He didn’t remember falling, but he couldn’t have been out long. He blinked away the darkness that threatened to wash over him again and pushed onto his hands and knees. He shook his head, but that only made the pain worse and he groaned.
“Get him up,” Ted said, excitement tinging his voice.
Polka music echoed loudly around them as hands grabbed Cade’s arms and hauled him to his feet. He tried to pull away, but without success.
“I am going to enjoy this,” Ted said and landed a right cross that would have spun Cade around if Ted’s goons hadn’t been holding him.
Stars twinkled before Cade’s eyes as his captors pulled him back to face Ted once more. He took a breath, about to berate Ted for his cowardice, but a hard punch to his gut stole his voice. Cade coughed and struggled against the hands holding him, but he was far outnumbered. The blows kept coming hard and fast. He tasted blood in his mouth and could feel more oozing down the side of his neck from the bottle they’d hit him with earlier.
Someone grabbed him by the hair and jerked his head back. Ted’s smug face filled Cade’s vision. “You need to get out of town,” the other man growled. “Get in your truck and leave. Tonight.”
“Ted…” another voice said quietly, but Cade couldn’t see who it was. “Ted, that’s enough.”
Ted ignored whoever it was and glared into Cade’s face. “You understand me, cowboy?”
Cade spit the blood from his mouth, most of it landing on Ted’s face and shirt. “That all you got, asshole?” He laughed at the look of surprise on Ted’s face. “I ain’t going anywhere.”
Ted’s eyes narrowed and Cade knew it was coming before the next blow landed on his cheekbone. Several more strikes to his body doubled him over and weakened his knees.
“Ay, dios mios,” the soft voice from earlier muttered before it grew to a shout, “Damn it, Ted.”
Suddenly, Cade was free. He collapsed to his knees in the travel-muddied meadow grass and tried to get his bearings before someone grabbed him again.
“Get out of my way, Jorje,” Ted shouted.
“No,” that voice said, though it was filled with iron this time. “He’s had enough. You said you were just going to talk to him, not beat him to death.”
“That’s my business,” Ted replied hotly. “Now, get out of my way before you join him.”
“Can you stand, señor?”
It took Cade a moment to realize Jorje was speaking to him. “Yeah,” he groaned as he pushed to his feet. “I’m good.”
Jorje turned back to his one-time friend. “I’m tired of your bullying, Ted, and the way you hurt people. I won’t let you do this.”
Ted laughed. “You won’t, huh? Hey, JR, you hearing this?”
“Yeah,” Ted’s tall, blond friend—the one who’d laughed when Ted had been taunting Addie at the café—stepped forward, “I heard.”
“This ain’t right,” Jorje said. “None of it is, and I don’t want any part of it or you, anymore.”
“Then leave,” JR growled.
“I’m not leaving him behind.” Jorje inclined his head toward Cade.
Cade was grateful for the intervention, but unless this guy was some kind of super fighter, they were still outnumbered six to two.
JR shrugged. “Suit yourself.” He exchanged a glance with Ted.
“Be ready,” Jorje whispered to Cade. The warning was unnecessary. Cade could feel the tension coming off the other men and knew another attack was imminent.
Ted and his crew assailed them as one with flying fists and kicking feet, but this time, Cade was ready and so was his new friend. Back to back, they held their own for a while. Knocking down one opponent after the other, but never getting a reprieve. It didn’t take long for Cade’s injuries to get the better of him, and he began to fade. When one of them came at him with a two-by-four, Cade lifted his arm to keep the board from striking his head, but he went down from the slanting blow. His arm ached, but he didn’t think it was broken. That wasn’t his biggest problem, though. His biggest problem was the fact that the moment he hit the ground, someone had begun to kick him repeatedly and he couldn’t get back up. He could hear Jorje’s shouts, but he couldn’t do anything to help.
Cade curled his body, protecting his head, doing everything he could to keep from losing consciousness or being kicked to death, but he was afraid he was going to fail. Not just himself, but Addie, too. He didn’t want to leave her alone…
“Cade!” a familiar voice shouted, but he was too light-headed to place it. The boot that had been assaulting him vanished and Cade finally got a chance to catch his breath.
“Hey!” another shout drifted toward him, bursting through the grunts and scuffling sounds that surrounded him. “What’s going on back here?”
“Five-O,” someone shouted before six sets of feet thundered by, one tripping over Cade in their haste. He grunted, but no further harm was done.
“Cade? Are you all right?” Zack’s familiar voice asked as his hand curled around Cade’s arm and helped him to his feet.
“Fine,” Cade muttered, rubbing at the lump forming on his forearm from the two-by-four.
“Oh, man,” Zack said when he got a look at Cade’s bloody face. “What the hell happened?”
Cade shook his head and regretted it immediately as pain shot through his skull. He hissed through his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut. Lifting a hand to his head, he muttered, “I’m fine, Zack.”
Zack grabbed Cade’s chin and gently turned his head. “You ain’t fine,” he said, gingerly touching the huge lump forming on the back of Cade’s head.
Cade ducked away from his friend’s fingers, but the quick movement made him groan.
“Yeah, you’re just grand,” Zack said, sarcasm heavily lacing his words. “You’d better sit before you fall down.” Zack slowly pulled Cade toward the bumper of
