Alex flipped a bottle of whiskey end over end and poured seven shots before sliding them down the slick surface of the bar top. Still pouring with his other hand he nodded to Connor. “Yeah, I called a few minutes ago. Just take him out front. It’s the usual company.”
Preoccupied with the limp drunk balanced on his shoulder, Connor didn’t see the group of rawboned construction workers slide the latch on the cage. They waited until he exited through the side door before disappearing into the crowded bar. They were well over the legal limit with more than just alcohol. Connor would’ve never admitted them to the already max capacity room.
* * *
“Hey honey, can we get another round of beers?”
Jessa grinned at Wade, Tommy and their buddies. It hadn’t taken long for her to be able to recognize every one of them. They were a well-behaved bunch that knew how to leave a decent tip.
“No problem, guys. Give me just one more minute.” She rested her hand on Wade’s shoulder as she slid past him with a full tray balanced on her shoulder.
After delivering the Jell-O shooters to a table of college students enjoying the beginning of summer break, Jessa swung around toward the bar. Before she could weave her way back, a ham-sized hand grabbed her hip and reeled her in.
“Hey now, none of that!” she chastised in the firm voice she was starting to reserve for inebriated men who got too fresh.
Jessa found herself straddling the lap of a middle-aged construction worker. The guy’s breath smelled like 40 proof and one of his eyes was oddly off kilter. It took Jessa a moment to realize that his pupils weren’t equally dilated. She wondered if alcohol was the only thing coursing through this guy’s blood. She suspected he was a veritable pharmacopoeia of illegal substances.
“Whets matter, sweetheart?” the man drawled. “You aren’t too busy to work for a little extra tip, are ya?”
“Actually, yeah, I am.” Jessa launched herself off his lap and shot toward the bar.
The uproarious laughter following her wasn’t confidence-inspiring. Trying her best to ignore the nervous lump forming in her stomach, Jessa grabbed seven frozen mugs and poured frothing draft beer into each one.
She wanted to warn Alex or Connor about the new arrivals. But Alex was at the other end of the bar mixing drinks at a crazy pace and Connor was arguing fiercely in the doorway with somebody who wanted in. There wasn’t anyone else to tell. Jessa wasn’t altogether certain Connor had let these guys in to begin with. They didn’t seem to belong. Not even in a bar like Phoenix Rising.
Jessa dropped the draft beers at Wade’s table and tried to give the strangers a wide berth. The guy was waiting for her.
He snagged the hem of her skirt and yanked her back into his lap. “Hey, sweet thing!”
“I’m not your sweet thing,” Jessa grumbled as she shoved him away.
His leering grin sent chills racing down her spine. “Give me a minute and you will be.”
* * *
“Connor!”
Connor was trying to eject a group of giggling underage girls who were convinced they could change his mind by rubbing their slender bodies all over him. The incident made him long for a hot shower. Some men paid big bucks for a nineteen year old. He wasn’t one of them and wouldn’t aid and abet, either. The girls had no business being in his bar before they were twenty-one.
“Connor!” Alex’s voice sounded more insistent than usual.
A bad feeling settled over him before he even had a chance to turn around. Alex was fine but he was pointing frantically to the far end of the room, already dialing the phone with his free hand.
“Holy shit,” Connor growled.
A middle-aged businessman grabbed his arm. “Hey, let us in before you go!”
Connor shoved the man back. “Get the fuck out, we’re closed!”
“It’s barely past midnight!”
His words fell on deaf ears. Connor was gone and the cage locked behind him. The only doors left were the exits. Taking a deep breath, Connor leapt over the partition separating the entrance from the tables. “Bust!” he bellowed at the top of his lungs.
Everyone turned to stare at him, but Connor had no eyes for them. His only goal was Jessa.
Barely visible in a circle of burly men Connor had never seen before, she was struggling frantically to get away.
Dead wouldn’t even apply when he was done with them.
Her stockings were shredded, her apron trampled on the floor as she fought them for her top. The look of sheer terror on her face ripped Connor wide open on the inside. He fought his way through the crowd paying no attention to those he took down on his way.
His vicious press through the masses gained the attention of Wade and his friends sitting not far from Jessa. They turned to see what was going on and then stood when they realized she was in trouble.