For the next four days, they fell into a pattern. Gypsy would wake up, then get ready for her daily run. Hank or Jerry, mostly Jerry, would run the six miles with her and then spar with her afterwards. Hank commented on how well she knew her defense moves and felt confident in her ability to protect herself should something happened to him or Jerry. Hank looked at her a little strange when she made the statement she refused to be a victim again.

When she finished working out and got showered, she would spend time with Sadie, baby Emily, and Allie whenever she would come over to visit. She became more comfortable around Allie, Swede, Hank, and Jerry as each day progressed. She has always had an issue with relaxing around men, especially being in a room alone with one. Gypsy was grateful that Hank and Sadie seemed to know when she was uncomfortable without asking for details or making a big deal out of it.

On day five, their routine was slightly altered with a trip into the small town of Eagle Rock for lunch. Their group outing included Sadie, the baby, Gypsy, and Jerry all piling into the SUV with Hank driving them into town. Jerry sat up front with Hank while Gypsy and Sadie rode in the back with the baby. When they reached their destination, Hank parked in front of the diner, got out at the same time as Jerry, and both men checked their surroundings before opening the back doors for the women.

Jerry offered his hand to Gypsy to help her out of the SUV, and without thinking, she placed her hand into his. As their hands touched, she felt a strong zap up her arm that made her heart race as she got out of the car. Jerking her hand out of Jerry’s, she wiped it on her jean clad hip, hoping to stop the tingling feeling. She gave Jerry a small smile hoping to take away the sting of her movement.

Hank led the group into the diner with the women behind him and Jerry taking up the rear. Both men continued to check their surroundings as they led their group to the table in the back corner. Sadie giggled when Gypsy and Jerry went for the same chair that would place their backs to the wall and facing the door.

“Sorry, you want this chair, Ernie?” Gypsy asked batting her lashes.

“Yep I do, Bert. It’s so I can protect that luscious rear end of yours from bullets or flying French fries, whichever comes your way first.” Jerry winked.

“Our kids are never watching Sesame Street,” Hank grumbled.

“Now Hank, don’t be like that,” Sadie said as she patted Hank’s hand.

“Hey now, Sesame Street rocks. It’s those damn teletubbies you gotta watch out for. Those fuckers give me creeps. Thought Red was going to murder Diesel for introducing her son to those suckers,” Gypsy laughed at the memory.

“Who’s Red?” Jerry asked curiously.

“Huh? Who?”

“You said that you thought Red was going to murder Diesel. Who are Red and Diesel? I’ve known you going on four years and I’ve never heard you mention either people,” Sadie said.

Gypsy hadn’t realized her slip of the tongue until just now. “Oh, um Red and Diesel are just some good friends. I’m closer with Red,” Gypsy said with a smile. “I owe Red my life,” Gypsy said quietly, absent-mindedly rubbing her left wrist.

Gypsy stared down at the table for a few, lost in memory. She missed the looks between Sadie, Hank, and Jerry, concern etched on their faces over her comments. Sadie reached out, grabbed her wrist, and turned it over.

“Gypsy, what did you do to your wrist? I’ve never noticed that before,” Sadie asked confused.

“Let’s just say that life at one time held no meaning other than pain and darkness. I was tired of fighting and feeling alone. Red and Ice found me in time and fought for me. They are the reason I’m still here,” Gypsy said with a sad smile.

“Well, I will have to meet them some day and thank them for making you fight and realize you are worthy to fight for,” Sadie said with conviction.

The group ordered their lunch and changed the conversation to happier times, cracking jokes on each other, talking about movies that Gypsy and Sadie worked on, and listening to war stories between Jerry and Hank. Halfway through lunch, Sadie received a text from Allie about spending some time with the baby for an overnight stay to give Hank and Sadie some alone time. Allie and Swede showed up at the diner joining them for lunch, adding to the boisterous conversation and laughter.

“You know, with Allie and Swede taking the baby tonight, we could take Gypsy into Bozeman and really show her what Montana has to offer besides the miles and miles of mountains and cattle,” Sadie offered.

“Really Sadie, I’m loving it out here. After living in Los Angeles all these years, being out here in the middle of nowhere is very refreshing. When you’ve been to one city, you’ve technically seen them all. If you and Hank want to go out for date night, go! I will be fine at the house. I have my e-reader to keep me company. There are a few books I’ve wanted to read for ages. I’m sure Ernie here can babysit me without Hank for a few hours so you two can have some fun,” Gypsy said with a laugh, “Why not go see a movie?”

“Seriously? Did you just tell me to have my husband take me to see a movie?” Sadie asked laughing at Gypsy’s eye wiggle.

“Ok, that did sound lame telling an actress to go see a movie. Sorry it sounded better in my head.” The group laughed as they finished up their lunch.

On the way back to the house, they heard a loud bang and then a series of louder thumps that caused the SUV to shake slightly. Hank quickly pulled over to the side of the road. Quickly exchanging a look and a nod with Jerry, Hank turned around to address Gypsy and Sadie. “Ladies, stay in the car. I’m going to look and see what’s going on.”

“Seriously, Hank? This is a little extreme making us wait in the car over a flat tire.” Gypsy quipped.

“Gypsy, there is no reason for any of these tires to be flat. We have special tires on this SUV. They are brand new, I had them put on this vehicle the day we arrived from Seattle. So that means someone tampered with them,” Hank said with steel in his voice.

When Hank and Jerry got out of the SUV, Gypsy looked down at her phone a little worried. She looked over at Sadie then back down to her phone. With a sigh, Gypsy got out of the car before Sadie could stop her. She rounded the SUV toward the men just as another SUV pulled up on them. Jerry whirled around toward Gypsy and pulled her behind him, drawing his weapon. Hank yelled for Sadie to get down as he took position to shield the SUV on Sadie’s side while drawing his weapon at the same time.

Two huge thugs climbed out of their SUV, pointing their weapons at the men. They showed their real faces, allowing Hank and Jerry to see who they were. This told both men that the thugs were overconfident and arrogant. “Hand over the bitch and we won’t have problems,” Thug One said with a heavy Russian accent.

“Sorry Ruskie, don’t know anyone named bitch. Maybe try the house down the street,” Jerry replied, keeping Gypsy behind him.

Gypsy started shaking as soon as she heard the thug’s accent. She gripped Jerry’s waist tight, pulling him toward her as she was trying to shrink into his back. She started quietly whispering, “No, no, no.”

“Very funny, funny man. I’m talking about the whore behind you. She belongs to my boss. He paid good money for her. Just because those bitches took her doesn’t mean she’s free from him. We have been looking for her for a long time. Now we take her back. We can take her the easy way or the hard way. Choice is yours,” Thug One said.

Gypsy felt Jerry turn toward Hank then at the same time he was pushing her behind the SUV before shots rang out between the men. Gypsy ran to the front of the SUV, opening the passenger door. “Sadie, please tell me there’s a gun in here.” Sadie quickly pointed to the middle console.

Gypsy opened the console and found a P226. She grabbed the gun, ignoring Sadie’s yell for her to come back. Gypsy slid along the side of the front hood toward the front of the vehicle. Staying hidden with the bullets flying between both parties, she slowly eased up and took aim. She noticed one of the men already on the ground, then noticed the driver and another thug firing shots at Hank and Jerry.

Gypsy aimed her gun at the driver as he popped into view to shoot at the men and opened fired on him. The driver went down holding his neck. The third thug turned, aiming his gun at Gypsy, giving Hank and Jerry the chance to fire and take him down. Jerry ran toward the second SUV to clear it as Hank ran to check on Sadie. When the men cleared both SUVs and assessed that Sadie was ok, they turned toward Gypsy who was still standing with her gun aimed at the other SUV. Shaking, Hank took the gun out of Gypsy’s trembling hands as Jerry pulled her into his arms, holding her tight.