Page 105 of Tuck & Roll

“I think he might be right, Chet. My grandma was the same way.” Red shrugged a shoulder.

“Fuck. M.D., get her a soda and a snack.”

M.D. got her a soda from the fridge and two chocolate chip cookies from an open package on the counter.

“Do you have peanut butter?” Again with the stalling. “If you give her that it will work better. Her blood sugar won’t drop again as fast.”

M.D. looked to Chet. Sighing wearily, he replied, “Fucking fine.”

Kylie accepted the drink, the jar of peanut butter and spoon with a shaky hand. She popped the top on the can and chugged a big drink. She scooped a spoonful of peanut butter and ate it straight from the spoon. She then chased it with more soda. She set the spoon aside and went back to work.

“You good?” Darren asked.

“Yeah. I’m good now.”

A small movement behind her and Chet drew his attention to the window. Tuck was outside pointing at the back door. Darren gave a small shake of his head. From where Tuck was standing he couldn’t see the other two Phantoms. If he came in through the back door, he was a dead man. With the hand he used to apply pressure he tapped his fingers three times, hoping Tuck would understand.

His friend nodded his head and held up three fingers. Darren barely dipped his chin in agreement. Tuck signaled he was going to walk around the house and look for another way inside.

Fuck, his shoulder hurt like a son of a bitch. He was losing a lot of blood and it pissed him off. He had to find an opening that would allow him to take out Chet and maybe one of the others without endangering Kylie and he needed to do it fast. Hopefully, Tuck would get the third one.

A sound from a room down the hall had Chet’s head popping up and frowning. He cocked his head to the side and listened, then motioned for Red to go check it out.

He turned his attention back to Kylie and what she was doing. “How long’s this going to take?”

“Give me a minute. There are a lot of steps I have to go through to get into the account. I have to do it so that there’s no trace of what I’m doing or your account will get flagged and they’ll hold your money,” Kylie explained without taking her eyes off the computer screen.

“Fuck! You should have never taken the money out of our account in the first place.” Chet ran a hand through his hair.

“It wasn’t your fucking money to begin with, fucker. It was Sons money you stole from us.” Darren was trying to draw Chet’s attention to him in order to give Tuck a chance to deal with Red. The last thing they needed was to get into a gun fight and risk Kylie or the baby getting caught in the middle.

Bang!

“What the fuck! M.D., go check that out.” Chet moved closer so that he had his gun pointed at Darren’s head. “You bring someone with you?”

“No.”

Bang! Bang!

“What the fuck is going on? Red! M.D.!”

“You better fucking hope one of my guys comes back down that hall.” He leaned to get a look down the hall where both his friends had disappeared. That’s when Darren made his move at the same time he yelled, “Run, Kylie!” There was a split second that he saw Kylie dive for the floor.

He grabbed the wrist of the hand holding the gun to his head, pushing out and away at the same time he jumped to his feet. He hooked his foot around Chet’s ankle, pushed hard and knocked him onto the table, the computer crashing to the floor. “Rrrruhh!” The sudden jarring movement sent shooting pain through Darren’s shoulder and chest.

“You’re dead, you motherfucker!” Darren banged Chet’s gun hand again and again over the edge of the table, forcing the man to drop the gun.

“No, you’re dead!” Chet shouted back. Then he did something unexpected; he head butted Darren in the forehead, causing his grip to loosen just enough to free Chet’s left hand. He shoved a finger into Darren’s gunshot wound, causing him to roar in agony. The pain was excruciating and he fought not to black out.

He released his grip on the other hand so he could catch Chet with a hard elbow to his jaw. It was enough for Chet to lose focus and drop his finger from the wound, allowing Darren to get in a couple of really good punches to the face. Chet was somehow able to pull his knife from where it was strapped to his belt and stabbed Darren in the side, burying the blade to the hilt.

“Fuck!” Darren fell back, giving Chet the opportunity to gain his feet. He gritted his teeth against the pain and prepared for the other man’s attack. This was going to be a battle to the death and it damn sure wasn’t going to be Darren’s.

“Kylie! Over here!” Tuck’s voice drew Chet’s attention and the move would prove fatal.

Darren dove at him, ramming his uninjured shoulder into his stomach, hoping to avoid falling on the knife still in his side. He took him to the floor and wrapped his legs around Chet’s waist, locking his ankles together and squeezing as hard as he could. The other man thrashed back and forth, reaching for the knife still imbedded in Darren’s side. “Oh no you don’t, fucker.”

Darren gripped the man’s head in both his hands and gave it a hard twist. The sound of his neck breaking reverberated around the room. “Fuck.” His chest rose and fell in deep labored breaths. He unwound his legs and gave Chet a shove to get him off.

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