Page 124 of Wood Riddance
His mouth kicked up in a nasty grin, and he raised his gun. As I stared down the barrel, the world fell away. I became singularly focused. There was no way I was getting shot.Protect my babyplayed on a loop in my head. Slowly, subtly, I reached behind me and snagged a wrench off the wall. Then, without a second of hesitation, I threw it as hard as I could and dropped to the floor.
The axe-throwing I’d done for years came in handy at that moment. The wrench hit him in the shoulder, and the gun went off, piercing the air. The sound sent a violent tremor through my body, but the shot was wild. He-Man darted forward, yanking his leash from my hand, and ran toward Richard, teeth bared.
With my head tucked to my chin, I crawled toward the kitchen door. If I could just get inside…
Behind me, He-Man was barking more viciously than I knew he was capable of, and Richard was swearing.
I risked a peek and caught sight of my heroic pup biting at my attacker’s ankles. Richard was still cursing and shaking his leg, trying to dislodge He-Man.
My legs were shaking so badly I could barely move, but I channeled all my fortitude and pulled myself up. Luckily, my fall had knocked several things off the workbench, so I gathered them to use them as weapons. I was not going down without a fight.
Richard stomped forward, but He-Man persisted.
“Fucking dog,” he said, raising the gun again.
In the next second, a deafening crash—more of a crunch, really—echoed around us, and Richard’s eyes went wide. The garage door buckled, and debris scattered. I covered my head and ducked as wood and plastic rained down around me.
Where the mangled steel stood was a truck. Finn’s truck. He had driven right through the door. Richard was on the ground in front of his grill. And so was the gun.
Finn hopped out of the truck and launched himself at Richard.
Richard lunged for the gun before Finn could tackle him. My heart stopped for an instant, and then I let out a scream of warning. But before he could get it, He-Man was on him again. This time, he sank his teeth into Richard’s hand.
Overtaken with the urge to protect not only my baby, but the man I loved, I ran toward them, ready to pummel him.
“Adele, get back,” Finn yelled, straddling Richard and grasping him by the front of his shirt.
Ignoring him, I stayed on course and snatched the gun off the cement floor.
Richard was fighting back, but he was no match for my man, who had pinned him to the ground and unleashed on him. Finn landed one punch after another to the asshole’s face.
With the gun in one hand, I hovered nearby, my entire body shaking.
Over the ringing in my ears and the pounding of my heart, I could just make out the sound of voices outside the mess that had once been my garage door.
“You motherfucker,” Parker yelled, running toward the garage.
Paz’s Beemer was parked haphazardly in the street.
My best friend was wearing pajama pants and a Taylor Swift T-shirt. The getup was in total juxtaposition to the gear she was equipped with. In one hand, she held a handgun, and in the other was a pair of handcuffs.
“Jesus, Finn. The guy will have no face left,” she said. “I brought cuffs.”
At her insistence, Finn rolled Richard over, then Parker knelt on his back.
“You’re not a cop,” he spat. His cheek was pressed to the ground, and his nose and hand were bleeding.
“It’s still fun to cuff you, asshole. I knew it,” she growled. “I knew it.”
Paz hopped over the debris scattered around Finn’s truck, surveying the scene. I was sobbing and holding a gun, Richard was bleeding and in handcuffs, Parker was gloating, and Finn’s truck had driven through my garage door.
“Why am I the only one who has no idea what is going on?”
Parker looked up at him. “Oh, sweetie. I’ll explain later. Go to the street and direct the cops, please. They’re on their way.”
“I told you not to jump out of a moving car, Parker.” My brother shot her his signature glower. “You can’t do that shit now that you’re pregnant.” He kicked a large chunk of steel out of his way and picked up He-Man, who was wagging his tail at him, happy as could be now that our aggressor had been detained.
“Stop being so bossy. I was trying to save your sister’s life,” she snapped. “Though it looks like Finn gets credit for that. Well done.”
