MacNamarasLady (5 page)

He didn’t waste time trying to reason with
them. He’d sized them both up in an instant and these were the kind of guys who
talked with their fists. He slammed his closed hand in the guy’s face. It
didn’t seem to faze his opponent. He shook off the punch and whirled with a
roar of anger. At least he’d released Missy. He didn’t look at her, couldn’t
afford to be distracted.

The guy came at T.S. and he didn’t waste
time. He wished like hell he was wearing his steel-toed work boots, but his
heavy-soled dress shoes would have to do. He brought his foot up and drove it
right into the guy’s balls. His opponent’s eyes glazed over and his hands
immediately dropped to his groin. Then he dropped like a stone.

There was no time for him to pause to enjoy
the picture of the big guy rolling in agony on the sidewalk. T.S. spun back
around to Missy and her other attacker. The guy was wrestling with her, but she
was holding her own, scratching at his face, jabbing at him with her keys. Her
attacker brought his hand back, curling his fingers into a fist.

T.S. roared and leapt forward, grabbing the
guy’s hand and using his grip to pull him away from Missy. “Run,” he yelled at
her.

This new opponent was wiry but tough. He
smirked at T.S. then pulled out a knife. It was long and sharp with a black
handle and a silver pommel shaped like a skull. And from the way he held it, he
was obviously a pro at using it.

He took a swipe and T.S. jumped back,
barely keeping the blade from slicing through his coat. He kicked out and hit
the guy’s knee. The leg buckled, but his opponent danced aside before T.S.
could follow through with a punch.

Missy edged along the building, moving
steadily around the guy. Why the hell wasn’t she running back to Lucas’ place
like he’d told her?

The knife swung toward T.S. again and he
jumped back. The blade ripped through his sleeve. The guy obviously kept his
blade sharp, damn him. T.S. was going to have to pay for the damage to the damn
tuxedo rental.

The guy on the ground was stirring, rolling
to his knees. T.S. spun around, delivering a roundhouse kick to his head and
the guy hit the pavement again.

That moment of inattention cost T.S. as
knife guy jabbed at him. He felt the blade sink into his upper arm and swore as
he jerked back out of range. He dimly heard Missy yelling and sirens getting
closer. All his attention was on the man currently trying to slice and dice
him.

Footsteps echoed on the pavement behind
him. T.S. didn’t dare turn to see who it was. He hoped like hell it was the
cops. His arm was beginning to hurt like a motherfucker, but he ignored the
pain and the blood seeping from the wound.

Knife guy’s eyes widened and he whirled
around and took off running. T.S. wanted to chase the guy and grind him into
the sidewalk, but he couldn’t leave Missy. The footsteps were closer now and he
could hear someone yelling. He turned to face this newest threat.

“Thank you.” Missy threw herself into his
arms. His injured arm protested but he ignored it. She was safe and she felt so
damn good snuggled close to him. Nothing else mattered. He wrapped his arms
around her and hugged her tight to his chest, breathing a sigh of relief.

“You’re okay?” He pushed her away and
studied her face in the dim light coming from the street lamp.

She nodded and tugged her coat closed, but
not before he caught a glimpse of her ripped dress and what appeared to be nail
marks on her skin.

A low growl of anger was ripped from him.
Missy’s eyes widened but she didn’t move away from him.

“You okay, man?” Lucas was beside him,
tugging at his coat. “Let me look at your arm. You’re cut.”

“I’m fine,” he protested, not wanting Missy
to move away from him.

“Ohmygod, you’re hurt.” Her gaze went to
his hand and he realized there was no hiding the blood dripping from his
fingertips.

“I’m fine,” he assured her. Although the
pain was sharp as Lucas helped him remove his coat, he was alert. He’d had
worse. But not in a lot of years.

A black and white pulled up next to them,
lights flashing, but siren now off. Two officers climbed out of their vehicle,
guns drawn. “What’s going on here?”

Missy stepped forward into the light and
both men slowly lowered their weapons. “I was attacked.” She pointed her finger
at the guy sitting on the sidewalk with Cain Benjamin, who had come with Lucas
from the wedding reception, standing next to him like a sentinel. “By him and
another guy. One got away.” She pointed down the road. “Skinny white guy, about
five foot ten, black jacket, white T-shirt, brown hair, dead blue eyes. He has
a knife.”

One officer reached back into the car and
grabbed the radio. While he was calling in to dispatch, the other officer came
over. “What happened to him?” he pointed at T.S.

“He saved me.” Missy’s voice quavered and
T.S. pushed Lucas aside and drew her into his arms, ignoring the blood seeping
from his injury.

“It’s okay. Everything is okay.”

“And who are all of you?” the officer
asked.

It was Lucas who responded. “Friends. They
were both at my wedding reception just down the road. Missy called on her cell
phone, her voice frantic. When she said she was being attacked, we all ran
down.”

T.S. noted there were six other friends
from the reception besides Lucas and Cain. Justin was there but, now that the
cops were there, he melted into the shadows and disappeared. No one else
noticed in all the confusion. T.S. couldn’t blame him. He wouldn’t mind doing
the same thing and taking Missy with him.

Missy was shaking and he knew it was a
combination of cold and shock. “I need a blanket.”

One officer put cuffs on the guy T.S. had
brought down while the other one got a blanket and tried to put it around
Missy. T.S. took it from him and put it around her shoulders himself.

More footsteps pounded on the sidewalk. He
glanced up and almost smiled. Candy raced down the sidewalk. She was wearing
sneakers and an old leather jacket over her wedding dress. Katie Benjamin was
right behind her.

“Missy!” Candy cried and went immediately
to her best friend.

T.S. hated to release Missy, but he
suddenly wasn’t feeling so good. His stomach was queasy and the world was
slightly blurry. He blinked to clear his vision, which worked, but he wavered
slightly. Not good. Lucas caught him before he fell.

“Hey, buddy.” Lucas ripped the arm off
T.S.’ already-destroyed shirt and wrapped it around the injury, which was now
throbbing nonstop. “Time to get you to a hospital. You’re going to need
stitches.”

“Only if Missy goes too.” He dug in his
heels on this. He wanted a doctor to check her over and clean those scratches
on her upper chest.

“You’re both going.” Candy stood beside
Missy, determination radiating from her. She might be small but she was fierce
when it came to protecting those she loved. T.S. liked that about her.

Another police car arrived along with the
EMTs. They’d get this mess all sorted out, but only after Missy was seen by a doctor.

* * * * *

Several hours later, Missy sat in the
hospital emergency room and stared at the door to the treatment rooms. T.S. was
in there, waiting to get stitches. Stitches. It was still hard to believe he’d
taken down two attackers by himself. He’d arrived just in the nick of time. She
shuddered at the thought of what might have happened if he hadn’t.

“You okay?” It was about the hundredth time
her best friend had asked her.

“I’m fine, Candy. You should go home. Both
of you.” Lucas sat beside his wife, his arm protectively around her. “This is
your wedding night.”

“Night’s not over yet.” Lucas’ droll remark
made her laugh.

“I suppose not. But it soon will be.”

Lucas hooked a fallen lock of hair over
Candy’s ear. “There’s always tomorrow. And I’m not leaving until I know T.S. is
okay.”

Missy gave silent thanks for such wonderful
friends. Not only Candy and Lucas but all the rest of the party guests who’d
come to her rescue. The police had taken her statement here at the hospital.
She knew all the others had gone back to Lucas’ place to answer questions.

An officer went in to talk to T.S., but had
left a while ago with a promise to contact her when her statement was ready to
be signed and if they caught her other attacker.

Missy pulled her coat closer around her.
The blanket the nice officer had given her had disappeared while she was being
seen by a doctor. She had some bruises and a few scratches, which had been
cleaned. Her wrist was sore, but it was only a mild sprain. Otherwise she was
fine.

But she felt dirty. Violated.

She wanted to go home and soak in a hot tub
and scrub her skin until she couldn’t feel their hands on her anymore. She
shivered.

“Are you cold?”

Candy’s concern had tears pricking at her
eyes. Missy shrugged. “A little.”

Lucas rose without a word and returned a
few minutes later with a cup of steaming hot chocolate. He put the paper cup in
her hand and wrapped her fingers around it. “I figured the chocolate was safer
than the coffee here.”

Missy nodded her thanks. If she spoke, she
was afraid she’d burst into tears, which didn’t make any sense. She was fine.
Everything was…fine.

She was halfway through the surprisingly
tasty hot chocolate when a nurse wheeled T.S. out through the door in a
wheelchair. Missy put the cup on the low table beside her and stood on shaky
legs.

Lucas reached T.S. first. “How you doing,
man?”

“A dozen stitches,” the nurse informed him.
“But he’ll be fine with a few days’ rest.” She patted T.S. on his good arm.
“Get that prescription filled and be sure to take all the antibiotics. Use the
painkillers when you need them. Don’t be a macho guy.”

T.S. grunted, his eyes searching the
waiting room. They stopped when they hit her. He stood and took a step toward
her. Missy’s legs propelled her toward him without her having to prod them. She
stopped about a foot from him.

“Are you okay?” His soft voice and deep
concern wrapped around her better than any blanket.

“That should be my question,” she
countered. He looked pale, but still as tough as ever. He was wearing a thin green
top from a set of scrubs. His own shirt had obviously been ruined by blood and
totally destroyed when they’d cut it off him. His dress jacket was draped over
his good arm.

“I’ve had worse.” He shrugged and didn’t
even wince. Missy wondered if it was the drugs keeping his arm numb or if he
was really that tough. She figured it was probably a bit of both.

“Come on. Time to get going, folks.” Lucas
rounded them all up and helped T.S., oblivious to his friend’s irritation.

“I don’t need help. I’m not a damn
invalid,” T.S. protested as they left the emergency room.

“Of course not,” Lucas agreed as he helped
T.S. to the car. Missy had to stifle a laugh when T.S. swore.

“You can drop me at my car,” Missy told
them as soon as they were all settled in Candy’s car.

“You’re coming home with us. Both of you.”
Candy leaned over the seat, her dark brown eyes luminous with unshed tears.

Missy reached forward and took her friend’s
hand. “Thank you. I appreciate everything you and Lucas have done. But,” she
continued before Candy could get too smug, “I need to go home.” She squeezed
Candy’s fingers, hoping her friend would understand. “Plus, this is your
wedding night.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Lucas pulled out of
the parking lot and onto the road. There was still quite a bit of traffic this
time of night, but it was lighter than usual and they made good time as they
headed back across the city.

“I’m going home too,” T.S. interjected.
“I’m going to be miserable tomorrow, so I’d rather do it in my own bed.”

They argued the rest of the way back, but
Missy got her way. Kind of. “I’m going to follow you home if you insist on
driving by yourself.” She knew there would be no dissuading Lucas.

“I’ll go with her,” T.S. interjected. “I’ll
call a cab from her place.” He glanced at her and winked. “That way you guys
can finally get around to your wedding night. Or morning. It’s getting so late
the sun will be up in a few hours.”

“I agree with T.S.” Missy’s stomach filled
with butterflies at the thought of being alone with T.S., but it was the least
she could do. She also agreed with him. Candy and Lucas deserved some sort of
wedding night.

Lucas pulled into a spot behind his
building and turned off the ignition. “Okay. If you’re determined. But I’m
walking the two of you to Missy’s car.”

T.S. grumbled while Missy said her goodbyes
to Candy, promising to call her friend tomorrow, but not too early.

“I gotta lock my truck. I’m not even sure I
closed the damn door when I jumped out.” That’s assuming his truck was still
there.

“Done.” Lucas told him. “Cain recognized
your truck, saw the door open and took care of it.”