***
When I come to, I don’tknow if I’ve been out for seconds or hours.Pain lances through my skull and cheekbone and I groan because the room is on its side.Fuck.
“Daisy?You okay?”I can’t see where the hell she is on account of my head spinning so hard.I turn my neck and queasiness washes over me.I played Varsity, and I’ve had more than my fair share of being thrown off a horse, so I’ve had concussions before.I know this feeling well, and I know until the world stops tilting on its side, I don’t have a chance in hell of fighting this asshole and winning.
“West, West.”Daisy whimpers, hovering over me.Her hair curtains my face, and she sniffs back tears.“Oh my god, I thought you were dead.”
“Not yet.”I grunt and close my eyes, attempting to shake off the spots in my vision.
“Get the fuck away from him.”Someone shoves his boot into the back of my neck.“Stay right where you are, cowboy.”
That’s not Eddie.What the fuck is going on here?I raise my hands a few inches off the ground, my palms down in a warding gesture.“I ain’t goin’ anywhere.Let the woman and kid go.I’ll stay and see that you get what you’re owed.”
The man laughs and kneels on my back.My ribs and spine protest with his weight.A big fucker, then.He wrenches one hand behind my back and then the other, and slaps a cool plastic zip tie around them.“Turn around and get on your knees.Slowly.”
“Well, I would, but the butt of your gun did a number on my brain, and I’m a little concussed.”
“Are you stupid?I said get on your knees, fucker.”He shoves his boot in my side, and I groan and comply, but I go slow and take in the situation.Waylon is sleeping in his electric swing across the room while Daisy kneels opposite me, her hands tightly clasped in her lap, but not restrained.Either they used Waylon to get her to comply with their demands, or they didn’t think she’d put up much of a fight.Her pretty face is blotchy and tear-streaked, and the panic in her gaze when her eyes meet mine is something I hope to never see again.These fuckers are going to pay for this shit.
Across the room, another goon holds a gun at Eddie’s back as he rifles through a drawer filled with paperwork in Daisy’s painted old hutch.
“Where the fuck is it?”the gunman demands.
“I don’t know.We always kept it here.Ask my bitch ex-wife.”
Eddie turns an accusatory glare at Daisy, and I make a mental note to beat the shit out of him if we ever get out of this.“Where the fuck did you put it, Daisy?”
“What the fuck are you looking for?”I ask, which earns me a sharp kick to the ribs.I double over and see stars for a minute.Oh, this motherfucker is going to die.
“The Deed to the fucking house!”Eddie screams, but it’s more for Daisy’s benefit than mine.
“Eddie owes the boss a pretty piece of paper, since he bet everything he had, and then some.We’ve come to collect.”
“It’s at my place,” I say.“Ain’t that right, Dais?”
Her bloodshot eyes cut to mine, and her brow creases.Daisy Mae’s spent her life being underestimated by most people, but she’s smart as a whip.She hid that deed because she knew her ex was capable of something like this.Slowly, she nods.“I had a feeling you’d come looking for it, so I took it to the safest place I know.”
Hope sparks in my chest and I must’ve been hit harder than I thought if me being her “safe place” is making me all warm and gushy right now.Get out of this shit alive, and then you can start pulling petals off wildflowers and declaring your love.
“Then I guess we’re going to this safe place to get it,” the man with the gun smiles wide enough to show off his shitty silver grill.
Bring it on, motherfucker.Just try stepping foot on Winchester land uninvited.
Eddie shakes his head.“No.It’s bullshit.He’s just trying to throw us off so he can get his brothers involved.”
“Good idea.Hey, Siri.Call Wade.”My phone hums to life in my pocket.Goon One backhands me across the face and lunges for my phone.Stupid asshole didn’t even fucking pat me down for it.Amateur.I kick like my life depends on it, hitting him square in the balls.He drops, and Eddie uses the commotion to flee through the front door.Goon Two follows him as his buddy climbs on top of me and throws the first punch.I can’t do shit with my arms tied, but I reel back and try to headbutt him.He dodges, his arms shoot out, his hands snake their way around my neck and squeeze.Fuck.If he manages to strangle me, Daisy and Waylon will be defenseless.I want to scream for her to run, but I can’t get any air.Pain lances through my whole body, white-hot agony as my arms, wrists, and elbows are pushed to breaking point underneath the weight.Blackness threatens my vision as I struggle.
Pop.Pop.Pop.
Debris rains down around us as a bullet finds home in Daisy’s acoustic tile ceiling, her sideboard and one of those fluffy pink cushions she keeps on the sofa.
The distraction is enough for the asshole to release his hold on my throat.I cough and sputter, gasping for air.He makes a beeline for Daisy, and I kick his shin as hard as I can.He screams and drops to the ground beside me.
From my front pocket, Wade is shouting, but I can’t decipher what he’s saying.Daisy shoots again, three rapid fire shots muffled by the silencer, but still deafening in the small living room.He shrieks as he topples again.Crimson patterns bloom on his arm and chest.I wrench myself free of the shitty zip ties, and scramble to my feet.I take the gun from Daisy and fire off two more rounds into the fuckface on the floor—now bleeding from multiple holes in his torso.Waylon is screaming bloody murder, and Daisy pulls him from his swing, cradling him tight as she shushes him.
“We need to leave,” I say, pulling out my phone from my pocket.“Wade?”
“Brother, what the fuck?Did I just hear gunshots?”
