“Har har.” But Joey laughed and downed the rest of his beer, frowning as he laid it on the table. Russ stood and moved to Joey’s side.
AJ turned in the direction of Joey’s frown. The door to the bar had opened and a horde of bikers spilled in, all decked out in leathers, the backs of their jackets bearing a fist crushing a bleeding heart.
“Fists, I presume?” Pax asked.
“Yeah. And they don’t belong here.” Joey kicked back his chair and stood. Russ followed, and they were flanked immediately by two beefy members of their gang. The rest of the Thorns moved with them toward the front of the bar.
The tension in the entire place thickened so deep you had to wade through it. It emanated off everyone wearing leather. You could see it on all their faces, bikers gearing up for battle. AJ looked to Pax, who nodded. They stood and moved behind the crowd of bikers. AJ slid his hand up under his jacket, reached into the back waistband of his jeans, and released the safety on his pistol, saw Pax do the same. They might be on vacation and always undercover, but they were still federal agents. If shit was going to go down, they had to put a stop to it. Or at least put a well-timed call in to the local police. He hoped this would be nothing more than a standoff and that it would just blow over. Or maybe just hand-to-hand combat, not knives and guns.
Teresa didn’t need a brawl in her bar. AJ took a sidelong glance at her. She and the other bartenders stayed behind the bar, but Teresa had placed both hands, palms down and fingers wide, on the bar, her jaw set firmly. AJ made a move back with his head, and Pax took a look at Teresa, then back at him.
She looked mad as hell. The one thing they’d learned working cases for the Wild Riders was to watch out for someone with a hair-trigger temper, and the tension in Teresa’s locked arms and the tight set to her jaw gave AJ the impression she might climb right over the top of that bar and go after those guys.
“That’s not good,” Pax whispered.
“No, it’s not.” AJ skirted in front of Teresa, and Pax followed, making sure the both of them covered the women behind the bar.
He half turned to Teresa. “Relax. It’s going to be all right.”
Teresa’s focus stayed on the action at the front of the bar, but she gave him a curt nod, effectively dismissing him.
“Get out, Larks, and take your Fists with you,” was all Joey said to the guy standing at the front of the Fists.
Larks must be the leader of their gang, AJ presumed. He was broad, not as tall as the two guys flanking him, but he looked like one mean son of a bitch. He sported a long, white scar up the side of his left cheek, and except for a few strands of dark, stringy hair, his head was covered by an all black do-rag. His leather jacket was thick and only added to the guy’s imposing look. The guy had thighs like tree trunks and big beefy hands. All in all, he looked like a whole lot of trouble.
“Now, Joey,” Larks said, smiling. “As far as I know this is a public bar. You can’t keep us out of here. We’re taking a little road trip this weekend and just stopped in for a quick drink.”
“We don’t want you in here. I don’t want you in here mixing it up with my guys.”
“You lookin’ for a fight?”
“No.”
“Neither are we. Just came in for a beer, then we’re on our way.”
“There are a lot of other places you can get your beer. Take a hike.”
Larks took a step forward. So did Joey.
“Just let it go, Joey,” Teresa said from behind the bar. “We’ll give them their drinks and they can leave.”
AJ turned to Teresa and could feel the anger vibrating off of her, could see it in the upward tilt of her chin, the way she never once took her eyes off Larks or his men. The last thing he wanted was for her to end up in the middle of a gang brawl.
“I don’t think so,” Joey said.
“Leave it alone, Joey. I mean it. Let’s just get this over with.”
“Now see? That’s what I’m talkin’ about. This lady knows how to be hospitable. Besides, we’re paying customers and she knows it.”
Larks took a step forward. Joey didn’t budge. AJ tensed, waiting for it, ready for whatever happened next.
But then Joey stepped aside, and so did his men, opening a path for Larks and his gang to walk through toward the bar. AJ was disinclined to get the hell out of his way. He and Pax stayed rooted to their bar stools, nursing their beers. Larks looked them up and down.
“Who are you?” he asked.
“Who are you?” Pax shot back, offering up a lazy glance to Larks.
“You aren’t part of the Thorns.”
“No, we aren’t,” AJ said.
“Then get the f**k out of my way.”
AJ gave him a lopsided grin. “I don’t think so, man. Get your own f**king bar stool.” AJ motioned down the row of empty stools to his right. “These are taken.”
“You lookin’ for a fight?”
“No. I’m lookin’ to sit my ass right where it is and drink my beer. So stay the hell out of my space.”
He stared Larks in the eye, making sure the guy understood that AJ and Pax didn’t want any trouble, but if Larks intended to serve it up, they’d be more than happy to oblige.
Larks shrugged. “Shoot me a cold one, sweet tits,” he said to Teresa as he moved a couple feet down the bar and slid onto the stool.
AJ sucked in a deep breath at the insult to Teresa, who started popping the tops off bottles of beer and sliding them onto the bar. She didn’t even flinch making eye contact with Larks and his men who sidled up to the bar to grab the bottles. Larks threw money in front of her. “Keep the change, honey.”
“Thanks.” She moved to the cash register and put the money in, then turned back to face the bikers.
She was pleasant enough, but she was mad as hell.
Did she have some kind of relationship with Larks?
“What’s got her so riled up?” Pax asked, clearly noticing it, too.
“I have no idea.” He held up his fingers, and Teresa brought them a couple more beers. When he held out the money and she went to take it, AJ slid his hand over hers.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.”
Yeah right. She’d barely got the words out through gritted teeth.
“Let’s go outside and talk.”