Hannah (The Coven's Grove Chronicles #2) (23 page)

She glanced over her shoulder after finishing her beer to check on her tag-along.

He was gone.

He’s going to try and take me in the parking lot when I leave,
Cassie thought. At least their strategy was solid and predictable.

“I’ll take a whisky neat and another Corona for the lady,” a deep voice said over Cassie’s other shoulder as the bartender walked by.

Cassie slowly closed her eyes.
Oh, hell.
She turned to have a look at who was fishing for a piece, and found herself a bit taken aback. The muscular blond leaning on the bar next to her wasn’t what she’d expected. The men around here tended to be rough in the looks department. This guy, however, had a smile that made you want to smile right back like a giddy little school girl. Which of course is exactly what she did before she could stop herself.
Great,
she chided.
Smooth as ever.

With the exception of his jeans and t-shirt, Blondie could have been a norseman right out of the history books, sporting broad shoulders and thick thighs. On any other night she would have humored the thought of having a little fun, but tonight would have to be chalked up to bad timing.

“Not available, sorry,” Cassie said.

“Wow, just like that huh?” Blondie replied.

“Yep.” She took a swig of the beer he’d bought her.
Why waste a free drink?

“Just as well I suppose. You looked like you could use the drink is all.”

Cassie narrowed her eyes.

Blondie raised his hands in surrender. “It’s never a bad idea to buy a pretty lady a drink. You can’t blame a guy for trying.”

Cassie smirked, and then tipped the bottle toward him. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” He took his whiskey and nodded to the bartender before looking back to lock eyes with her. “Let me know if you change your mind.”

Cassie swallowed a bit too loudly, mesmerized by his blue gray eyes. They looked like storm clouds brewing.

He turned and sauntered off toward a seat near one of the dart teams.

Mother in heaven
. Cassie sighed as she watched him go. She did like a good backside and his didn’t disappoint. The six foot three V-shaped frame didn’t hurt either.
Sorry handsome, not tonight
.

Cassie slammed back the rest of her beer, and got to her feet.
Damn my past, and damn the law, too
. She grabbed her coat and checked for her stalker one last time.

No sign of him.

She knew O’Malley’s didn’t have a side door, and that going out the back could be worse than using the front. Not to mention her car was out there.
You’re stalling. Just go and be done with it
. She took a deep breath and headed toward the exit.

Crisp, February air blasted her in the face as she swung the door open. The sudden gust took her breath away. Snow covered the ground a foot thick, but the sidewalks and parking lot had all been shoveled and salted. There were no signs of the guy that had followed her in, but her two-door 1978 Monte Carlo was easy enough to spot. It was a junker, no doubt, but it’d been cheap and reliable. That’s all she needed nowadays.

The slush crunched under her boots as she power walked to the car. She was starting to think that she might get away without incident until she caught sight of the flat tire.
Son-of-a-bitch!

“Cassie Gallagher,” a man said from behind her. “Put your hands out where I can see them.”

“Go to hell,” Cassie snapped as she spun around. “You’re not a cop. You’re an asshole!” She could feel the heat of her power building. She was starting to lose her temper, which was bad.
He shouldn’t have cut my tires.

The bounty hunter was maybe a dozen feet away. He had a pair of handcuffs in one hand and what looked like a blackjack in the other. “I’m taking you back to Canada to face murder charges,” he was saying.

“Like hell you are!” Cassie clenched her fists. “I think you got the wrong person, pal.”

Asshole chuckled. “I know it’s you. Make it easy on yourself and come with me.” He jingled the handcuffs in the air.

This guy really was blockhead. “Look man, I’m not having the best of nights, and that could be bad for you. So why don’t we go our separate ways, and pretend none of this ever happened?”

“Really?” he asked with mock concern. “I was afraid you might get mad and hurt me.” Then his expression went dead serious. “I didn’t take you for the stupid type, but alright, we’ll do this the hard way.”

“Your funeral.”

He charged her full on.

Cassie sidestepped his careless swings easily, and struck him once in the ribs with her fist. She felt his bones break before the telling snaps reached her ears.

The bounty hunter screamed and collapsed, cradling his side. “You bitch!”

Cassie reared back to punch him in the face, but stopped.
Calm yourself. You’ll kill him
. She settled for a kick to the shoulder that flattened him on his back and sent him sliding across the parking lot. “Eat shit, asshole.”

His overconfidence had been laughable, though it played to her advantage. They never learn, she thought smugly. It was easy to understand their stupidity however. Cassie’s five-foot-five frame didn’t really speak of a powerhouse. So much the better.

She brushed her hands on her jeans and turned to go back in the bar to call for a tow when a fist slammed into her cheek. Spots of bright light swam in her vision as she stumbled away from the attack. Another blow connected with her lower back, sending her to the ground writhing in pain.

“Think you’re tough, little girl?” asked someone that wasn’t the dude she had just laid low. “Tell me what you think of this?”

A kick to the stomach folded Cassie like a sheet of paper, and almost made her lose her dinner. She gagged trying to regain her breath. Through the haze of pain a thought came to her,
Asshole hadn’t come alone
. The taste of iron filled her mouth as Asshole’s two friends rained blows down on her. She curled into a ball and covered her head.

The punishment stopped suddenly. There was a scuffling noise and then Blondie’s voice echoed in the parking lot. “Two on one? That’s just not cool, man.”

“She’s a wanted felon, dumbass,” Mr. Right Hook spat.

Cassie rolled away from the bounty hunters and staggered to her feet.

Blondie had a hold of Right Hook, while the other guy crouched in indecision of whether to go after Cassie or help his friend.

“That’s bullshit!” Cassie lied, jabbing a finger at the pair. “These guys were looking for a good time!” It was a dirty move, but she wasn’t going back with them—no matter what.

That was enough for Blondie. He slugged Mr. Right Hook in the face and the fight was back on. Mr. Indecision came at Cassie with another pair of handcuffs. He didn’t charge like the first guy, instead he circled her with caution, looking for an opening. Little did he know it wouldn’t do any good.

Cassie’s anger was up, and her power, or whatever it was, corsed through her veins like liquid fire. Whenever that happened, people got hurt. A voice in the back of her head pleaded with her to stay calm, but it was starting to weaken in the face of her building rage. Five years was a long time to deal with this kind of shit, and she’d had about enough. In an attempt to force the bounty hunter’s hand, she pretended to slip on the slick pavement.

Mr. Indecision went for the bait and rushed in. He tried to get a cuff around her wrist.

Cassie stepped back and punched his hand as hard as she could.

Bones shattered and the man screamed. He fell to his knees clutching his mangled hand.

“I told you to just go away, but no, you wouldn’t listen,” Cassie ranted. She stalked over to an old pickup and punched the door. Her fist and arm went right through the metal exterior and into the cab.
Ease down,
she thought, taking a deep breath.
You don’t want to kill anyone...again
. She pulled her arm free and glared down at the bounty hunter.

His eyes had gone wide, and he scrambled to get away from her as best he could. He finally got to his feet and ran.

That’s two
. Cassie turned to face the pair of men still grappling. Blondie looked like he was holding his own pretty well, so she scanned the parking lot to make sure there weren’t any other people outside. It would be better for her to not have any witnesses. Thankfully the tournament and cold weather had kept everyone in the bar.

She would have walked away just then, but her car was out of commission and it didn’t seem right to ditch Blondie after he’d saved her bacon. Cassie sighed.
Fine
. She walked up to the fighting men and grabbed hold of Right Hook’s arm as he was about to swing.

Blondie launched an uppercut into the guy’s chin, and it was over. Right Hook crumpled to the ground in a heap.

Cassie stepped back, and made sure she was standing between Blondie and the truck she had punched a hole through.

“Friends of yours?” Blondie asked as he caught his breath.

She scoffed.

“Ex-husband then?”

“You’re kidding, right?”

Blondie shrugged. “I’ve seen stranger things.” He wiped the blood from his lip. “You okay?”

Cassie nodded. “Yeah. You?”

“I’ll live.” He grinned. “This was a lot harder than buying you drink. Tell me I at least earned a kiss.”

Cassie shook her head.
Men
. “Tempting, but I don’t normally kiss men who I don’t even know their names.”

“I’m Caleb.” He offered his hand. “Caleb Snyder.”

She didn’t take his hand, but decided to do her part of the introduction. “Cassie. Thanks for the help.”

“No problem.” Caleb lowered his arm and eyed her for a moment.

A really uncomfortable silence followed. Those stormy blue eyes bore into her, while his chest still heaved a bit from exertion.
And those biceps
. Cassie wasn’t sure what to do. On any other night she would have at least flirted with him, but currently she needed to get the hell out of there.

Caleb rubbed his jaw. “Well, it’s been exciting meeting you, but I should be going.” He tilted his head toward her and started back to the bar.

Cassie watched him go with a touch of regret, and then looked at the flat tire on her car. “Wait,” she called after him.

He stopped and turned with a raised brow.

“Look, I’m kinda in a bad way here,” Cassie said as she walked up to him. “Those guys trashed my car and I need to get out of here...”

Caleb smiled. “Let me get my jacket, and I’ll give you a ride home.”

“Thanks.”

Within five minutes they were in his 1967 Shelby Mustang. It was a sweet ride. Black with white stripes, leather seats, and an ass-ton of speed. A rock song from the 70’s blared from his stereo as they cruised down the highway.

Caleb turned the volume down. “What was all that about back there, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“It was a mistake,” Cassie replied. “I don’t really want to talk about it.”

“I get that, but those guys were trying to rape you. That’s pretty serious. I mean, don’t you want to press charges or anything?”

The guilt of her lie, and her past, suddenly weighed down on her. “What’s the point? It’s not like anything would be done about it.”

“Well, it’d go on their record at the very least,” Caleb said. “Might not be much, but it’s something.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

He glanced at her. “You are a felon, aren’t you?”

Shit. Of all the people to get a ride from, I had to get one from Sherlock Freakin’ Holmes
. Cassie rubbed her temples, but didn’t say anything.

“It’s cool,” Caleb said. “I just don’t wanna get knifed or anything.”

Cassie barked a laugh. “I’m not that kind of felon.” Well, technically she was, but he didn’t need to know that.

“That’s comforting.”

“Look, you can let me out here,” Cassie said. “You don’t have to do this.”

“I’m not
that
big of an asshole.” Caleb chuckled. “A ride home isn’t a problem. Just don’t knife me. Deal?”

Relief flowed over Cassie and she smiled. “Deal.”

When they pulled up to her hotel the parking lot was pretty scarce. Not unusual for this time of night, but it set Cassie on edge considering the evening she’d had. The realization that her world had been disrupted, and the life she had built here was over started to sink in.

“You sure you’re gonna be okay?” Caleb asked.

“Yeah,” she replied lamely. “I’ll be fine.”

“I can get us something to eat if you want.”

Cassie laughed. “You are persistent, I’ll give you that.”