What the hell is James doing snooping around in the alley?

I flinched at the sound of another shot from inside the strip club and dropped to my knees with my hands over my head. Everyone screamed. At one point I realized that I was screaming, too. Some cops yelled for everyone to go home, but everyone remained frozen exactly where they were.

When I managed to get back to my feet, Sean grabbed ahold of me. Tears streamed down his face. “Is everyone in there going to be okay?” he asked.

Sean needed some kind of encouragement, but it was hard to believe that all of those gunshots had merely been warning shots. Still, it wouldn’t do him any good to make him face reality at that moment.

I gave him a hug and said, “The cops know what they’re doing, Sean. If we all stay out of their way to let them do their job everything will be fine, I’m sure.”

Remembering that James was doing his best to do exactly the opposite of staying out of their way, I shot a glance back toward the alley, but couldn’t see any sign of him.

Hoping that he’d decided to go talk to his cop buddies rather than taking on the bad guys single-handedly, I tried to look through the crowd at all the places the cops had gathered into groups, but still didn’t find him.

“Owen and Liam, can you see him? James was over by the alley a second ago but now I can’t find him. You’re tall, find him.”

Owen and Liam standing on their tiptoes could easily see over the crowd. Owen turned back to me first. The sadness in his eyes told me all I needed to know, but in case there was any doubt, he added, “I don’t see him, Evan.”

Liam looked at me with the same sympathy on his face. “I’m sure he’s just lost in the crowd. He’ll show up. He knows how to handle these situations, right?”

I forced myself to nod, but I knew we were all lying. Something had happened to James. He was in trouble. He needed help but the cops were tied up with their own problems.

Help wouldn’t come fast enough.

“Yeah, sure,” I lied. “You must be right. I’m going to walk through the crowd a little bit and see if I can find him. Maybe he’s looking for us. It’s gotta be better than standing here doing nothing. If he shows up, tell him to wait here.”

Sean squeezed my hand. “Be careful. Come right back, okay?”

I nodded rather than lying to him directly. Pushing my way through the crowd, hoping beyond hope that I would actually find James, I looked for ways to get through the police barricade. It only took me a minute to realize that I’d attract too much attention if I tried to sneak into the alley, which was blocked by their barricade. It wasn’t like the cops would recognize me and ignore me like they had seemed to do with James.

Looking around for another option, I noticed that their barricade stopped short of The Firehouse’s entrance. Moving toward the door before I had a chance to change my mind and come to my senses, I thought of all the angry things I would yell at James when I found him.

I wasn’t the type of guy to fall for just any old Tom, Dick and Harry, so who did he think he was to risk getting himself killed right after we’d been talking about our future possibilities together?

Who is going to be my bodyguard when I become a big famous DJ if he gets himself killed in that stupid alley?

Moving slowly and trying to make myself as small as possible, I hoped to avoid attracting attention as I moseyed across the sidewalk. My plan involved getting to the alley through the back door of The Firehouse, and if I didn’t find James in the alley, I’d just have to rescue his stubborn ass from whatever the hell was going on inside the strip club.

Just as my hand reached the door handle, a voice behind me cut that plan short when he shouted for me to stop.

“You can’t go in there. This area is closed off. Step away from the door and get back with the rest of the crowd. Even better, take your friends and go home,” the cop said. “Seriously, I don’t know what you idiots are thinking hanging around here. It’s way too dangerous.”

I wondered what he would do if I shrugged and opened the door anyway.

I didn’t get the chance to find out, though.

We all jumped at the sound of another gunshot. An instant later the concrete chipped and a little cloud of dust rose up near the cop’s feet from where the bullet hit.

A voice called out over his walkie-talkie. “What the hell’s going on over there, Rick?”

The cop shouted back into his walkie-talkie. “We have bullets coming out of the building now. Repeat. Live bullets coming out of the building. Send that crowd home and get the SWAT team ready to storm the place, damn it.”

While the cop was distracted, I quietly pulled the door open and snuck into The Firehouse.

When the door shut behind me, it blocked off most of the outside sound, leaving the room mostly silent.

What am I doing?

Three men stood with their backs to me on the dance floor, laughing at something on the ground that I couldn’t see. One of them kicked the lump and made it grunt in pain. The man to his left took his turn. I felt bad for guy on the ground, but had no idea what I’d be able to do against three men.

Why didn’t I demand that the cops storm the alley and save James instead of going off like I’m some kind of superhero?

The kicked man tried to get to his feet, but was sent back to the floor with another kick. But not before I’d been able to see his face.

James.

Without thinking, I ducked down low and crept straight toward them. I had no idea what I would do when I got there, but I had to try something. I couldn’t let them kill James. He needed me to do something.

A few feet from the booth, I realized that the smart plan would have been to go back outside and drag an army of cops back in with me. I needed a weapon, but other than my lighter I didn’t have anything useful. Other than maybe throwing a chair at them, I didn’t have any options for helping James.

The three men would have no more trouble killing the two of us than they would killing just James alone.

I was useless.

I froze when I heard two more voices arguing in the corner. One sounded familiar, but in my panic, I couldn’t place it. It seemed so far away and unimportant compared to the men kicking James.

Realizing that sitting there letting time pass was only working against me, I worked up the nerve to do the smart thing; to head back to the front door, hoping to beg the cops for help. I’d only made it two steps when the front door burst open and a cop miraculously burst through the door with his gun held out in front of him. Instead of saving James, though, he aimed the barrel at me and shouted, “Get on the fucking ground.”

From across the room, I heard James shout, “Rick! No!”

Managing to put together that Rick was James’ nephew’s father, the one who James and Trey thought were involved in the crimes, I knew we’d never get out of this alive.

I hated how weak and powerless Rick and his gun made me feel. And for what? So he could sell drugs and hate men who lived differently than him? It wasn’t much different than my parents’ judgment and refusal to accept me because of their hatred.

Why is there so much hate in the world?

Done cowering to people who thought they were better than me, I decided that if this was to be my last moment, I’d face it bravely rather than cower.

Standing tall, I glared at Rick and shouted. “Whatcha going to do, you fucking dirty cop?”

Rick answered by pulling the trigger.