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The band was blasting out a fast song as we walked through the front doors and the dance floor was jammed. It took some looking to find a booth for all of us, Billy, me and two underage kids. Jack strolled over and chatted to us when he wasn’t too busy behind the bar.

We’d been there for about an hour and Billy seemed to be relaxing a little and having fun until Brenda and Glenda appeared and squeezed their unwanted butts into our booth.

Harlan was in the corner and Tammy was squished right up against him when I moved over to let Glenda sit down. Harlan had a look on his face that I wasn’t sure about, but he sure wasn’t complaining about how close Tammy was.

“Hey, girls,” I asked, “why don’t y’all get your own table? We don’t really have room for y’all here. My kids are squished.”

“We like it here.” Brenda stuck her stubborn jaw out and Billy’s lip curled in response.

“You girls should go hit on some single guys,” I said. “Billy and I are off-limits to y’all. Been there—done it. No thanks. Can you take a hint?”

“No,” said Glenda. “We’re not taking a hint from you, Travis. This is where me and Brenda want to sit.”

“Come on, girls. Give us a break. Go get your own table. Harlan and Tammy are here, and this is a family outing.”

“Trouble here?” Jack walked over with a smirk on his face.

“You mind finding the twins their own table, Jack? They’re crowding the kids and Billy needs his leg up on the bench.”

“Sure. Come on, girls. I’ll get you set up somewhere closer to the band. Billy needs more room to rest his leg.”

The girls never moved. Jack left to scout out an empty table for them and he wasn’t gone long before he shouted for me. I had to push past Glenda to get out of the booth and it pissed me off.

As soon as I was free of her, I ran to help Jack.

Shoving my way through the crowd of dancers, I got to the middle of the floor, and I could finally see where the trouble was.

Two guys I didn’t know were pushing and shoving each other and throwing the odd punch when they got an opening. Yelling and cursing at each other over whatever had set them off.

“Break it up,” I hollered at them and pushed in between them. I tried to separate them peacefully and that didn’t work. They were both fuming about something.

They shouted threats at each other, and the fight accelerated over…something. Cause unknown. They wouldn’t quit, and I didn’t want more joiners, so I grabbed the hair of the closest one and smashed his face into the closest table.

Customers shouted and jumped out of the way, glasses and bottles tumbled off the table and smashed.

The guy came up waving a blade and caught my right forearm. Pain shot through my brain and made me see red. I knocked him to the floor and was thumping him hard while blood spurted out of my arm and splattered both of us.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Harlan jump in and crack the other guy in the face with his fist and knock him to the floor. He was a big strong kid for fifteen.

One of Jack’s bouncers jumped in and helped us out and we managed to get the two guys rolled onto their bellies and cuffed.

My arm was cut twice. Hadn’t noticed the second one. Forearm slice and the nick above the elbow was gushing pretty freely.

“Travis, you’re bleeding,” said Jack. “I’ve got a first aid kit in the office.”

“Let me get these guys locked in the truck first.”

Outside in the parking lot, Harlan helped me get the two guys secured in the back of the truck. He was quick and slick with the D-ring—knew right where it was—and I sensed some familiarity.

I slid behind the wheel and wiped the blood off my arm. “Run back in and tell Billy we’ll be right back to pick him and Tammy up. We’ve got no room for them until we ditch these assholes at the station.”

Harlan smiled as he jumped out and ran.

Sheriff’s Office. Coyote Creek.

We left the drunks in the truck while Harlan and I went inside the station first and used the first aid supplies to patch up my arm temporarily. Once the blood was washed off and the gauze pads taped on, I was good to go.

We ran out to the truck and brought the guys in one at a time and locked them in separate cells, leaving an empty cell between them.