The guy shoves Julio again, knocking him into a chair and drawing the bartender’s attention. The waitress reaches for the phone.
Julio lowers his voice. “Look, we don’t want any troub—”
The sucker punch catches him under the ribs.
Amber swings the cue into the backs of the boy’s knees. It’s at his throat before they hit the floor. Chairs topple as one of his friends makes a run for Julio. The tall one grabs me from behind. I dig my heel into his shin and throw my hips backward, using his own momentum to toss him over my shoulder, where he lands supine on the floor.
I smash my bottle, the shatter echoing as I bring it under his chin.
The bar stills, deadly quiet except for the soft whir of the record. A cold draft blows through the room. When I look up, Jack’s standing in the open door, the rifle poised to fire.
“We’re leaving,” he says, sighting down the barrel at the only guy left standing of the frat boys’ group. Jack’s arms shimmer with frost. His eyes cloud over with the same icy look he wore the morning we left the cabin. Without lifting them from his target, he says, “We’ll take our food to go.”
The waitress lets go of the phone. Her hands shake as she puts the burgers and fries in a bag and sets it on the bar.
“I apologize for the disruption.” Jack jerks his head toward the door. I set down the broken bottle. Amber throws down her cue and follows me, glass crackling under our shoes. Julio shoves his attacker back by his collar, taking the bag of food on his way out the door. Jack backs out behind us, instructing everyone in the bar to count to a thousand before they move.
“Get in the car,” he says when we’re all outside. He throws open the trunk. I nudge past Amber and Julio and run to the front passenger door.
Amber’s still standing frozen on the top step, a wild uncertainty in her eyes. “Julio, wait.”
We all pause. I scent the air. Jack tightens his grip on the rifle, darting glances into the shadows around us.
“What?” Julio looks up at her, worry pulling on his brow as she shuts her eyes tight and swears quietly. He climbs up a step until they’re eye to eye. “What is it? What’s wrong—?”
She grabs him by the front of his shirt and kisses him. Julio’s body goes rigid with shock as her arms slide around his neck and their kiss deepens. I cover my mouth, trying and failing to stifle a grin.
“Are we seriously doing this now?” Jack snaps, when neither one of them comes up for air.
Julio’s eyes close as she melts into him. He tosses the bag of burgers on the hood of the car and wraps his arms around her, lifting her off the step. Her legs curl around his waist as sirens wail in the distance.
“Can we please get in the fucking car?” Jack throws the rifle into the trunk and slams it closed. I grab the bag of food off the hood and jump into the front passenger’s seat. Julio eases Amber to the ground, their lips close, their chests heaving.
“We’re okay?” she asks, as if she’s not entirely sure.
“We’re okay,” he says, a little breathless.
He takes her hand and they scramble into the back seat. Jack pauses, one leg still out of the car, his eyes narrowed against the darkness.
“What is it, Jack? What’s going on?” I ask, feeling the night and his anger and the heat and the sirens and the faces in the window of the bar pressing in around us.
Jack gets into the car and puts the keys in the ignition. “They’re coming for us,” he says, peeling out of the parking lot.
“Who?” I ask him.
“Everyone.”
36
Chaos and Opportunity
JACK
I slam down the accelerator, kicking up gravel as the tires squeal onto the highway. Without taking my eyes from the road, I reach into the glove box for Woody’s map and hand it to Fleur.
“Look for someplace safe to pull over and get rid of the gun. A bridge or a ravine. Somewhere we won’t be seen.” We’re close to the Arkansas River. There must be a bridge or an overpass somewhere.
“Maybe we should hold on to it. What if we need it?” Amber asks.
