Page 112 of Chains
“I don’t know who the hellChainsis—the guy I’m talking about is Bret Garver. And he owes me a helluva lot of dough.”
“I’m not engaged to Bret—we broke up a while ago. I don’t know why you’d think I’d pay money Bret owes you. Are you one of the investors in his new business?”
“No—he’s got a big gambling debt, and I loaned him the money with interest, of course, and he’s been hiding out on me. Bret said he’s on the title of this place.” The man looked around the office. “You got a nice setup here—it should be worth something.”
“You need to leave. I don’t know you nor do I know if what you’re telling me is true.”
The loan shark leaned forward. “This can either be easy or hard—it’s your choice, but I’m not leaving until I get some fucking money.”
“How much does Bret owe you?”
The intruder’s smile was jagged like a broken zipper. He leaned back and thrummed fingers dusted with dark hair on his jeans.
“A hundred thou should do it.”
Autumn’s eyes widened. “Dollars? I don’t believe any of this.”
The man leaped up and took a gun out of the pocket of his jacket. “I’m tired of this fuckin’ bullshit. You better have the money or I’m going to burn this place down.” He leaned over and gripped her throat with one massive hand, squeezing tightly.
Autumn choked and gasped for air, her arms swinging wildly until she remembered the geode she’d put down on the desk before sitting down. She reached for it, and with all her strength, she clobbered him over the head.
“Fuck!” he cried. His hand flew away from her throat and went to the blood gushing from his skull. He looked at his red-stained fingers. “You fuckin’ cunt!”
Autumn held on to the bloodied geode with both hands. If he was going to kill her, then so be it, but she wasn’t going down without a fight.
He raised his weapon, and without thinking, she threw the souvenir at him, knocking the gun from his hand.
“Bitch!” he said, rushing around the desk, but Autumn made a dash for the door.
Knowing he’d probably pick up the gun, her pulse pounded as adrenaline coursed through her veins. When Autumn turned the corner, she heard his footsteps thudding from behind as she rushed to the front door. She yanked at it, but it wouldn’t open.He’s going to kill me!Autumn tried the door again and thought she could feel his breath on the back of her neck.
Looking quickly over her shoulder, Autumn saw one of his legs as he came around the corner.
“No!” she screamed just as the door opened.
“It’s me, baby,” Chains said as he pulled her away from it.
“He has a gun! He’s going to kill me!”
“It’s okay—I’m here. No one’s gonna hurt you.” Chains ran a hand over her hair.
It was at that moment she saw three men in leather jackets holding guns.
“How many are back there?” Chains asked.
“Just the one. He was right behind me.” She watched him jerk his head at the three bikers who moved cautiously into the hallway.
“Just relax, darlin’, we got it under control.”
“I bet he ran out the back door. He’ll come back again.” She shivered in his arms. “He said that Bret owes him a hundred thousand dollars. He told me Bret borrowed it to pay off his gambling debt. I didn’t even know Bret gambled.” Memories of Bret asking her for money popped in her mind.That’s why he needed the money—to pay for gambling. He lied to me about everything.
“Why did he come to you?”
“Bret told him I’d take care of it because I own the building. I don’t know what he was thinking—he was probably just desperate to pay this guy off. The man was pretty intimidating.”
Autumn heard an anguished cry that split the night. There were a few pops like firecrackers going off and then it was quiet.
“What was that?” she whispered.
