Instead, Avery, with all of her five-foot height, took command of the entire crowd.
“Back off, Mason.” Her words were quiet yet firm, holding enough censure that even my gut tightened. And I wasn’t even the one she was talking to. “This is between Deacon and me.”
Shocked didn’t even begin to describe how I felt. The man, who stood almost as tall as I did, with just as much muscle, immediately paused.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt,” he stuttered.
Dumbfounded, I looked between him and Avery, trying to figure out what power she had over him. Over all of them, because none of the others stepped forward. Ten bikers, at least, stood there watching Deacon get his ass handed to him by his sister. Even though they had created quite a scene between the adults, none of the children were paying them any attention.
“You brought the woman who tortured me in school, Deacon. Fucking tortured me.” Avery shoved her brother, hard, and I took a step forward before I knew what I was doing.
“Hey,” my voice came out garbled. “Why don’t you come with us? We’re headed to town. We can drop you off. Get you out of here.”
Avery blinked, like she was coming out of a haze, and sighed so deeply my heart ached for her.
“Yeah.” Her shoulders slumped. “I gotta get out of here.”
We all watched her walk away, cutting through a sea of children to get to a dark-haired boy that had to be a relative.
“My son,” Deacon explained when he saw my curiosity. “Everett.”
She leaned down, gave the boy a hug, and then she was walking back toward us with a grim expression.
“Let’s go.” Avery shot a glare at her brother. “Tell Mom and Dad that I said goodbye when they get here.” She walked on without looking back, and I turned around to see Deacon rubbing a hand through his hair.
“Ugh. I fucked up,” he murmured.
“Yeah you did,” Remy supplied. “Karen? Man, even I wouldn’t be that stupid.”
“No,” Deacon snapped irately. “You’ll just show up at a party where you know the woman you love is gonna be, just to try and get her to talk to you.” He rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Even though we all know she isn’t gonna give you the time of day.”
Parker was watching them from across the yard. She was sitting with a group of boys, distracting them from the adult drama.
We were distracted—a mistake. None of us were watching Avery. Until her scream filled the air.
Instantly, my hand was on my gun and Remy was at my side. We moved in the direction Avery had gone, but we weren’t alone. Deacon and his men were there, too. Smartly, they waited for us to go first, guns drawn.
Once we moved around a large truck in the drive, the scene became very clear.
“Get this crazy bitch off me!” Leroy screamed.
Remy chortled. Deacon and his men all stopped, laughing outright. None of them stepped forward to help the man currently lying on his back, cradling an obviously broken arm, with blood pouring out of his nose.
I’d likely never forget the image in front of me, either.
Avery, straddling him with one hand wrapped in his hair and the other slamming into his face. Over and over again.
“She’s a fuckin’ psycho!” Leroy roared in pain as her fist connected with his cheek.
“He shouldn’t have fucked with her.” The same man that had stuttered before said, crossing his arms over his chest, but none of them moved. “She’s the scariest person I’ve ever met in my life.”
Everyone stood there watching, but I couldn’t. The uniform demanded that I do something. Even if Avery made me want to walk away and I didn’t even know anything about her.
“Avery James, you’re under arrest for assault.”
The cuffs on my belt unsnapped, and I lifted her off him easily enough. Once I had her up, she collapsed in my arms. Completely out of steam, silent sobs tearing through her body. With nothing else to do, I carried her away from the crowd of men to the cruiser. I hadn’t even been able to get the cuffs on her wrists yet.
“He attacked me.” She whispered quietly once we were out of earshot of her brother. “He grabbed me by the throat, and he said that he was going to kill me for ruining his chance to join Twisted Kings.”
Her admission changed everything. Already, I was thinking about how I could apologize for making an assumption, but explain that I had seen it so I had to act. My mouth was open, ready to speak, ready to tell her that I’d be arresting the man she defended herself from, when I saw the tears in her eyes. Rarely did I hate my job as a police officer, but in that moment, I did.
Before I could respond in any way, the radio on my shoulder crackled and a call broke through.
“10-74, I repeat 10-74.” My brother Keegan’s voice sounded garbled, and a gunshot rang out through the open mic. “Corner of Main and State.” Then, nothing but silence.
I froze, unable to process what was happening. Remy came running a moment later, and I left Avery standing there staring at us confused. “Cut her loose, we’ll handle it later if the guy wants to press charges. I doubt it, though. Deacon keeps a tight lid on anything relating to the club or his family.” All business, Remy jumped behind the wheel of the cruiser.
“Units 6 and 21 responding,” I called in, immediately hearing every other officer in Birch responding the same way.
10-74. An officer needed assistance. Not just any officer, either. My little brother, fighting for his life and sounding scared for the first time since he’d joined the force.
“Hurry,” I told Remy needlessly as he sped down the road with the siren flashing and horns blaring around us.
All thoughts of the fiery brunette were left behind as we raced to my brother’s last known location. Panic, the likes of which I’d never experienced before, filled my soul and made it almost impossible to breathe. With every second that passed, thoughts of Keegan’s panic-filled voice filled my mind.
We arrived to chaos.
Two bodies were on the ground, face down.
I knew the brightly colored tattoo on the officer’s arm, even from thirty feet away. I’d gone with Keegan to get it the day he’d turned eighteen. Every step I took toward the fallen officer left a hollow piece in my soul.
By the time I made it to my brother’s lifeless body, my heart felt like it would never beat again.
3
Avery
Hiding out—that’s exactly what I found myself doing after Remy left with Carter Malone, leaving me to deal with the mess I’d been trying to run from. I snuck around the camp and down to the dock when the people left had been distracted.
Damn, I hadn’t recognized Carter at first. He used to be cute, yeah. Except now, I wanted to throw my underwear at him even when he tried to arrest me. Then again, he’d always been the town’s golden boy. Football ran through his veins, and he’d always been in great shape. More than once, I’d stared at his ass in uniform while watching the team play during games.
Now though, he really was panty-melting. Even in the middle of the chaos and destruction I’d caused, I wanted to throw myself at him. Idly, I thought about him and the crush I’d had on him even way back then. Last I heard, he’d been drafted into the NFL; as I avoided all my problems, I wondered what would bring him back to Birch County. Not just that, but what would have him putting on the blue uniform of a police officer.