King pushed me inside, and Grant and I almost knocked each other over because he shoved me off-balance. By the time I got my shit together to surge forward, the door was shut. When I tried to pull it open, it didn’t budge. I tried to twist the knob and couldn’t.
“Seriously? Fucking let go.” I pounded on the door and got no answer. Who knew what he was saying to Jamie?
My heart in my throat, I turned and pushed past Grant—who squawked—and ran for the back door. I bypassed the kitchen table, not slowing down when Grant called out to me, and burst out of the door to the rear of the cabin. I stumbled and hit my knees on the grass as I fell down the steps, but I was up and moving around the side of the cabin fast. Pine branches smacked at my face as I ran to the front and growled. King had Jamie backed against the side of his car with that fucking gun in his face, and Corbin was standing near the trunk with his own silver gun out and pointed at King. He didn’t look at all happy.
“Put the gun up, Cor.” Jamie laughed and his face flushed pink. “Christ, he won’t be happy with me at all if ya shoot his da, will he?”
“Why are you here?” King roared his question, and Jamie stood taller.
“Tonight? To see Hunter. I had no idea you’d be here. Swear.”
Carefully I made my way closer. It would be bad if I startled King into shooting me. He’d probably tell me that was my fault and give me the worst shit to do at the clubhouse for the next year. “I met Jamie when I went with Forrest and Rourke.”
King didn’t stop to look at me, only scowled harder at Jamie. “You met my son at a whorehouse?”
“Forrest lives at a whorehouse,” I pointed out quietly.
“So what?” King inched the gun closer to Jamie’s face.
“Stop that,” I whispered and took another step, but what would I do? Wrestle King for the gun? Yeah, that would work out well.
Jamie’s smile stretched wider. “Since you’re here, Mr. Arthur—”
“No, sinceyou’rehere, Shannon, why did he come back from New York City injured? You know anything about that?”
For fuck’s sake.“I wasn’t hurt bad. Let him go!” Some awful emotion dug spikes into my chest. I didn’t like being mad at King.
“Not hurt bad?” He kept the gun on Jamie but turned to glare at me.
“I’m fine.”
“Grant was digging in your leg for an hour and then you had to go get X-rays.”
“He wasn’t supposed to tell you that!” I crossed my arms.
“He didn’t.” King didn’t say how he knew, though.
I sighed. “The X-ray was just to make sure there were no metal shards he’d missed. I caught ricochet.” King’s jaw twitched harder, so I rushed to say, “It wasn’t Jamie’s fault.”
“You told me you snagged yourself riding.” King’s voice slipped low and dangerous.
That tone of his had me wanting to babble, and I was not that type of person. “Let Jamie go.”
King didn’t, but he stopped pointing the gun at Jamie’s head. Instead, the barrel was aimed more just in his general direction, and that really shouldn’t have seemed like an improvement.
“I knew you were into some shit that night. I could see it in your eyes when you came back here earlier than I expected. Reaper told me something happened, and Jester came back and went to the hospital for once in his fucking life, but no one wanted to tell me what stupid bullshit you guys were into. Reaper said to ask you about it. Just so you know, Reaper has never kept anything important from me… mostly. Dallas said to wait until you came to me.” King straightened and puffed out a dragon breath that made it seem like he wanted a cigarette. “When it comes to you, I’m fed up with doing things the nice way, especially since you don’t seem to have a goddamned dog fart’s worth of self-preservation. First Barnes, and now I’ve got one of Killough’s men here?” King poked his gun in Jamie’s direction, and Corbin raised his gun higher. My stomach dropped.
“I didn’t want anything to do with Barnes,” I ground out.
“Hello, sir. Lovely evening. Why yes, that is a delightful gun you’ve stuck in me face, but I could do without it!” Jamie said, and I could see him losing his amusement and getting pissed off.
“King, stop it. Get away from him.”
“We’ll let ya know what went on if it will make ya feel better, but it’s all been taken care of.” Jamie seemed extra reasonable, his voice totally steady. I wouldn’t have been able to do the same thing in his place. I winced, and Jamie must have seen because he gave me acalm downgesture low and to the side. I was sure King saw, though, because he huffed.
“Hunter did Killough a wee favor while he was visiting his brother.”
King laughed and dropped his aim, but I knew that wasn’t an amused sound coming from him and tensed. I wasn’t sure what I would do if he shot Jamie. I slapped a hand over my mouth to stop myself from doing or saying anything that might make King hurt Jamie, which was sure to end in Corbin shooting him, and maybe me too. And then Dallas would come out here… and Reaper…. I shivered.
