I parked the truck and thought about taking the gun from Shayna. But I let her have it because she would need to defend herself. I could use my fists and strength.
“Do not leave this truck,” I said. “If shit goes bad, drive.”
“Where?”
“Away,” I said and jumped out.
I moved forward, the lights blaring at me. I tried to block them and saw a figure get out of the SUV behind me. I hurried forward and wanted to offer my own attack before any words were spoken. I kept my left arm up to protect myself and swung with my right fist. I hit the guy in the mouth and he went down. I then moved beyond the lights and blinked fast, letting my eyes adjust.
I dropped to one knee and brought my fist back.
“Yo! Finn!”
My fist stopped. “Cormac?”
“Jesus Christ,” he said and touched his mouth. “What the fuck…”
“Holy shit, brother.” I stood up and pulled him to his feet. “Holy shit. I’m sorry, man.”
“It’s good,” Cormac said. “Steel jaw here. I’m good. I was trying to find you.”
“You found me. You could have called me or something.”
“Sorry,” Cormac said. “I was taking your lead on things.”
“Anyone tail you?”
“No. You’re in the clear. But you’re in deep shit.”
“I know,” I said. “Real deep shit.” My mouth opened to say something about Shayna but I held off. Why? “I’m heading to my cabin for the night. Then I have to contact Fiore and face him.”
“Dude, those guys were bad back there. They're connected.”
“Not Italian.”
“I know. You want company?”
“At the cabin? No. I’m good. You head home. Stay clear of this, Cormac.”
“Hey, I’m sorry I told you about tonight. I shouldn’t have. Just that my buddy, Davey, he said it’s wild, you know? That the women are unbelievable and that it never gets busted. I just thought…”
“No worries,” I said. “You didn’t twist my arm. I’m always up for trouble.”
“Your version of trouble and mine are different.”
“I think we’ve been that way our entire lives, man.”
“Truth, bro.”
“Just get out of here,” I said. “If they come after me and you get hurt…”
That was enough to say.
I put my hand out and Cormac took it. I pulled him in and we hugged. Fists to each other’s backs and we held there for three seconds. One for me, one for him, and one for who we lost. That was our thing.
We broke apart and Cormac got into his car and backed away. He turned and snuck his way disappearing into the woods. We both had the woods memorized by heart. Normally I would have had Cormac come with me to the cabin. I could use the extra muscle. But I already had company with me, didn’t I?
I turned and walked back to the truck. I went toward the passenger side to open the door and check on Shayna. To let her know everything was still okay. That it was just my buddy coming to check on things.
Christ, my head still spun over the fact that she had flashed that Vale guy to confuse him and then jumped into the bed of my truck.
Were her tits really that nice? That they froze some guy in his tracks?
I made fists and shook my head.
This was how I ended up in trouble before. It was always a wild night that led to something more wild. That’s where I went wrong once before and it’s where I wouldn’t go wrong now.
Bottom line - Shayna had to go. Right now.
I’d take her to a motel or something. She could call a friend for help.
I wasn’t going to be her friend. I wasn’t going to…
Something hit the side of my head and sent me stumbling.
I guess the night’s not over.
~
“Finn!” a voice yelled.
I turned and rushed toward my attacker.
I put my hands to the truck to stop myself when I realized it was goddamn Shayna with that goddamn gun again.
“You hit me in the head?” I asked.
“I thought you were someone else,” she said.
The left side of my head throbbed.
She stood with an attempted defiance, keeping the gun pointed at me.
“Are you insane?”
“No,” she said. “I’m trying to get out of this.”
“You jumped into my truck.”
“After I ran away from Zander to save you. He was going to kill you.”
“I can handle myself,” I said.
“Yeah, sure. Who was that in the other truck?”
“My girlfriend,” I said.
“Oh.” Shayna’s face dropped.
I shook my head again. “Shit, sweetie, it was my buddy, Cormac. He was there with me. We were having a few beers when all hell broke loose. I sent him away though. He doesn’t need the heat. He’s clean. A straight fighter.”
“A straight fighter?”
“You know what that means,” I said. “He’s above ground. Legal boxing and MMA. Smart guy.”
“And you’re not?”
I gritted my teeth. “I don’t think I am… you still have that gun and you keep hitting me.”
I inched closer to Shayna and then caught myself. I pushed from the truck and opened the passenger door. “Get inside.”
She slithered by me, still pointing the gun at me.