Page 8 of Christmas Trouble

“It could be any one of them. Aaron isn’t always a peach.” Creed said calmly as they headed across the parking lot.

“Aaron is how old? Thirteen?” Echo asked.

“Thirteen going on twenty,” Creed grumbled.

Echo laughed. “Sounds like most of them right now.”

“I agree,” Hunter said. “Teenagers think they haveallthe answers.”

The sound of an SUV driving close had Seven glancing over to find Real behind the wheel, with Stone in the passenger side, and an eighteen-year-old Beck in the back seat.

“Fill me in,” Real said, running his eyes over them, noticing the concealed weapons.

“Something is going on inside the store,” Seven said.

At those words, Real felt his stomach drop. “Where’s Azrael?” He almost couldn’t get the words out.

“He went inside to get the boys…” Seven’s words cut off when three of the boys came running out of the store along with several customers.

Joshua, Travis, and Aaron ran through the snow, slipping and sliding across the parking lot even though each one wore grips on the bottom of their shoes plus heavy snow gear. The speed with which they ran caused them to skid and stumble.

“Hurry!” Travis shouted and fear filled the boy’s voice as they drew near to them. “Azrael and Tyler are still inside with a gunman.”

All three boys clung to the side of Real’s SUV, panting for breath.

“Get inside the passenger van with Kellum and Dylan,” Seven ordered, and all three teenagers scrambled to comply.

“Joshua!” Real snapped. Reaching into his glove compartment, he took out his nine millimeter.

Stone was already out of the vehicle, telling Beck to stay put.

Leaving the SUV’s engine running, Real stepped out and held Joshua’s gaze.

“Park this next to the van. And then you and the boys join Kellum in the van,” Real told Joshua and left the driver’s door open.

Without hesitation, Joshua got behind the wheel.

Real patted his pocket where the extra clip always rested and moved toward the entrance. Seven checked his Glock and stalked alongside Real and Stone, with Creed, Ice, and Echo at their flank.

“What brings you here?” Seven asked Real as they hurried across the slushy, snow-filled lot.

“What do you mean?” Real said.

“I mean you said you weren’t coming,” Seven pointed out.

“I changed my mind,” Real responded and then fired a question of his own. “Now what the fuck is going on?”

“We got a text that said ‘help.’ You found out about the gunman right when we did,” Seven said.

They reached the entrance and Seven stopped. “I need someone to watch the front entrance.”

“I’ll watch the exit,” Creed said.

“We will stay with Creed to keep the chaos down.” Echo said, and Ice agreed with a nod. “I think the less people inside the better.”

When Real, Stone, Hunter, and Seven reached the sliders, they walked through the metal detectors just inside the doors. Their weapons set off the alarm as they passed through.

People took one look of the group of badass men entering the store and scrambled out of the way.

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