When I opened the door I literally jumped a foot off the ground and screamed. Standing there with his arms propped on either side of the door was Eddie Wright; the younger, greasier, more threatening version of his older brother. He wasn’t as tall as Rick, but he was muscled up and had a dangerous look in his eye, like a stick of dynamite that might go off without a moment’s notice.
He glared at me and smacked his lips. “Hey, sweet thing, you having a good time with my brother?” he asked, looking me up and down. “Damn, don’t you look good enough to eat.”
His eyes settled on my tits and he smiled.
He had a silver tooth in the front.
“You’d have a better time with me,” he said, bringing his hands to his belt buckle. His right hand slid down to the bulge in the front of his jeans. “Rick’s better looking, but my cock’s bigger. Wanna see?”
I held my breath and slipped my hand inside the purse. My fingers closed around the rubber grip of the Bulldog. Pull it out, the little voice in my head whispered. Pull it out and point it at him and pull the trigger. Do the world a favor and blow this murdering piece of shit away.
“Hey, dipshit, leave the lady alone.”
Rick appeared behind his brother, standing with his arms crossed over his muscled chest. Eddie turned to him and held up his hands.
“Hey, big brother, you can’t blame a fella for trying.” He leered at me again and made a little growling noise in his throat. “Sweet piece of ass like that. There’s plenty to go around.”
“Go play cards before you get your ass kicked,” Rick said, nodding him away. Eddie stared at me for a moment, then smiled and sauntered away. The image of the silver tooth lingered in my mind, sending shivers up my spine.
Rick held out his hand. “You okay?”
“Yes, he just startled me,” I said, letting the pistol slide out of my hand inside the purse. “I’m okay now.”
“Come on,” Rick said, wiggling his fingers at me. “Let’s get you home. I think you’ve had enough of this shit hole for one night.”
* * *
I held onto Rick’s hand and let him lead me safely out of the bar. Every head turned to watch us pass. Lots of nods and whispers. Eddie stood in the door of the back room with a bottle of beer in his hand and a cigarette dangling from his lips, casually watching me like a bored predator tracking its easy prey. Rick ignored them in the way a mighty king might ignore his lowly subjects as he strolled by.
I breathed out a long sigh of relief as we stepped out onto the sidewalk. The night air was warm and moist. Little beads of sweat dotted my upper lip. I sucked in a few deep breaths to try to get my head to stop swimming.
“I have my car,” I said, pointing at the new black Cadillac CTS I’d bought a few days before. It was parked on the street half a block down; its high-gloss black paint shimmered under the moonlight. It seemed like a fitting ride for my new bad girl persona.
“You’re lucky that’s still in one piece,” Rick said, eyeing my car with his hands on his hips.
“What? Oh, I didn’t think…”
“There’s a private lot around back,” Rick said. “Park there from now on. Nobody will mess with it. Guaranteed.”
“Um, okay…” I started digging in my purse for my keys. I pulled them out and dangled them at him. I pressed the key fob and the Cadillac flashed its halogen headlights at us.
“Give me those,” he commanded, hand out, fingers crooked.
“I’m fine to drive, really…”
“I don’t think so,” Rick said, shaking his head. “Let me drive you home, then I’ll catch a ride back here.”
“No, really, that’s not necessary,” I said. I was both mortified and excited at the prospect of Rick Wright driving me home. And possibly coming inside to put me to bed. And climbing into bed with me…
It would be so much easier to kill him if we were alone, the little voice in my head whispered. Just lead him into the bedroom, have him strip off all his clothes, and kill him in the bed you shared with Brent.
In my drunken brain, there was a sort of ironic justice to the plan. I never thought of the million ways it could go wrong.
I dropped the keys into his hand.
“Okay, fine. Just don’t drive too fast or I might puke.”
“Deal,” he said, hitting the button to unlock the passenger door. He held the door open and took my hand. I slid into the seat and he closed the door.