Page 30 of Whistle

“You think I wouldn’t find you?” a deep voice threatened, and I turned to where a man had Bodhi pinned against the wall by his throat.

Bodhi slapped and clawed at the hand holding him as he twisted and tried to kick.

Enraged, I threw myself at them, slamming into the attacker from the side. The force knocked him away from Bodhi, and we both went down in a tangle of limbs. I recovered first, straddling the man and slamming my fist into his jaw.

He grunted and twisted, stretching his arm out to grab some kind of basket and throw it at me. I batted it away, and he rolled from beneath me. Jumping to our feet, chests heaving, we locked eyes on each other.

The wild way I felt must have been clear in my expression because the man in the dark jacket swiped the back of his hand over his mouth and then spit. “This don’t involve you, man. Just move out of the way.”

“Everything about him involves me.” I watched and weighed his every move, readying myself for a strike. “So just forget it and go.”

“I’m not leaving until I get what I came for.”

He lunged, and I swiped his legs out from under him. He fell hard, and I leaped on him, grabbing his shirt and punching him again.

The guy laughed, his teeth outlined in red. “Wait,” he rasped, spitting out some blood.

I hesitated.

It was my mistake.

The man moved quickly, pulling a pistol out of his jacket and jamming the nose into my chest. “Back the fuck up or eat a bullet.”

I immediately lifted my hands and stood.

Cigarettes and guns. Bodhi was lucky he ended up in jail instead of six feet under.

“Emmett!” Rush’s voice came in from the hall, and I forgot about myself and turned to yell for him to get the fuck out.

But he crashed through the bedroom door before the words even left my lips.

“Whoa,” he said, taking in the mess and the fact I was being held at gunpoint.

Fear slammed into me, as did the reality of this situation. Moving fast and without turning my back, I grabbed Bodhi and tossed him behind me and then plowed him back until I was standing in front of both him and Rush.

“Get the hell out of here,” I told them. “Now.”

“No one is going anywhere until I get what I came for,” Smokey raged.

My heart was hammering. A whooshing sound filled my ears. I took a breath, willing myself to calm down as my mind whirled with ways to get them both the hell out of there before they got shot.

I spared a glance over my shoulder, eyes colliding with Rush’s. “Take him and get the fuck out,” I spat and then threw myself at the intruder.

And then the gun went off.

9

Bodhi

A vise-like arm snaked around my waist and yanked me nearly off my feet. Rush grunted, hauling me out into the hallway as a loud pop silenced everything.

Ears ringing, I stumbled, and Rush shoved between my shoulder blades, making me fall onto the floor. I pushed up as he yelled and lunged for my bedroom door.

“Coach!”

Fresh hell reached up from rock bottom and pulled me into its basement. I hit with a resounding thud that left my bones vibrating. It wasn’t panic or pain that assaulted me. It was nothing at all what I thought rock bottom was like.

It was worse.

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