Long Way Down (Calloway Sisters 4)

She blinks a couple times, tearing her gaze away. Then she slowly climbs out and stands next to me.

I look over my shoulder as Lily pushes her cart beside Rose’s, all of us near the number four checkout. Our bodyguards and Lo stand by the entrance, talking with the employees.

“How many people do you think there are?” Daisy asks quietly. Her voice sounds stoic, but I can tell she’s fucking frightened. She sucks in a breath and never fully exhales.

“Maybe ten,” I lie.

“Your math is off,” Connor says between my cart and his. “Next time, you should also use your back paws to count.” He rolls up the sleeves of his black button-down, not to fight. He rarely throws a punch.

And I’m really not in the fucking mood for his quips. Maybe he can tell because he nods to Daisy. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine.” For some reason, she appears younger right now, our seven-year age difference a little fucking clearer. It only makes me want to take care of her, and I bring her closer to my chest, my hand on her back. She clasps my waist, her fingers tightening as the shouting escalates.

Connor watches her a little longer, his expression blank. He’s always been able to see through her as much as I can, but it’s really obvious she’s not doing that well, her skin ashen.

Lo approaches my cart. “So we have a huge problem. The bodyguards can’t check every single person for a weapon because the employees are going to open the store in five minutes.” His irritation furrows his brows. “Basically this is a clusterfuck.” He glares at me. “This is the last time I wake up at five in the hellish morning to be greeted by a bunch of crazies.”

The shouting escalates outside. “WE HATE YOU! WE HATE YOU!”

Lo points at the giant entrance window. “Those must be the Team Raisin fans.”

I shoot him a look, but I can tell he’s just deflecting, his gaze darting back to his son and Lily. He’s trying not to scare them.

I’m going to lose my shit if anyone gets physical. With Daisy. With Lo or Lily, their son. Rose and Janie. Even Connor. I’m going to fucking lose it.

“DIE, CALLOWAY SISTERS, DIE!!” That chant is fucking killing me. I repeatedly run my hand through my thick hair.

“Why are they this mad?” Daisy asks Lily and Rose, both women busy putting foam plugs in their kids’ ears.

“I don’t know,” Lily mutters, her cheeks red in grief as she struggles to calm Moffy. He’s thrashing in the front seat of the cart, rejecting the earplugs and crying. Janie is in a similar state.

Connor and Lo both go to help their wives.

“DIE, CALLOWAY SISTERS, DIE!!”

“Jesus Christ,” Lo swears and turns to Connor. “Tell me you have a plan.”

Connor wipes his daughter’s tears with his thumb. “I do, but it has unanswered variables.”

“What the fuck does that mean?” I ask.

“It means I can’t take into account the behavior of everyone outside. It’s an imperfect plan.”

“Great,” Lo says dryly. “Anyone have anything perfect?”

I’m not about to say it out loud, but if Connor’s plan is marginally fucking flawed, then there’s not going to be anything else better.

From our collective silence, we all must realize that.

* * *

Three employees unlock the entrance, and they wheel our carts out to Rose’s Escalade and Lily’s BMW, parked side-by-side near the front of the grocery store.

We have seven bodyguards. All of them escort Rose and Lily to the cars, their babies pressed to their chests, and the rest of us wait for a second, the yells piercing the fucking sky.

Daisy skims the posters, the ones that say: Worthless + Ungrateful + Pieces of Shit = Calloway Sisters. She remains calm, but her lips are downturned in hurt.

“It’s easier when they’re only angry at one of us,” she says to me. We hang back with Lo and Connor near the potted plants and multi-colored plastic chairs for sale, all stacked near the exit.

“They’ll get over it.” I set a hand on her head, and she takes a step back until her shoulders rest against my chest. I wrap my arms around her collar and kiss her cheek.

“Where is she?” Lo asks, tilting his head and ducking to try to see past the throngs of people and our bodyguards. Everyone dwarfs his wife, blocked by bodies.

He’s about to leave without us, and before I move a muscle, Connor grabs him by his black shirt, pulling him backwards. “Wait.”

“I can’t see her!” Lo shouts, pointing at the crowd.

“She’s fine,” Connor says coolly.

Lo spins his wedding ring a couple times, veins rising in his arms as his muscles flex.

“There she is,” Daisy pipes in. We follow her gaze to the Escalade, watching Lily slip in with Moffy and shut the door. Rose climbs into the BMW with Janie, her bodyguards hovering behind her. I know why they switched cars. Lily’s BMW had steering issues on the way here, and in a crisis, Rose would want her sisters in the safer vehicle.

Mikey, Quinn, and Garth head back towards us.

“Now we can go,” Connor declares.

I open the exit door, and Lo saunters out first with Daisy on the other side. Connor and I walk behind. The fifty-some people disperse from our cars and sprint back to the store. To us.

“UNGRATEFUL!” someone shouts. They practically circle us, waving their posters manically so we’ll read them. One almost knocks into my brother’s face.

“Back up!” I shout, slapping the poster away.

Our bodyguards try to create a barrier between them and us, extending their arms, but some of these people easily slip through.

I’m tall enough that I can see over almost everyone, and there are about five or six young girls sobbing by the cart return opposite our cars. Their posters droop by their sides. I wince, instinctively wishing I could do something to make them feel better but knowing I can’t.

“We loved you!” a girl tearfully screams at Daisy.

Dais wipes her clammy forehead with the back of her hand, pale. My stomach tightens. I keep a hand on her shoulder, guiding her forward.

Lo looks back at me. “What’d you two do?”

“You think this is because of us?” I glower. We didn’t do anything.

“BITCH!”

“Hey!” I yell, searching for the hostile voice. “No one is a fucking bitch!” All o

f this is eating at me, and I have to concentrate on getting Daisy in one of the cars.

“WE HATE YOU TOO!” another person yells.

Mikey sidles next to me. “I’m going to escort Daisy to the Escalade. Try not to let anyone follow us.” I nod, and he clasps Daisy by the elbow, pulling her back towards the Escalade. “Come on, Daisy.”

“I can help them with the groceries,” Daisy says as she follows Mikey.

“Don’t worry about the groceries,” Mikey tells her before I can. The trunks are popped, and Vic and Stephen aren’t finished loading the paper bags.

Through the trunk, I watch Daisy crawl into the backseat, Lily sitting in the middle beside Moffy’s carrier. My brother and I quickly help Vic fill the Escalade’s trunk while Connor shuts the BMW’s.

“I’m checking on Rose,” he tells us before opening the passenger door and disappearing inside.

“What a weird fucking day,” Lo says loudly, tossing in the eggs and bread without real thought or care.

“Take it easy, man.” Stress isn’t going to do anything but push him over.

He glares at me. “I can be pissed off. You’re pissed off, Superman.”

“I’m not Superman.”

“You’re right. You’re uglier.” He flashes a sardonic smile.

“You’re so ungrateful!” a girl screams. We both turn and find the source. She can’t be older than ten or eleven, crying while she outstretches her phone. Recording us. What the fuck… “You’re so rude! I hate all of you! I hate you so much! We deserve better than you!”

“I agree,” Lo tells the girl.

“Lo,” I start.

He continues, “You deserve better than all of us, but you were the one who fell in love with us.” He takes a step forward, and I grab his shoulder. “Don’t fall in love with people who are human. We’re going to disappoint you in the end.”

She cries more. “I hate you…”

Before Lo opens his mouth again, I spin him back to the fucking trunk. Since this is an SUV, we’re able to see Lily and Daisy, who kneel on the backseat, peering over the headrests and out at us.