Page 16 of Jewel in the Rough

CHAPTER8

Benny

Don’t do it.

Two things happened at once. Teagan’s cell phone rang—Benny knew it wasn’t his because his ringtone was not an Imagine Dragons song that must’ve been Ciara messing with Teagan—and the kitchen window shattered. Just fucking exploded. He froze in his seat, staring at the window, and wondered what the hell was happening.

“Get the fuck down! Get the fuck down!” Teagan yelled.

Benny snapped out of his shock and fell to the floor.

Someone was shooting at the house, into the kitchen where he and Teagan lay on the floor. This was not his life, he didn’t get shot at. He’d never even held a gun.

Teagan had answered his phone and was telling someone on the other end to call the county sheriff.

“Yeah, I know, but it’s all we’ve got—Tris, there’s no way these assholes took the ferry—make sure somebody covers the airport. Yes, we have a fucking airport, why do you choose now to argue with me? Fine. No, my weapon is in my bedroom. If they come in here, we’re sitting ducks, unless I can get upstairs. Why were you calling, anyway? Well, thanks for trying, Talache beat you to it.” Teagan clicked off.

“I need to retrieve my weapon,” he said grimly. “It’s upstairs.”

“You are not leaving me down here.”

Benny scrambled onto his knees and crawled from the kitchen into the hallway and then to the stairway. Benny could feel Teagan’s body heat right behind him, protecting him.

“Is the front door locked?” Benny gasped out. Did it matter? Wouldn’t this Talache guy just shoot until the house was riddled with bullets and he and Teagan were both dead?

“Lived in LA for nearly fifteen years. Yes, the front door is locked. Get up the stairs. Don’t stop, don’t think, just go.”

They made it into Teagan’s bedroom without being shot. In fact, now it was too silent outside. Benny kind of wanted shooting again so he knew where the bad guys were.

“Into my closet.”

God, Teagan’s closet, and he couldn’t even make a joke about it. That’s how serious this situation was.

The closet was small, because the house was old, and filled with boxes that hadn’t been unpacked, dress shirts hanging from the bar, and a gun safe that took up one corner. At least that’s what Benny assumed the tall metal box with a combination lock was.

Teagan spun the dial and the safe popped open. From where he was smooshed against boxes, Benny spotted more than one weapon. Teagan had several handguns and rifles stored there.

“I’ve never shot a gun,” he whispered.

This was so much worse than the alley. This time these guys were after Teagan, too, because Benny had brought these killers directly to Teagan’s house. What if something happened to the Indignant Gurls? Or Teagan? He’d already been shot once. Ciara would never forgive Benny if something more terrible happened because of his stupidity.

“Don’t worry, I’m gonna be doing the shooting. You’re going to be my eyes and ears.”

“I don’t know…”

Teagan snatched up a handgun and a rifle before looking over at Benny.

“You can do this,” he said with conviction. “If I’ve learned anything about you it’s that you are observant and clever. I don’t want either of us getting shot. But I need an idea of how many are out there and where they are. If we’re very lucky, we’ll stay safe until the sheriff gets here with more fire power.”

“Sheriff?” Benny’s voice squeaked again. “What does he know about murdering gang guys?”

“Hopefully, enough to help us stop these ones,” Teagan replied firmly “Dempsey was a San Francisco cop before coming back here, so with any luck he hasn’t forgotten everything,” he added.

“Okay.” Benny’s voice shook. “I’m a not-very-good dancer, not a fighter. Just so you know.”

“Benny,” Teagan said, leaning close and taking Benny’s chin between his thumb and index finger, “I’m gonna do my very best not to let anything happen to either one of us. I’m a good shot. And I just spent the last couple of weeks listening to you sing to my cows, talk about rainbows, and search for four-leaf clovers in the grass, and I kind of liked it, okay? I didn’t even mind that you renamed my favorite flavor of ice cream, ‘Teagan’s Existential Dilemma’. We’re going to get out of this.”

Teagan liked him? Benny stared back into Teagan’s summer-blue eyes for a beat, seeing the truth there. Then the kiss happened so fast Benny wondered if he’d imagined it. Lifting his hand, Benny touched his mouth where Teagan’s lips had brushed against his.

---