Page 106 of Bad Cowboy, Tennessee

Thorns

Chapter 17

Max

“I’m okay. It’s okay. But there are police—lotsof police, actually, I don’t know why, and they have him in handcuffs?—”

“Tell me what happened, Max,” Draven said firmly. “Dom’s already driving me down there.Talk to me.”

I was surrounded by blue and red flashing lights. The night air was a little foggy, and the flickering blue and red filled the mist around the police cars, tinting the whole parking lot in each flash of color.

My own voice was so shaky as I held the phone by my ear.

I was resting against the cool brick exterior of the hard Spot now, as multiple police officers surrounded me, writing down notes, taking photos, and occasionally talking into their radios.

Kane was in and out of the bar, checking on me and making sure the rest of the people inside the bar had gotten out through a safe exit, quickly and easily.

Nothing had happened inside.

But apparently people had heard the gunshot.

And that doesn’t exactly make for afun nightout at the bar.

“It happened fast,” I told Draven on the phone. “I was walking outside to take out a box of recycling, and—and there was a guy, and heshot a fucking gun.”

“Tell me you are not hurt,” Draven barked.

“Not at all,” I said. “He… he didn’t even shootatme, it was like he was just trying to scare me, shooting over toward a wall?—”

“I never should have left,” Draven said.

“Danny Robinson just fuckinghappenedto be walking down Laurel Ave, and he heard the shot, and I’m so lucky.”

“Who is Danny?”

“Oh. Right. He’s a police officer. Was in the same school year as Lily, actually, and it’s pretty weird, it’s like, IknowDanny, but now he’s a police officer, and he was with one of his officer friends, too—they came running over.Man, Draven, even as I saw them running, I was worried about them slipping on a patch of grass instead of worrying about the fucking man with agun?—”

My voice broke off as I realized I was rambling about things that didn’t even remotely matter right now.

My heart was still beating like a drum inside my chest. Everything seemed surreal, like I was in a movie instead of living my real life.

How had any of this happened?

How could it be this bad?

“I’m on my way,” Draven repeated. “You’re safe, Max?”

“I’m safe.”

“I’m going to stay on the line, but you don’t need to say anything. Just breathe, baby. Just breathe, in and out.”

I listened to him, because right now I fucking needed guidance, of any kind. I pulled in slow, even breaths, letting them out through my mouth.

The police had the man handcuffed minutes ago, but now, he was in one of their cruisers, being pulled away.

The next few minutes were a blur of police questioning. I kept my phone by my side even as the police came over and asked me to go over every detail of what I’d seen—I was outside, I saw the man, he stared right at me and fired his warning shots, and then Danny had run over and taken him to the ground.

When Draven finally arrived, the officers were informing me that the gun had actually been shooting blanks, meant to sound real, but not actual bullets.

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