Twister.
Wheels.
Gramps.
Chewy.
Even from up here, I could recognize them.
The way they moved and carried themselves like they weren’t asking permission to be there.
They justwerethere.
I leaned closer to the window, wishing like hell I could hear what was being said.
Twister stepped forward first, his presence immediate, commanding.The officers noticed him.Swift turned toward them, and for the first time since this whole thing started, something in my chest eased.
Not all the way.
But enough.
“Come away from the window, Britta,” Tyson called.
“No,” I said, not even looking at him.
“Britta.”
I turned my head just enough to glance at him over my shoulder.“I’m not coming away from this window until I know that no one else is going to get shot at.”
He sighed.
I heard him move, then felt him beside me, his shoulder close enough that I knew he wasn’t going anywhere either.
We stood there together, watching.
The police shifted.One of them talked to Twister now.Swift stayed close, but not too close.
“You really landed in the middle of trouble,” Tyson said.
I rolled my eyes.“You say that like I meant for all of this to happen.”I glanced at him.“And for the record, Swift and the club did not plan for this either.They just came here to start over.”
“Yeah,” Tyson muttered, “maybe they picked the wrong town to do that.”
I looked back out the window.“I think this town might be the problem.”
He didn’t say anything to that.“I think their club should just shut up shop and leave,” he added after a second.
I turned to him fully this time.“You think that’s fair?”
“They stay, more people get hurt,” he said simply.
“They’ve done nothing,” I shot back.“And you think it’s right that the assholes of this town can just run them off?”I shook my head.
“Yeah, well,” he said, dragging a hand down his face, “I don’t think it’s fair.But I think them leaving keeps you from getting shot again.”
“They don’t want me dead,” I said.“I was just in the way.”
His jaw tightened.“And that makes this okay?”
