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Jake held out a restraining hand, all trace of playfulness gone. “Lockdown. Sorry, lass. Means you’re staying inside until the guys get back and say otherwise.”

“Seriously?” I frowned. “Like I can’t even go outside and get some fresh air?”

“Nope. You stay in the clubhouse.” He gestured at the rifle I’d propped in the corner of the room. “And you take that with you wherever you go. Loaded and ready, within arm’s reach, at all times.”

“Yeah, Ace already told me that,” I groused. But Jake and Mom had been good to me, and I didn’t want to start an argument with him. Or worse, get him in trouble when Ace returned. “I guess I’ll just go play with the plumber and his buddies.”

Mom gave me a blank look.

“ Super Mario World . Silly little Italian plumber trying to save the world?”

Jake snorted into his coffee.

Mom nodded. “Good idea. Take your mind off other things.”

I doubted it, but standing here worrying wasn’t going to help either. Video games were one way to distract myself.

* * *

The games room was large, with lots of oversized furniture staged around the biggest television screen I’d ever seen.

There was an assortment of game systems hooked up to a central switching station, and at least a dozen different controllers perched on chargers sitting on a shelf down the side of the room.

Considering the clubhouse only had two inhabitants under the age of majority, it seemed a bit overdone.

I chose one of the controllers and thumbed through the vast array of available games.

Instead of Mario , I chose to play Spyro the Dragon .

The silly little cartoon dragon had captivated me decades ago when it first came out.

Although I wasn’t much of a video game enthusiast, I still found this game to be my go-to when I wanted to kill time without having to think.

I tried to forget everything bad that had happened as I loaded the disc and flew Spyro to the first world in need of conquering.

The look on the face of the murder victim just before he fell .

I barreled Spyro into a herd of unsuspecting sheep.

The sounds of the gunshots aimed in my direction .

I jumped Spyro through the portal into the next world in need of saving.

The sound of the window shattering as the bomb landed in the living room .

I let Spyro flame a few monsters. It felt good. It had been a while since I’d played, but I was starting to get back into the hang of things. I freed the statues in the first world and moved on to the next.

Really, my biggest issue wasn’t with the murder. It was with Ace.

I wanted him to want me. Not because he had some kind of hero complex and thought he had to protect me.

I wanted him to want me for myself, because he found me irresistible.

I wanted him to want me so bad he couldn’t even think about another woman.

Silly, stupid romantic shit, huh? I flipped the controller to dodge an attacking Orc who was trying to smash Spyro with a big-assed club.

My side was healing well, and I assumed the rival gang was in the process of being crushed by the attacking Riptide bikers.

But what if Ace decided there was no reason to keep me?

We were so different. We lived our lives in separate worlds.

His was full of guns and missions and loud motorcycles.

Mine was full of books, and work, and stress.

I still wanted to finish up my degree. I want to be a doctor.

I want to help people. I want to help kids.

Hell, at some point I might decide I did want to have children of my own.

Could I do that if I linked myself to a biker?

And not just any biker, but the president of a motorcycle club?

Would it be fair to kids to have them knowing their father is a biker?

That he could die at any time? Would they grow up hating me for my choices, just like I blamed my parents for theirs?

Despite my doubts, a mental image of a mini-Ace distracted me, and Spyro paid the price. Luckily, he managed to respawn back to his last save point. Too bad people couldn’t do that.

I managed to kill a few hours with Spyro before the game got too easy. Then I switched to Mario vs Donkey Kong , determined to keep my mind off what might be happening to the club.

To Ace in particular. Having him injured or worse didn’t bear thinking about.

I heard the back door creak open. Great. I was under house arrest but obviously it didn’t apply equally to everyone. As heavy footsteps approached, I hit pause on the game and twisted in my seat to see who was immune to the lockdown edict.

Lounging against the doorframe, his beady eyes gleaming with an unholy light, was the murderer from the park. “Bet you never thought you’d see me again.”

I surged to my feet and opened my mouth.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, bitch.

” He quickly raised his arm, aiming a revolver directly at me.

I wondered if it was the same one he’d used to kill the guy in the park.

“I’ll pull this trigger before you can draw another breath, and after I shoot you, I’ll kill whoever comes thinking they’re going to save you. ”

I couldn’t let him hurt anyone else. Hopefully Mom and Jake hadn’t heard him come in. “There’s no one else here. They all left to take on you and your buddies.”

“Yeah, nice try,” he said, “But I’m no fool. I’ve been watching this place for days now. I know those two old farts are here somewhere.”

“Don’t hurt them! They have nothing to do with this.”

“Oh, it’s not them I’m interested in hurting,” he growled. “Just keep your mouth shut and do as I say and maybe I’ll let them live.”

I snapped my mouth shut. How the hell was I going to get out of this one? I swept the room with my eyes, looking for something, anything that could help.

“Yeah. That’s better.” He took a step into the room and gently closed the door behind him. “Don’t want anyone interrupting us, do we? You’ve given me and my buddies a whole lot of trouble.”

From the corner of my eye, I could see the rifle where I’d left it, beside the chair. I resisted the urge to look at it directly.

Damn. If only it were a tiny bit closer, like leaning against the chair. If I bent down to get it, he’d put a hole through me before I could grab it. No way he’d miss from that close.

I started to edge my way back toward it.

“Stay right where you are.” The asshole took a step further into the room. “You’re a pretty little piece. Maybe we can make a deal. You’d like that, right?” He reached for me, grabbing my arm and dragging me toward him.

I shuddered, struggling to get free.

He laughed, backhanding me across the face.

I swallowed a scream, staggering backward. I put out a hand to break my fall, and the asshole took a step forward and kicked my side.

Pain lanced through me as his foot connected with the still tender bullet wound.

“Yeah. Winged you there, didn’t I?” He grinned. “You’re a slow learner, though. You be nice to me and maybe I’ll let you live. For a little while.”

I just bet he would. More likely he’d rape me and then sell me to the highest bidder. I remembered Ace saying the rival club was into human trafficking.

His eyes scanned across me as I tried to get to my feet. “Strip. Let’s see what you’re worth.”

I whimpered. Maybe I could grab the gun while pretending to strip.

Hooking my fingers in the waistband of my pants, I slowly shimmied them down my legs, bending my knees as I did so.

I swear the asshole was drooling. His gun hand hung loosely at his side while his other hand went to his crotch.

Ignoring the pain, I threw myself sideways, grabbing the rifle and rolling to come up with it pointed directly at the bastard. I squeezed the trigger.

Nothing happened.

We both froze for a split second, and then he let out a sickening bray of laughter. “Forgot to load it, you little bitch?”

I thumbed the safety off and squeezed the trigger again. The noise of the shot was deafening in the enclosed space.

A look of shock crossed his face as a red circle bloomed in his chest.

I flipped the lever back to load another round and fired again.

He sank to his knees.

I fired again. And again.

It was like I couldn’t stop myself until the magazine was empty. Even then, with his eyes glazed over in death, I kept pulling the trigger.