Shortage (Best Laid Plans Book 2) by Nathan Jones Read Free Book Online

west, away from the Larsons' house, and she was already at the outskirts of town.
    Her panic only increased when she saw that the small, nondescript man who'd spoken had his hands thrust deep into his front pockets. That was enough to recognize Razor, the same man who'd robbed Matt and April's family and had hurt Terry.
    While she'd stood frozen the man and his two friends had continued to saunter her way, the bigger goons circling around to either side of her in case she suddenly tried to bolt. Sam regretted her decision to not run when she had the chance, but she'd never been a very fast runner and she was certain if she tried now she'd be quickly caught by the longer-legged men.
    Besides, she had the bear spray Matt had given her in her pocket. Maybe she could brave it out and get past them and just go home. Razor hadn't seemed to want to hurt the others when he'd robbed them and had only sprayed Terry when he talked back. Not to mention it was broad daylight, and even if she was close to the outskirts she was still in town, with houses visible in every direction.
    “Are you lost, miss?” the nondescript man said. “Or maybe you need a place to stay?”
    “I'm fine,” she said politely, starting forward past him. “Excuse me, I need to get home.”
    A hand that wasn't much larger than hers closed around the forearm of her hand holding her daily ration, stopping Sam's forward progress, and she felt her flesh crawl under his unexpectedly iron grip. “Got your day's worth of gritty flour, eh?” he said, still in that same pleasant tone. “Bet you're sick of just eating that for every meal, and it hurts my soul to see an unhappy woman. Wouldn't you like a proper meal?”
    Sam's heart was beating out of her chest, but she did her best to keep from shaking as she pulled her other hand out of the sleeve of her coat and pointed the bear spray at him. “Let me go.”
    Razor threw back his head and laughed, but at least he let her go. “No need to get scared and start threatening people, sweetie. I just wanted to know if you'd like to work for me out in the camp. I guarantee you'd eat better than anyone in town, and the work's so easy you can practically do it lying down.” He winked lewdly. “Or literally.”
    She knew exactly what he was talking about and the thought filled her with disgust. Especially after he'd put his hand on her. “No thanks, I'm doing fine.” She lifted the bear spray a bit higher and took a step back, opening her mouth to tell him to leave her alone.
    That step slammed her right into the chest of one of Razor's thugs, who'd moved to stand directly behind her, and Sam barely had time to squeak before the large man plucked the bear spray from her hand. “There, that's more like it,” Razor said. “A sensible girl like you should really know better than to threaten someone, especially these days. I'm perfectly within my rights to defend myself if I'm threatened, although I'd rather not hurt a woman.”
    Was he seriously trying to pretend that she was threatening him ? Sam tried to step away from the thug, only to feel his heavy hands on her shoulders pinning her in place. “I'll scream,” she warned.
    Razor grinned and put his hands in his pockets, and Sam felt a sudden surge of dread. While describing their encounter with the bandits on the way home Matt had told her why the nondescript man liked to have his hands in his pockets, and what he kept there. Her dread turned to alarm when he started to pull one hand out again, obviously holding something.
    Before he could complete the motion a taller figure slammed into him from the side, seemingly out of nowhere, and bore the bandit leader to the ground. Sam felt an overwhelming sense of relief when she realized it was Matt, positioning himself atop the smaller man and making sure to use his knees to pin Razor's hands in his pockets. The entire time his fists flew, slamming into the bandit leader's face over and over again.
    Sam immediately