Ally did as instructed, but she kept her gaze on the man. She was instantly alert. She didn’t know what was going on, but she knew Mandy well enough to know something was indeed wrong.
Sophie glanced up, her face sobering when she saw Ally and Mandy’s worried expressions. She shifted her gaze to the man, taking an inadvertent step back when she recognized him. It was the same man who’d accosted her in front of the Daily Tribune a few days before.
“You.”
“I warned you,” the man said, taking a step forward.
“Hey,” Mandy said, moving toward him. “Stay away from her.” Ally was right on her heels.
The man had something in his hand. It was hard to make out in the dark.
“He has a knife,” Heidi said, her voice shrill.
Mandy didn’t hesitate. She lifted her bag and whacked the man over the head with it. “Go away.”
Ally joined in, hitting the man as hard as she could with her own bag. “Listen, you scum, no one wants you here. Are you some sort of pervert or something? There’s a whole row of prostitutes three blocks over. Go bother them.”
The man tried to fight off his two assailants – but getting hit in the head with two heavy purses is more distracting than it sounds. He tried to shove them off, taking another step toward Sophie.
That’s when Heidi made her move. She lifted her leg high, reared back, and made direct contact with his nuts.
The man screamed, grabbing his scrotum as his face twisted in agony. “You bitch!”
Mandy and Ally exchanged a look. Ally raised her leg and kicked the man in the same area – just for good measure.
He staggered back, his face contorted with rage. Instead of coming after them, he obviously thought better of it and then fled into the night.
Ally inhaled deeply, finally turning to Sophie. “Does anyone want to tell me what’s going on here?”
Seventeen
By the time the Hardy brothers arrived at the bar, two sheriff’s department units were already on the scene.
James slammed his Explorer into park and jumped out of the vehicle, searching the amassed faces for one in particular. He found her almost immediately, standing in the middle of the melee, answering questions from one of the deputies.
James forced his way through the crowd. “What happened?”
“Excuse me, sir,” the deputy said. “If you could stand over there, we’ll be done here in a second.”
“I don’t think so,” James said. “That’s my blonde.”
Finn moved up behind his brother. He’d heard about the incident over the scanner – including Sophie’s name – and decided to join the party, mostly because he thought there was a good chance James and Grady would freak out and possibly find themselves in jail cells if they pushed the wrong police buttons. “Calm down.”
James was surprised to see him. “What are you doing here?”
“I heard it over the scanner.”
“What happened?” James asked again.
“Some guy went after Sophie,” Mandy said. “We stopped him.”
James gritted his teeth. “What do you mean you stopped him?”
“Mandy and I hit him with our purses and then Heidi kicked him in the nuts,” Ally said, swooping in and dropping a kiss on her brother’s cheek. “Hi, big brother.”
“Ally kicked him in the nuts afterwards, just to do it again,” Mandy added.
“It was kind of fun,” Ally admitted.
Finn slung an arm around his sister’s shoulders. “That sounds … eventful.”
“It was a fun night until he came along and ruined it.”
James put his hands on his hips. “Let me get this straight,” he said. “You were approached by a man on the street, and you just started hitting him with your purses?”
“He had a knife,” Ally said.
James’ eyebrows nearly shot off his forehead. “You attacked a guy with a knife? Are you trying to kill me?”
“Calm down,” Ally said. “He was little … and schlubby.”
“Schlubby?”
“What? That’s a word.”
James held up his hand to quiet his sister. “You need to go home. You’re clearly drunk.”
“I’ll take her,” Finn said.
“Can you take me, too?” Heidi asked. “I’m tired and I want to go home.”
“Are you done here?”
Heidi looked to the deputy for confirmation. He nodded. “I’m done.”
Finn glanced at James. “You have this under control?”
“Do I have the wild purse puncher under control? I have no idea.”
Finn smirked. “Where is Grady?”
Ally pointed. “He’s over there with Sophie.”