“Who’s that?”Wrecker asked.
“Hi, it’s me, Lark,” Lark called.
“Who the hell is Lark?”
“Oh, uh, she works with me,” I started explaining.“We were closing up and—”
“Get to the point, Ever,” Jude called, cutting me off.
“We were shot at!”I blurted.“Jesse, now Jester, knocked Jude down, Lark threw scoops, Jude tackled him!”I was trying to hit the main points.“Uh, and I called you.”
Silence.“Jesus Christ,” Wrecker muttered.“We’ll be there in five.”
The line went dead.
“You’re all going to die!”Jester shouted from the floor.
“Shut the fuck up,” Jude snapped.“I’m sick of your Northbound fucks.”
“Did you guys know him?”Lark asked.
“No,” Jude and I said in unison.
“He lied about who he was to me,” I said.
“He lied to all of us so he could get close to the club,” Jude said and pressed his foot harder into his chest.“But you lost your cool when you got to the clubhouse, didn’t you?Pissed off that the Fallen Lords are a metric ton better than your raggedy asses?”
Jester spat at Jude, but it didn’t go high enough and splatted right back onto his face.“Fuck you!”
I winced and shook my head.How on earth was I even slightly attracted to Jesse?Or I guess Jester?
“Go in the back and unlock the back door,” Jude called.
“Should we call the police?”Lark asked.“I mean, you didn’t do anything wrong,” she pointed out.
“Wrecker and the club are coming,” Jude said.“They’ll help take care of it.Unlock the back door,” he said again.
“I’m going, I’m going,” I said and started toward the back.
I glanced at Lark just for a split second, and my foot connected with one of the scoops, sending it skidding hard across the floor straight at Jester.
My breath caught as Jester lunged, his hand snapping out.His fingers closed around the scoop just before it slid past him.In one brutal motion, he twisted his body and swung, driving it into Jude’s knee.
Jude’s leg gave.
He staggered, his weight pitching to the right as his balance broke.
Jester didn’t hesitate.He rolled onto his side, already reaching, his hand disappearing beneath his waistband.
“No!”I screamed.
Steel flashed in his hand, but Jude was faster.
He planted his foot, caught himself, and brought his gun up in one smooth, deadly motion.
Three shots tore through the room.
The cracks echoed, sharp and deafening.
