Page 12 of Reaper
Even scared and fighting off an attacker, Kyra Thomas is… stunning.
Reaching for the gun tucked into the back of my waistband, I barrel through the door. My entrance garners the attention of the three punks and both women.
“Take your hands off her,” I snarl, pointing my weapon at the masked man with his hands around Kyra’s throat.
He cocks his head. “Why would I do that?”
“Because gun beats knife,” I reply with a shrug.
“C’mon, man,” his friend pleads. “She’s not worth it.”
“But the money is.”
“All of this for a few hundred bucks?” Kyra asks, her voice trembling.
“A few hundred…” The knife-wielder laughs. “Add a few zeroes.”
Her eyes widen for a split-second before narrowing in anger. “Who hired you?” she demands.
Well, that puts a new spin on things.
He presses the blade into her flesh, and blood trickles down her slender neck. I see red and without giving it a second thought, I squeeze the trigger. Kyra screams as she drops to her knees behind the counter.
“We gotta get outta here!” one of the two men left shouts as he shoves the other women to the floor.
They take off running, and it’s all I can do not to chase after them and put bullets between their eyes too.
“Lemme guess… you want me to clean this shit up?” Grump says as he moves to stand next to me.
I open my mouth to respond but slam it shut when a large man comes barreling out of the hallway.
“What the hell happened?” he says, his face paling as he surveys the damage.
My brothers immediately aim their weapons at him, and he holds his hands up. Kyra slowly rises to her feet and darts her gaze from the newcomer to me and back again.
“Barry,” she cries and moves toward him. “He’s okay. He’s my cook,” she assures us.
“Mommy!”
I shift my eyes and my stomach plummets when I see a little girl skid to a halt behind Barry. She’s quickly followed by a boy who appears to be the same age.
Kids?
Kyra kneels and stretches her arms out, enveloping the two children in a hug. Her weeping reaches my ears, and if I had a heart, it’d crack under the weight of emotion.
After a few minutes, Kyra stands and composes herself. She smiles, although it doesn’t reach her eyes, and rests her hands on her hips.
“Mommy had quite the adventure,” she quips.
A snort escapes past my lips, and she glares at me.
“An adventure?” the boy asks. “Why didn’t you wait for us?”
Rather than answer, she focuses on Barry. “Would you mind taking Heidi and Hunter to your place? Just for a little bit while I call the police and clean this place up?”
“I already called the police,” the other woman informs, holding her cell phone up. “They’re on their way.”
Great. Just fucking great.
