Page 70 of Every Which Way

“It’s just a text.” Cliff moved away slightly.

Ramon grabbed him, swinging the guy between them so that his forehead slammed into the bar. Thankfully, she’d backed up in time, or she’d have been caught in the crossfire. As it was, he slammed into her forearm, and Kenna had to let go of the gauze, crying out.

“Hey!” The other twin jumped over the bar, swearing at them and rushing over, ready to fight.

That was when things got interesting.

ChapterEighteen

Ramon groaned. Kenna sat up on the hospital bed and looked at him, still holding the ice pack on her face. “You good, bro?”

He exhaled, coughed, and groaned some more. “Should’ve hit that guy again.”

“I kicked the other one pretty hard.” Soon as the police showed up, the twins had run out the back door. “We held our own.” But what would they have done if the cops hadn’t come in?

Stairns and Maizie rushed into the urgent care ward. This was the closest medical center to the roadhouse, which happened to be some small-town setup. The doctor hadn’t even blinked when fifteen people were walked in with split lips and black eyes, having trouble breathing. Someone had broken ribs, but it wasn’t Kenna or Ramon. Their fight with the twins spilled out to other people, and it all got pretty intense before the cops busted it up.

Maizie walked over, frowning. “What did you guys do?”

“We didn’t start it.” Kenna lowered the ice pack.

Maizie yelped.

“Is it that bad?”

Stairns moved to the end of the bed. “Your eye is swollen.”

“Long as it’s not purple.”

Maizie went over to Ramon. “Did you really get stabbed?” As if he didn’t have a bandage across his bare chest. High up and close to his shoulder. “Are you okay?”

Ramon said something in Spanish, and Maizie nodded. She swung the backpack off her shoulders and pulled out a T-shirt. He said, “Help me get this on?”

Kenna watched closely, making sure Maizie didn’t have a reaction to being so close to a man with no shirt on. They kept it efficient, getting Ramon’s arm through the hole before Maizie stretched the shirt over, and he ducked his head.

“Thanks, Maze.” He got his other arm through himself.

She set a hand on her hip, like he was a wayward soul she needed to keep on the straight and narrow. “Why did you let yourself get stabbed?”

Ramon nearly smiled but didn’t, probably a good idea. “Poison. She caught me off guard.”

“Good thing she didn’t put poison on the knife.”

Kenna frowned, which made her face hurt even though the doctor hadstuck her with a needle.She was going to leave him a one-star review online. “I didn’t think of that.” She had to cough again.

“What was it?”

“Some drug that closes up your airway like an allergic reaction,” Kenna said. “The doctor explained it but…” She shrugged.

“I’ll find out.” Maizie folded her arms. “And Roxanne? And Miller?”

“Where is Bruce?” Stairns asked.

Kenna glanced around. “Huh. Think we lost track of him in the confusion. Miller ran after Roxanne, but she got away in a car. He got a partial plate, so he went back to the FBI office to run it. He’s gonna tag team this with the police because they’ve got a suspect in an attempted mass murder.”

“That’s what they’re calling it?” Stairns pulled out his phone. When Kenna nodded, he said, “I’ll track down Bruce.”

“I’m ready to get back to work.” Ramon shifted to the edge of the bed, holding his left arm cradled in his right.

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