Page 33 of Tusk's Fury

“Yeah,” I admit. “I guess because I’m wide awake, I think everyone should be.”

Tex grabs a roll, pulls it open, and begins stuffing chicken inside to make a sandwich. I do the same ‘cause it looks good.

As we eat, I ask, “Do you know what’s going on with Brittany? ‘Cause I sure as fuck can’t figure it out.”

He freezes with his chicken sandwich almost to his mouth and says, “Oh no, y’all ain’t draggin’ me into your shit. You two need to talk this out, not use a go-between.”

“I tried talking to her, but all she did was listen. It takes two to have a conversation, you know? I did tell her about Gina’s latest stunt, and she didn’t seem too happy about it.”

“Yeah, you don’t say,” Tex mutters. “Did you ever think that maybe you’re expecting too much too soon? We just arrived with the twins today, she’s got that baby to worry about, then she realized that her awful ex had found her, and then you popped up out of nowhere.”

“Go back,” I say. “Tell me more about this fuckin’ ex of hers.”

“No way. If you want to know more about him, talk to Brittany. But from what she said, he’s not an ex so much as someone she was promised to.”

“You’re my club brother,” I tell him. “You’re supposed to have my back.”

“I do have your back, dammit,” he responds testily. “Remember, I’m the only reason you ended up with face-to-face time with her. And let me tell you, my old lady was not thrilled that I invited you to come here.” Pointing at me with a chicken leg, he states firmly, “Club brother or not, I ain’t stickin’ my neck out for you again.”

“Alright, be that way.”

We both angry-eat for a few minutes before I break down and apologize. “Sorry for fuckin’ pushing you so hard. It was hard losing her, and knowing the reason she left was because I fucked up is even harder. I know that I need to chill out and let her talk to me when she’s ready.”

“Glad you’ve finally got your head screwed on straight. Stay close to her, brother. Danger is closer than you think.”

I know better than to ask what kind of danger. If I did, he was just gonna clam up again. We go back to eating in silence, but this time it’s more comfortable.

Then, out of the blue, the fire alarm sounds—a loud, piercing wail that grates on my nerves. We both run in different directions without a word. I head towards the bedroom, and Tex runs out of the suite to get to his family.

I bolt into the bedroom to find Brittany in a thin, long nightgown bending down to get the baby, who’s screaming her head off because of the harsh, high-pitched alarm. I rush over to them, grab a couple of the diaper bags, and usher them out of the bedroom. Before we can make it out of the suite, the sprinklers pop on.

Brittany starts panicking, clutching the still crying baby to her chest. “Please don’t leave us, Tusk.”

I wrap one arm around her, my Spidey senses going crazy. “I’m not. I promise. We stay together, no matter what.”

We meet Tex and Clara while moving towards the stairs. Each of them is carrying one of the twins. They were smarter than me because they also had a suitcase in their free hand. I wish I had thought of that. Brittany is soaked, and she won’t have anything dry to wear.

When I realize that she’s also barefoot, I sling both diaper bags over one shoulder and scoop her up in my arms, carrying her and the baby down the cold cement stairs.

She gazes up at me, with an expression I can’t place. No matter what, I’m not gonna let her go.

That’s the plan until we get to the bottom of the stairs and suddenly there’s people shoving past us and panicking. I set Brittany down on her feet and before I have a chance to lead her somewhere quiet, she’s swept away in the rush.

I start searching frantically, yelling her name. I’m standing by the entrance looking from left to right, but there’s no sign of Brittany and the baby.

“Brittany!” I yell.

She doesn’t answer, so I run around looking for her. When I pass Tex, I yell, “Brittany and I got separated. Have you seen her?”

Clara pulls the twin he’s carrying out of his arms, and Tex takes that as an unspoken command to help me look. “Stay right in front of the office, darlin’” he told her. “I’ll be right back.”

“We’ll be right here,” she promises.

Tex tells me anxiously, “If we split up, we can cover more ground.”

Something dark twists in my gut. “We stay together. My gut says look in the parking lot.”

“Fuck,” Tex swears. “I should have thought of that.”

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