Page 101 of Tuck & Roll

“It’s short for Muff Diver. You know, because he loves to eat pussy. In fact, he’s so good at it that he’s a favorite with the bitches.”

M.D. smiled and tipped his head to the side like “What can I say? I’m just that good.” He took a long drink of his beer and watched her over the end of his bottle.

Kylie took the opportunity to take in her surroundings for the first time. It looked like an old lady might live here with the outdated floral wallpaper, the cabinets painted a mint green and the chipped formica counter tops. On the counters was everything from empty beer cans to dirty dishes to a variety of canned goods. Clearly, Chet had been living here for a while. Oh no! Did that mean he killed the owner of the house?

Chet moved toward her, stopping on the other side of the table and slammed his hand down, causing her to flinch. “You have been nothing but a pain in my ass.” He pointed at her with a finger. “Thanks to you, I’m this close,” he held up his thumb and first finger close together, “to getting kicked out of my Goddamned club. I want that money back and I want it now.” He pointed to a laptop set up on the table in front of her. “Transfer it back.”

“I can’t.” That was two words he didn’t want to hear. He swiftly moved closer, shoving his gun in her stomach. “Have you ever been gut shot? It’s a very slow, very painful way to die. I could shoot you in the stomach and you’d still have time to transfer my money, but you’d be in excruciating pain.”

“I can’t get it. I need my program to be able to access the account.” She was afraid of moving even the slightest bit for fear Chet would shoot her by accident.

He exhaled heavily through his nose, the muscle in his jaw jumping. She had no doubt that if she were a man, he’d beat the crap out of her right now. As it was, the way he was looking at her was terrifying. It promised if she didn’t pull through and get his money back, she was going to wish she was dead way before they finally did take her out.

“Where is it?” he asked, clearly struggling for patience.

“At the clubhouse. In my office.” She hated to tell him where it was located considering the man was so unpredictable and volatile.

“Fuck!” He picked up a can of chili and chucked it through the glass front of a china cabinet, shattering the glass and any dishes unfortunate enough to be in its path. She flinched at his outburst, hoping he didn’t come after her next.

Chet reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. “Call your boyfriend. Tell him to bring it to you. He comes alone or I send Red and M.D. to kill all the old ladies starting with the pregnant ones.”

“What?” Her voice cracked in shock. He would do that? Kill innocent pregnant women?

“Do it! Now!” He shoved his phone at her.

“Okay! Okay!” She took his phone with shaking hands.

“Put it on speaker,” he demanded, waving his gun at her.

She pressed in the numbers to Tuck’s phone, hoping he answered quickly. It rang four times before going to voicemail. Damn it. She hung up and tried again. Straight to voicemail again.

“What the fuck?” He smacked her on the back of the head. “Why the hell isn’t he answering?”

If he didn’t stop hitting her, she was seriously thinking about saying fuck it and punch him in the nuts. He couldn’t shoot her yet because she hadn’t gotten his money back. Without her, he’d never get it.

“I don’t know,” she responded through clenched teeth. Her own patience was wearing thinner by the minute every time he hit her.

“I should shoot you in the leg. You don’t need your leg to work on a computer. How the fuck are you supposed to get what you need when your damn boyfriend won’t answer the phone?” He ran his free hand through his hair in agitation.

“I can call Darren. I know his number. Everybody else is programmed into my phone. Wherever that is.”

“Fine. Call him. Put him on speaker.”

She punched in his numbers, put it on speaker and waited. It rang twice before Darren picked up. “Who is this?”

“Darren, it’s me.”

“Kylie? Thank God. Are you okay?” Just the sound of a familiar voice had her wanting to crumple into a puddle of tears.

“For now. Are you alone? Away from other people?”

“Uh, yeah. Why?” The noise level in the background faded, confirming his reply.

“Because I need you to do something for me.” Please don’t ask a lot of questions.

“What’s going on, Kylie?” Darren was right to be suspicious.

“Never mind. I’m with Chet and,” he smacked the back of her head again. “Ow! Stop doing that!”