Till There Was You (2 page)

Linc watched as Colbert grabbed a chair and placed it close, but not too close to the solid-looking bars before taking a seat to stare directly at him.

“The name’s Matthew, Matt, or Sarge, feel free to use whichever one you want. Now, let’s start with your name.”

“Fuck you, Sarge,” Linc replied, his voice monotone.

“Well, that’s a really shitty name. How about your age?”

All manner of questions followed the first—from background to likes to dislikes—but the only response Linc used was a calm, consistent, “Fuck you, Sarge.”

After a solid twenty minutes, Linc was glad the cop was showing signs of frustration.

“So, you’re going to give me nothing here? No name, no reason as to why you moved here—nothing?”

Linc shrugged. He didn’t have any information he wanted to give.

“Why the secrets? You hiding something?”

Without responding, Linc stared at Sergeant Matt Colbert, head of police in the tiny town of Newsham. From looking at the cop, he could tell the mystery he presented was eating at him. Cops were usually inquisitive by nature, and this guy seemed no different. After arriving in Newsham about a year ago, Linc had kept to himself as much as possible and only ventured into town when he absolutely had to. He’d avoided making friends and limited every conversation to the barest minimum. He simply wanted to be left alone.

With a heavy sigh, Colbert stood and slid the chair back into place. “Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of trying to hold a conversation with myself. Enjoy your night, John Doe. We’ll get to the bottom of who you are in the morning.”

––––––––

R
aging hot in spite of the chilling winds tearing around her, Lily made her way back to the bar, kicking at any snow that had the audacity to get in her way. When she reached the front door, she unlocked it and shoved it open with more force than necessary, causing it to thump against the wall before closing again with a heavy thud.

The mess from the fight was right where she’d left it. Two tables and more than a few stools lay in splintered pieces from the wild brawl that had been fierce and frightening. Everything had gotten out of hand way too fast.

With a heavy sigh, Lily began clearing away the chaos in front of her, going over the events in her mind. She’d never felt so out of control before. She’d never been so scared. Had it not been for
him
—the stranger with the intense eyes—she had no doubt a few broken stools would have been the least of her worries...

The holiday season was always busy for her small bar, and being the only bar in town, New Year’s was by far the busiest day of the year. Even with all her staff on duty, they were run off their feet. But it was something they could handle, and rowdy drunks tended to be par for the course. Lily was known to give as good as she got and had a reputation for being a bit of a ball breaker. On this particular New Year’s Eve, however, a group of out-of-towners seemed to struggle with the concept of respect toward women.

They had arrived at the bar early to celebrate the occasion and had been drinking beer steadily for most of the night. As midnight drew closer, they switched to downing shots, which is when their rowdiness started to show.

“Come on, sweet thing,” one had called out to Bec, Lily’s youngest server. “How’s about you show a man some real fun to ring in the new year?” he continued, coupling the remark with some sexually suggestive hip movements.

Noting the look of discomfort and disgust on Bec’s face as she shook her head and tried to smile as she refused their attentions, Lily decided to put an end to their unwelcome behavior before it went too far. Throwing down the cloth she’d been using to wipe down the bar, she stomped over to their table and stood with her hands on her hips.

“Something I can help you with, gentleman?” she asked, glaring at them all one by one.

Completely ignoring the question, one of the men rocked back on his chair and lifted the hem of Bec’s skirt, causing her to slap his hand away as she jumped out of reach.

“Don’t touch me!”

Lily knew from experience things were about to go from bad to worse. With a quick look at Bec, she nodded her head in the general direction of the police station where her brother was working. As much as she was sure she could handle herself if things got ugly, the odds weren’t in her favor, and she had a feeling she was going to need help against these four.

“You sure can help, darlin’,” the dark haired one said as he sucked his teeth and eyed her up and down, his gaze practically licking her from head to toe. Lily’s stomach twisted uncomfortably. “With a pretty mouth like that, what you can do is get on your knees and suck my dick as we count down to twelve.” He reached down to his crotch and began to pull his belt loose from the buckle.

A sudden quiet came over the bar as the last words fell slurred from the man’s mouth. The townsfolk knew from experience you didn’t speak to Lily that way—especially not if you wanted to keep your balls.

“What did you just say?” Lily demanded, her arms now folded and eyes blazing with anger. Her facial expression and body language spoke only a little lower than a direct scream in someone’s face. A person would have to be pretty stupid not to pick up on the level of her anger. Stupid, or incredibly drunk...

The biggest, drunkest, and loudest of the group leered toward Lily and spoke to the reckless enjoyment of the other idiots at the table. “He said get on your knees and suck him off.”

Taking a deep breath, she told herself to be calm and patient. But as soon as Beck moved toward the front door, one of the group, a freckle-faced ginger bastard, reached out and grabbed her around the waist, trying to force her to sit on his lap while he and the rest of his comrades laughed in mirth. Lily couldn’t contain herself any longer. Placing her hands on the edge of the table, she shoved it into the ginger’s chest.

“Get the hell out of my bar,” she yelled, giving Bec the chance to break loose and run out the door.

The big one’s face flushed red with anger as he burst out of his chair and grabbed Lily by the front of her shirt, bringing his face close to hers. “Make us,
bitch
.” As he spoke, the putrid smell of alcohol wafted into her nose as spit formed at the corners of his mouth. She had to fight the gag in her throat.

“Hey!” Some of the locals stood to come to Lily’s defense, but were brought up short as the other three guys stood, creating a human barricade designed to cut her off. Pushing and swearing ensued, and the noise level in the bar rose to a roar.

“Let go of me,” she growled, twisting her body and attempting to knee her captor in the crotch. But he deflected the move and simply laughed at her attempts to force his hand.

Hot breath dampened her ear. “I thought you were told to get on your knees.”

Gripping her tighter, he attempted to force her to the floor. With all her strength, she tried to fight him, but as her knees buckled under the strain, a sinking feeling formed in her stomach. She was out of her depth and cut off from the other patrons in the bar. She needed help.

“Come on, sweetheart. You know you want it. One good hard fuck is all you need to get rid of that stick up your ass. Now, get on your knees like a good girl.”

“Fuck you!” She spat in his face and with an almighty twist of her body, managed to bring her leg up enough to stomp him on the foot—hard. This was her bar—the only thing she had left of her dad. She wasn’t going to let these bastards ruin it for her. She wouldn’t let them win.

“You fucking bitch!” he roared as he used his other hand to wipe the spit from his eye. “Now you’re gonna get it.”

Two things happened next. The big guy spun her around and locked her arms behind her back. Then, as she struggled against him while he was forcing her to bend forward, her frightened eyes locked with the quiet stranger in the back corner of the bar—the only person not blocked off by the big guy’s thug friends. He’d been there since ten, with the same untouched glass of whiskey the entire night. She knew he was local, she’d noticed the tall, dark-haired man around town more than once. He had always intrigued her, but he kept mostly to himself. No one knew him. Some were a little afraid of him. She just hoped he would heed her plea and do something to help her. She
needed
him.

Time moved in slow motion as Lily watched a range of emotions flit through the stranger’s eyes. He glanced at her to his drink and then back to her as he rose from his chair with catlike grace. With an apologetic look in his eyes, he upended the glass on the floor and made his way over to where she stood, still painfully gripped by the drunken idiot.

“Let her go,” he demanded, his voice calm, deep, and foreign.

“Fuck you,” the big guy spat, tightening his grip on Lily’s arms.

Without any further comment, the stranger leaned between them, the simple weight of his body forcing the big guy to let go of Lily and take a drunken step back. Immediately, Lily took refuge behind the bar as the stranger stood calmly in front of the drunkard and placed the empty glass upside down in the middle of the table.

“This isn’t any of your business. Stay the hell out of it,” the big guy grunted, poking the stranger in the chest to punctuate each word.

Lily wondered whether it was the Dutch courage from the alcohol or the three guys backing him up that gave the big guy enough backbone to poke the dark stranger in the chest. Anyone could see the barely restrained anger radiating off the man. He was about to explode, and on the last jab, he did exactly that.

Not only did the big guy’s finger not make it to the stranger’s chest, but with a swift movement and a distinctive popping sound, the stranger had realigned the offending digit so it was now pointed in an unnatural direction.

“My finger!” The big guy howled in pain as the stranger picked up his empty glass and slammed the base of it into the center of the man’s throat.

Gripping his throat, the big guy gasped for breath as the stranger leaned close, his lip curled back in contempt. “Do as the lady said. Get your arses out of here before I make you leave myself.”

They should have listened. Instead, the big guy’s companions surrounded the stranger and attacked in unison. The entire bar seemed to hold a collective breath as the stranger moved with fluid grace and took each of them down with what seemed like minimal effort in a series of swift, heavy punches.

“Holy shit,” someone gasped as the three men lay on the floor, unconscious. “Did he kill them?”

The stranger’s eyes locked with Lily’s and an expression washed over his face that broke her heart. He looked lost, ashamed even.

“Thank you,” she said, hoping to let him know he’d done her a great service by coming to her aid. But the sound of breaking glass drew their attention before he could respond.

Cradling his sore hand against his side, the big guy swung the jagged edge of a broken bottle at the stranger. “Come on, motherfucker. Let’s see how tough you are now.” The stranger dodged, and the big guy continued to jab.

When the door opened, a wave of relief washed over Lily. Her brother, Matt, had finally arrived with his off-sider in tow to put an end to this. “Thank god,” she gasped, meeting his eyes briefly before he took a grim assessment of the situation as it unfolded in front of him.

The drunk had clenched the bottle tighter and the recluse started to smile as if he were playing some game with the drunk. The jagged glass came in straight, aimed directly at his face, but he stepped forward and to the right. His left hand reached to push the bottle away as his right fist darted in twice, delivering two heavy blows. The first landed on the big guy’s ribs with a crack that caused a shuddering chill to run down the spine of every person present. The second landed on the side of his open, screaming jaw. The drunk and the bottle hit the floor with heavy thuds as the stranger stepped over him, fist raised, ready to continue beating the living daylights out of the awful excuse for a human being.

“Stop!” Lily yelled. The guy was knocked out; there was no need for any more violence.

In the same moment, her brother moved, taking the opportunity to land a punch against the stranger’s jaw, followed by a Taser blast to the lower back.

“What are you doing, Matt!” she shrieked. The stranger had stopped. The fighting was under control. There wasn’t any need to Taser the guy unconscious.

Eerily, the stranger made no noise as he dropped to one knee. But as he fought the Taser, a deep growl built in his chest while he forced himself back up again. His fists clenched by his sides as he turned on Matt.

Lily covered her mouth, fearing the worst, but Matt’s fist connected with a heavy thump against the side of the stranger’s head. When it seemed that hit wasn’t going to be enough to put him down, Matt kept his finger on the Taser trigger. The clicking sound rattled through the air as the fire that seemed to rage in the stranger’s eyes died, replaced by a sudden look of panic as he wobbled on his feet and hit the ground, a trickle of blood leaking into his full, scruffy beard.

With his chest heaving from effort, Matt signaled for his constable to give him a hand getting the big recluse off the floor. “Call an ambulance for this lot,” he told Lily, indicating the men on the ground.

“It wasn’t all him, Matt,” Lily informed her brother as he struggled under the weight of the stranger.

“Just close this place down, Lil. Night’s over...”

What a nightmare evening,
Lily thought as she carried broken wood to the dumpster outside. When she walked back through the empty bar, an overwhelming sense of sorrow washed over her. She didn’t dare let herself think about what would have happened to her if the stranger hadn’t intervened. But she knew she owed him—big time.

Deciding the rest of the cleaning could wait until morning, she left the bar and locked up, checking her watch as she walked toward her truck. It was almost two in the morning. They completely missed the countdown to midnight.

What a crappy start to the new year.