Page 53 of Golden Touch
“Oh, I’m goin’.” I want to know who the intruders are. “Open the window a crack. Call Benito if you hear fighting or if I don’t come back in ten. Lock the door behind me.”
She looks, if possible, even more freaked out than she did a minute ago.
I slip outside, quietly closing the door. I hear the locks engage.
The flashlight has bobbed its way out of sight, around the front of the building. The intruders have a head start, and I have to follow them slowly because it’s hard to stay quiet on gravel.
I pause to inspect two Harleys parked near the corner of the building. I kneel down and quickly open my phone’s camera to shoot a photo of the bikes’ license plates.
That done, I pocket my phone and sidle around the corner of the building. They’ve almost made it the whole way across the front lot. They’re shining a light inside the building.
As soon as they disappear around another corner, I’m in pursuit. I pick up speed on the mulch landscaping, which absorbs the sound of my footsteps.
My intruders aren’t being quite so careful. They assume they’re alone. They’re poking along the loading bay, shining the flashlight into the windows.
Shit. They’ll spot Livia’s car. If they haven’t already.
So I start running. “Hey! What the hell are you doing on my property?”
The light swings abruptly in my direction, aiming squarely at my eyes.
“Not cool,” I snarl, trying to guard my vision with a raised hand. “Put that down. I’m not the trespasser here.”
The guy holding the flashlight is the same one who’d interrogated me in the tasting room. He lowers the angle of the light by a few degrees, but it’s still held at an obnoxious angle that’s meant to frustrate me and maintain the upper hand. “Nobody’s tresspassin’,” he growls. “Just out for a midnight stroll. I heard this is a good place to park if you want to walk by the river. Some piece of shit told me that.”
Aren’t you charming. I take a calming breath. “Don’t know why you need to look in all the windows, then. River’s that way.” I point. “And don’t bother trying the doors—the beer is locked up tight.”
That’s not even a lie. The only decent lock in the place is on the walk-in cooler.
“Not here for the beer, asshole. We’re here for the girl.”
A chill slides down my spine, but I don’t react. “Sorry?”
The other guy snorts. He has the same build as his friend—broad and stocky. But he takes better care of himself. His dark beard is trimmed neatly, and he has the kind of muscles that require a lot of hours at a gym. “I know you’re hiding that bitch. Where is she?”
“No girls here, man.” I manage to sound calm even though I’m raging inside. “The only people roaming my property at fuck-all o’clock in the morning are you two and me.”
He doesn’t bother replying. Instead, he takes the light from his buddy and swings it up at the brickwork beside us, and squints. I make note of his biker jacket. It’s imprinted with a V-shaped insignia. V for Valkyries, I’m betting.
“Nice old place, innit?” he says, still scanning the brickwork. “Hate to see your family business burn to the ground. One Molotov cocktail through the window, and she’s just a big torch.”
The threat rolls out of his mouth so casually that my blood pressure spikes. Again, I try not to react. “Don’t know why anyone would do that,” I say quietly. “Don’t see the point.”
“You make the wrong guys angry, anything could happen,” he says with that same casualness. “Don’t protect a girl who ain’t worth it. Cut ’er loose and nothing bad happens to your smug face or Daddy’s business. Be a shame to have all this work go up in flames. You and your little baseball bat wouldn’t be able to do much about it.”
Now I want to throw down the bat and just throttle him the old-fashioned way. See how he likes it. But he moves the light quickly, searing my vision. And when I slam my eyes shut in response, I hear both of them quickly circling me, running back toward their bikes, kicking up gravel.
Running away, like fucking cowards.
I don’t chase them. I go the opposite way, running toward Livia. Clearing the loading bay, I round the building, making myself visible via the pumphouse windows in case she’s looking.
The sound of my own heavy breathing is punctuated by the Harley engines roaring to life. They peel out of the parking lot and ride off into the night.
I stand still for a moment, the bat dangling from my hand, my heart pounding with anger. How dare that fucker threaten me.
I take one more calming breath and continue toward the pumphouse. I tap on the door and Livia opens it instantly. One hand swipes at her tear-streaked cheeks and the other grips the counter for dear life.
“Hey. Hey now.” I kick the door closed and lock it. “They’re gone.”
