Page 120 of Half Baked

The gate bounced off the car and slammed into the side of the bar as Lance drove down the side of the building.

“What next?” Lance asked.

“Find Maddie.” It was pretty shitty as far as plans went. I shook my head to clear it. “We’ll go in through the back door.”

ChapterThirty-Two

Maddie

Kipsey lifted his hand to slap my face, and instinct took over. I dropped into a squat and pulled free of the men who were restraining me, then kicked Kipsey hard in the groin with the heel of my shoe.

The two men beside me had been too shocked to react, but now they both reached down for me. I rolled over so my back was to them, then grabbed the nearest arm and tugged hard, flipping the guy onto his back. His head hit the concrete floor with a loud thud, and he didn’t move. The other guy grabbed me around the waist and pulled me off the floor. But I hadn’t taken all those self-defense classes for nothing. I wrapped a foot around his leg and twisted my body, throwing him off balance. He started to fall, and I gave his thigh a hard shove. He landed on top of his buddy, the orderly.

Kipsey was still doubled over, but pure rage covered his face.

“Stop her!” he shouted, then hastily added, “But don’t kill her. I’m going to really make her suffer now.”

The two guys with guns had been pointing them at George, who was watching the scene unfold with horror. But Vomit Shoes Guy gleefully pointed his gun at me. I was standing in the open, several feet from Kipsey and the two men on the floor. I had no cover, and I suspected he would shoot me out of spite for vomiting on him.

“If you kill her, you might as well kill me too,” George said in a broken voice.

“Maybe that can be arranged,” Kipsey growled as he started to stand more upright. He slipped a knife from a sheath on his belt and held it out toward me. “But first I’ll make her suffer, just like I did with her mother.”

I gasped in shock, but George let out a bellow of anguish and fury. “Youkilled Andrea?”

Several shots rang out. It took me a second to process that George had tried to run over, and Murphy and his friend had shot at his feet.

“You stay where you are,” Kipsey said with a grin, starting to circle me. “Youget towatch.”

“NO!” George shouted. More gunfire went off, but I had my gaze locked on Kipsey. I was starting to see two of him, which was going to make dodging his six-inch blade difficult.

Kipsey jabbed his knife toward me, and I jumped backward to evade it. I’d had some training in evading an aggressor armed with a knife, but my head was so scrambled it wasn’t coming back to me.

I moved to my left, heading toward the open entrance to the garage. There were woods off in the distance. If I could get outside, maybe I could make a run for it. Then I realized I couldn’t leave George behind. Maybe we could both run?

There were grunts and gunshots coming from the group, and a quick glance told me they were bunched up and physically fighting.

Kipsey used my moment of distraction to thrust the knife at me. I caught the glint of the blade at the last second, so I spun to the side, and it ran across my bicep instead of slashing my core.

I didn’t feel it at first, and then my arm was on fire as blood ran down my forearm.

Kipsey laughed. “You’re putting up more of a fight than your mother.”

“I don’t know about that,” I shot back, trying not to let him goad me. “She got your eagle necklace.” I gestured to his chest. “Replaced it with a tattoo, huh?”

“It was a gift from my daddy. I didn’t realize it was gone until I left. By then the cops were swarming the place. That damn janitor.”

“So you were partners with your brother?” I asked. We were practically dancing in a circle as I tried to evade him.

He laughed. “Fuck no. He was my olderhalf-brother, and he thought he was too damn good for me. But I dropped into town to pay him a visit and heard about his dilemma with Andrea Baker. He said he had it covered, but I was still trying to win his trust. I told Billy he needed to show the bitch who was boss. So I sent her a note and got her to meet me at the school. Told her it was in her best interest help my brother out with his business ventures and maybe there would be a little something in it for her. I figured I’d convince her one way or the other to cooperate.”

“But she didn’t cooperate, did she?” I prodded. I was moving us closer and closer to the entrance, a good ten feet away from the wrestling men. I didn’t dare spare them a glance.

“No, the bitch actually spit in my face. Can you believe it? So I showed her she wasn’t as high and mighty as she thought she was. Funny thing is, Billy waspissedthat I killed her.Said she had a key he needed. The asshole was so mad he sent me on a mission to Knoxville a few days later and gave the state police a tip that my car would be carryin’ drugs. I was in jail when Billy was murdered. But when I got out, I saved up my money and called in a few favors and convinced the owner of the Cock of the Walk to sell it to me. I wanted to find out who killed my brother and I figured living here was the best way to do it. Might as well make a little money while I was at it. I’ve been biding my time, sussing things out, and then you started stirring up shit.”

“You threatened Bergan’s family,” I said.

“It wasn’t hard to get him to stop. He actually peed his pants when I met him the first time. I didn’t give him a chance to pee ’em the second.”

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