitches now gaping at the carnage on the floor.
“Bite your tongues next time, ladies, or I’ll make sure every person in Berry Springs knows about all the dicks youtwo dirty cunts have sucked in that bathroom.” I nodded to the camera above the bathrooms. “Now, unless you want to spend the rest of the evening in a cage for the dime bag you’ve got in your purses, I suggest you begin your walk home.” I held out the hand that wasn’t gripping Sunny’s. Freshly manicured nails trembled as they set their glittery keychains in my palm. “You can pick these up at the station after signing up for community service. I can promise you the dick is just as accommodating in the jailhouse bathroom.”
Then, behind me?—
“Shit.Sorry about that Detective, I didn’t realize what was going?—”
I turned to Frank, his eyes wide, broken glass in his hands.
“If you don’t get a better handle on your bar, Frank, I’ll make sure the doors get closed up and you never see this place again.”
Frank blinked.
“Let’s go.” I pulled Sunny away from the bar top and yanked her close to me. If someone—anyone—else laid a finger on her, I was going to murder someone.
Hand in hand, I led Sunny through the now-silent bar, every pair of bloodshot eyes locked on us. Not a single word was spoken, not a single drop drunk, not a muscle moved as we maneuvered through the tables.
Sunny didn’t jerk away, didn’t try to push me away. Good thing because I didn’t know how I’d react if she did at that moment. She knew, in that moment, to shut her mouth, mind me, and leave me the fuck alone.
Good girl.
The whispers started the moment we pushed out the front door.
It was only then that I released the breath I’d been holding and realized the magnitude of the moment.
I’d just gone to bat for Sunny. Publicly. Nothing else mattered to me the moment I saw her get bullied. Not my friends, not my reputation, not my badge. It was as if a switch had flipped in me, with Sunny’s finger on the trigger.
