Page 5 of Hard Knock Hero

No, that wasn’t true. Jeremy had put himself there. But my testimony had been a key part.

“If you’re not going to buy anything,” I said, “you can keep moving.”

“The only one who’s supposed to be moving is you. Out of Hartley.”

Keep working on that dialogue, Chester, I thought. “And yet, I’m still here.”

Inside, I was quaking all the way to my bones. Jeremy had just been released from prison, and he was on his way back to Hartley. Today was the deadline his cousins had given me to be gone, and I’d ignored it. I’d known somebody would show up here. I just hadn’t known who. Though Chester and his brothers had been the most likely suspects.

Unlike Jeremy, they’d never laid a hand on me. Yet.

But there was always a first time.

Chester’s eyes shifted to focus on the man behind me, my sole customer, who had his back to us. My mysterious military man sat in his booth, sipping his coffee. His shoulders were bunched up in a way they hadn’t been before.

“Who the hell areyou?” Chester barked.

Slowly, my customer turned, his arm stretching over the back of the seat until his profile was visible. “Who, me?”

“Yeah. You.”

For a moment, there was no reply. Nobody moved. But I could feel the airwaver. Flexing. Like glass just before it shatters.

Then my customer took a loud slurp of coffee. “Just a guy who’s passing through.”

Chester’s shoes squeaked on the tile as he crossed the space, his brothers flanking him. “You must not realize what kind of a place you’re eating in. Jessi Novo is a liar and a backstabber. Wouldn’t be surprised if she poisoned your food.”

The corner of my customer’s mouth lifted, the first indication I’d seen that the guy knew how to smile. But it wasn’t friendly or pleasant. That smile made ice flow through my veins.

“I don’t want any trouble,” he said, low and rumbly.

Coiled energy suddenly radiated from him. I didn’t know his name, and I didn’t want to. I had my own problems, and this man hadproblemwritten all over him, spelled out in big, muscular letters. If he tried to stand up for me, some military-guy code of honor thing, then I’d be the one to suffer for it. I had to get control of this situation before the rickety house of cards that was my life came crashing down around me.

I walked forward, projecting confidence. I was tall for a woman. The same height as Chester.

“Leave,” I said. “Stop harassing my customers.”

Beady eyes turned toward me. “You haven’t got any, aside from this dumb asshole. Nobody else will come here. You’ll be needing a different kind of customer real soon to make rent, but that would fit for you, wouldn’t it? Because you’re a wh—”

“Enough.” I thunked the coffee pot onto a table. “Just stop. I won’t let you come in here and talk to me that way.”

“No? What’re you going to do about it?” Chester advanced, backing me up against the counter and wedging me between two of the barstools. His younger brothers stood like two gargoyles at his shoulders. “Report me to the sheriff and spew a bunch of lies like you did about Jeremy?”

“I didn’t lie. You know it. Jeremy knows it. Everyone does.”

His fingers gripped my shoulder. Rancid breath met my nose as he leaned in. I angled my face but couldn’t escape it.

The bell on the door tinkled, and all four of us turned to look.

Through the window, I watched my customer walk calmly along the sidewalk through the snow. He’d left a stack of cash on the table.

For a moment, I just stared, disbelieving.

I hadn’t wanted his help or expected it. I’d even been afraid of it. But I still couldn’t stop the crashing wave of disappointment and sadness that my single potential ally was gone.

He’d left me here.

I was alone.

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