Without You

She’d been shocked when he targeted Jackson and made a beeline for their table. Now, as she watched Jackson turn around and gasp, her stomach knotted.

“What—” Jackson never got the rest of his sentence out of his mouth.

“Stand up, you son of a bitch.” The man was in his face, and spittle gathered at the corners of his mouth. “Look me in the eye when you tell me why you killed my sister.”

That was when Hallie saw the bulge in his pocket. Her hand flew to her heart. A gun.

Ten

Just as he was about to lunge out of his chair and face Roberta’s brother, Edgar Nesbitt, Hallie cried out, “Jackson, he’s got a gun!”

Jackson froze for a second, conscious of the danger to Hallie and the patrons. Still, he looked his accuser in the eye and said in a calm but deadly tone, “Take it easy, Edgar. I didn’t hurt your sister.”

“You’re a lying bastard,” Edgar muttered, so close to his face that Jackson smelled the soured alcohol on his breath.

“I’m not lying,” Jackson said again in the same calm but deadly tone.

Without taking his eyes off Jackson, Edgar spat to Hallie, “Lady, I don’t have no gun. If I did, he’d already be dead.”

“Back off, Nesbitt—” the calm had slipped several degrees after Edgar addressed Hallie “—unless you want to be hauled out of here in handcuffs. Or better yet, a body bag.”

Nesbitt poked Jackson in the chest, his features twisted. “Do you think I care what you do to me?”

Jackson grabbed his hand so hard, he heard Nesbitt’s knuckles crack.

Pain or not, it didn’t stop his mouth. “My sister’s dead and it’s all your fault.”

Before Jackson could respond, Donnie Petty, Elan’s head of security, tapped Nesbitt on the shoulder. “Your moment in the sun’s over, buddy. You’re coming with me.”

Within seconds, the volatile situation had been de-fused. What Hallie had mistaken for a weapon had been a pipe. Still, one never knew.