Asking for Trouble by Mary Kay McComas Read Free Book Online

summon Jerry and/or Charlie to the lobby. A group of boys wouldn’t stand a chance against three grown men ... unless two of the men were nearly fifty and a little out of shape ... and one of the two had been drinking all night. Tom would have to do most of the fighting, she realized, and one man against ...
    She looked back over to the car for an accurate count. Five boys against one man, a lush, an overweight maintenance man, and a woman stood a very good chance of inflicting a great deal of injury, she brooded. And what if they had weapons? Everyone and their uncle had a weapon these days.
    “You need a ride, mama? I don’t mind watchin’ you walk, but you’d be a whole lot more comfortable in here with us. You can even sit on my lap,” the spokesboy said, leaving no room to misinterpret his words.
    She wanted to tell them to go home to their mothers, but the last time she’d heard, it was generally thought best to remain calm and try to ignore young people who liked to harass vulnerable, single woman.
    But ignoring them wasn’t easy, and neither was trying to appear calm. Her heart was racing and her palms were sweaty. Her heels began to click faster on the pavement.
    “Hey, mama. We got party favors.”
    Click. Click. Click.
    It wasn’t until she heard one of them tell the driver to pull over that she began to run. There wasn’t a hundred feet between her and the door to safety, but it seemed like forever before she was able to reach it and begin pounding on it with both fists.
    No one came.
    She glanced over her shoulder. Floodlights placed in the shrubbery to display the building’s name showed three of the youths approaching her. They’d fanned out, blocking all escapes routes.
    “Oh, Lord, help me,” she muttered, frantic, still beating on the heavy metal doors.
    “Take it easy, lady.”
    “Yeah. We just want some fun. What’s a matter with you?”
    “Can’t you see there’s nobody home there?”
    She turned then, removing the strap of her purse from her shoulder. She threw it at them. Their faces were cast in the shadows, and she couldn’t see them clearly—which was probably a blessing.
    “There. Take it and go away!” she shouted, hoping they’d be pleased with the Electra-Love money for the date and would leave her alone.
    Suddenly she was being moved forward, toward the boys, from behind. She pushed back, not wanting to get any closer to them.
    “Move away, Sydney,” she heard Tom say from the other side of the door, his voice strained as he pushed. The door opened wide, and he stood, battle ready, on the walkway beside her. “Go back inside,” he said without looking at her, his gaze fixed on the three young toughs.
    She stepped inside, but didn’t let the door close completely. If they didn’t disperse immediately, now that they knew she wasn’t alone, Tom was going to need help. She quickly scanned the lobby and was dismayed to see that neither of the maintenance men was present.
    “Party’s over, boys. Get lost,” Tom said. He sounded commanding and authoritative, much to his own amazement. Having a showdown with a street gang wasn’t something he did on a regular basis, and if anyone was interested in hearing the truth, he was scared spitless.
    The boys, on the other hand, laughed at him and made several obscene remarks about Sydney’s character and his own ambitions for the evening. But Tom’s voice—strangely unaffected by the situation—remained calm and unimpressed. “You’ve had your fun. Take off,” he said.
    “Who’s going to make us? You?”
    “If I have to.” Had he really said that?
    There were more crude remarks and a few taunts as all but one of the young men moved back toward the street and the waiting car.
    “You don’t scare me, man.”
    Tom remained silent.
    “I can take you, man. And I can have your woman. I been up against old guys like you before. Easy.” He was shaking his hands and shuffling his feet from side to side. Tom didn’t move