Page 119 of Shots Fired

“Keep it if you want. We can cover the monthly rent,” I say as we head toward the doors leading to the airport exit, me pulling both cases behind.

Her nose scrunches up at the idea. “No. Affordable housing is hard to come by in this city as it is. I couldn’t justify keeping my apartment for purely storage and nostalgic reasons.”

“Storage?” I question. “We live in a huge penthouse apartment. You don’t need storage space.”

“Have youseenmy shoe collection?” she volleys back.

I stop walking, and Darcy pulls up alongside me. “And that collection is only going to grow bigger. Anything and everything you want, it’s yours.”

“Where did the driver say he’d wait for us?” Darcy reaches onto her tiptoes as I pull my bill even lower and scan the room for a board with my—our—last name on it.

“I don’t think he’s—” Darcy starts talking, but cuts off abruptly, her face paling.

“What’s the matter?” I ask, trying to follow her line of sight.

“Jack.” Her voice is weak, barely a whisper. “H-he’s here and staring straight at us.”

At first, I think she’s joking. Shehasto be. Why would Jack be here?

“Archer!”

It’s his voice I hear first before he steps through the double glass doors directly in front of us.

Beneath the bill of his cap, his face is beet red. Even from here, I can see how the muscles in his jaw clench and strain. Enraged eyes travel from me to his sister and then back to me.

Heart racing, I take Darcy’s hand and start walking toward a different set of exit doors at the back of the building, trying to get away from prying eyes. There are only a few staff members and other passengers around, but I don’t want to give them a show. That’s the last thing we all need.

As we keep walking, Darcy and I don’t speak, even though the silence between us screams a thousand words.

This is not how it was supposed to go down. He wasn’t supposed to see us here. This is worst-case scenario number one, playing out right in front of us.

A huge part of me wants to head straight for a taxi since our driver obviously isn’t here. But I know in the long run, that would only make everything worse.

Closing my eyes, I force back my doubts over how badly this could all play out and turn on my heel to face my new brother-in-law.

Standing around ten feet away from me and with both hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans, Jack reminds me of a bull that’s just been shown the red flag. His chest is heaving, eyes glazed, although even darker than they were before.

He looks like everything I imagined he would when we eventually broke the news, only worse.

“Jack, listen. Let’s not do this here, okay?” My mouth is dry as I deliver a sentence I hope will remind him of how precarious this environment is. I hold up a hand. “We were going to head straight back home from here, so why don’t you come with us? We can talk there.”

“Whythe fuckare you both here? Together?”

I’ve only ever witnessed my friend like this once before. It was right after he found out about some texts Kendra’s ex had sent to her in an attempt to break them up. Let’s just say, it didn’t end well for that dude, for his face especially. That day, I saw a different side to the golden retriever personality. He might be all smiles and jokes ninety-nine percent of the time, but on the rare occasions he feels betrayed—just like he does right now—a much darker character emerges.

I predicted the Tommy Schneider news would only be a prequel to the main event, and I was correct.

“Jack,” Darcy whispers, taking a step forward, “Archer’s right. Let’s not do this here, okay?”

In response to her plea, his eyes soften as they flick to Darcy. “Why are you both here?” he repeats, eyes growing harder again. “I drove here to surprise Kendra since her flight from Madrid is due in at any second. I planned to take her out for a meal, but now I’m thinking I’ll justtake youout instead.” His nostrils flare, breathing back to ragged.

It’s a risky move, but I’m left with no choice. I can see the way he’s spiraling. I step closer, and he does the same. I’m for sure within punching distance, and it wouldn’t shock me if he did just that. But like I said to Darcy, I’ll take whatever he hands out without retaliation.

“We just got back from Miami.” I force the words out, working to keep my voice calm and steady when I’m anything but that underneath.

Jack looks off to the side, blowing out a cynical breath. “You didn’t think you could get away with it in New York, so you took her away, where you wouldn’t get caught. I fucking knew it. I knew you were a piece of shit, but I gave you the benefit of the doubt because evenIdidn’t think you could be this fucking stupid.”

If it wasn’t for the bills on our caps, our foreheads would be touching as he gets right in my face. “Abbie never existed, did she?”

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