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So else he’d fix once he ran the place

Cautious, he sat for a minute to make sure no one approached

All re his keys so they wouldn’t er door and quietly opened it He’d already disabled the lights, and theto the backs of the buildings, he went down a block, then ca with the shadows of the night, he crossed the street and found concealing darkness under the overhang of a rocer across the street frootten settled into the recessed doorhen he saw one of the thugs fro down the street Despite the heat of the un

Rowdy saw that he sported so Courtesy of Reese? Daaze, Rowdy saw hio down the outside alley of the bar--back to the area Rowdy had just vacated

Fro, across the open lot that Roould soon lease for parking, another goon strode up This one spoke quietly into a cell phone, and his skittish gaze continually scanned the area

Yeah, killing us wasn’t as easy as you’d hoped, was it, you bastard?

So, thein the back Did they plan to jump Rowdy as soon as he showed up? Had they hoped to finish what they’d started earlier?

For only a moment, Roorked his jaw, then decided, fk it It wasn’t in his nature to skulk around like a coward All he’d needed to knoas that Alice would be safe

And between Reese and Trace, he trusted in that Trace Man, there was a ination Pair him with by-the-book Reese, and Alice couldn’t be more protected

Rowdy didn’t er, but he didn’t want to seek it out In fact, he looked forward to the routine, calmer life as a bar owner

But first he needed to take out the trash

Circling around the buildings via a different route, down an adjacent alley a block away, Rowdy returned to the back entrance of the bar Right there, in plain sight, the two idiots stood plotting One lit a cigarette, the red glow sending eerie shadows over his face before fading beneath a curl of slance around to the point that his buddy cursed him "Damn, Phelps, relax, will you?"

"I’ll relax when this is over"

"Soon" Inhaling on the cigarette again, he lounged back against the brick wall "They got away this , but they won’t this time"

"Shit, Lowry, you don’t know that They were fast and they kne to fight" He rubbed the back of his neck "I’m still in pain"

"A pain in my ass" Lowry shifted his injured arm "They took me by surprise, that’s all This time, I’ll be ready"

"You can’t even know that the others will be here"