Excerpt from the upcoming Book 1 of the

Decker Brothers Trilogy, a new

Contemporary Paranormal series by K. R. Richards

 

 

 

The restroom was crowded. After Jade washed her hands, she called out to Harper and told her she’d wait for her outside in the hallway.

 

Of course, the corridor was narrow. They always were in small bars. Liam was waiting at the end of the corridor for them. She smiled at him and began to make her way toward him when a man stepped from the men’s room and stopped directly in her path, blocking her way. The guy was tall with dark hair and scary-looking dark eyes that reflected an odd sheen in the dim light. He was definitely overdressed for a night at a neighborhood bar and grill like the Waterfront. He wore dress pants and a white collared shirt.

 

“So where have you been all of my life, beautiful?” he asked, his voice deep and smooth.

 

He had a slight foreign accent, but not enough of one for Jade to tell exactly where he was from. She wanted to roll her eyes at such a corny line.

 

“Excuse me, please. My boyfriend is waiting for me at the table.” She pointed in the direction of their table and moved to step around him.

 

He took a side step to keep her from moving forward, as he clucked his tongue. “You were meant for better things. You were meant for me,” there was a definite growl in his tone. Long fingers reached out and tried to grasp her hand.

 

Jade drew her hand back. She looked around the dark guy’s shoulder and saw Liam.

 

“Liam?” she called loudly and tried to walk by the man a second time. His fingers wrapped around her upper arm. They were ice cold.

 

“Why don’t we go someplace…quieter? We’ve things to discuss, you and I.”

 

“Liam!” Jade was certain she yelled that time as she tried to pull her arm away from the guy. No one beyond the corridor could hear because the band was loud.

  

“Coming!” She heard Liam call to her. A girl came out of the bathroom and squeezed by her. She and the jerk were, in truth, blocking the tiny corridor. The push put her closer to him. She stepped back quickly, still trying to tug her arm from his grasp. Where was Harper? Why hadn’t Liam come yet?

 

She rose up on tiptoe and looked over the jerk’s shoulder. A very drunk girl wearing a short leather skirt and a crop top had waylaid Liam. Her breasts were practically spilling out of her low-cut tee as she hung on him and kept reaching for his hands and arms as he tried to break free.

 

Liam looked to Jade. “Hang on, I’m coming!”

 

“Excuse me, I need to check on a friend,” Liam said gruffly as he tried to peel the drunk chick off his arm yet another time.

 

“I’ll be your friend. You can come to my place.”

 

“Ah, no thanks,” Liam ground out as he tried to get around her. She continued to hang on him.

 

“Look at me, beautiful, look into my eyes,” the dark man commanded as his ebony gaze burned into hers.

 

“Look buddy, I don’t want to talk to you.” Jade shivered, his energy was so bad, so wrong. She averted her gaze from his. She looked to the side feigning trying to step around him again then took a fast, huge step backward. She broke the hold he had on her arm. She cringed when he stepped closer to her, smiling confidently. He reached out with both hands to grab her again.

 

“Don’t touch me!” Jade did yell this time. She jerked her arms back out of his reach and slid right into someone.

 

“Get your damn hands off my friend! Who in the hell do you think you are?”

 

Jade sighed in relief. It was Harper behind her.

 

“Oh my God!” Claire stood up from her seat at the table suddenly. She pointed toward the corridor. “That man talking to Jade – it’s the creepy guy who came into the shop today asking about her. Liam’s trying to get to her and some drunk blonde is hanging on him and about to pull him over from the looks of it.”

 

“Brody, stay with the girls at the table,” Decker was up and running toward the restroom corridor.

 

To get to Jade, he had to get rid of the drunk girl latched onto his brother. He heard Harper speaking in a loud tone, but couldn’t hear what she said because the band had just started up an old Metallica tune.

 

Drunk chick managed to wrap herself around him, leaving Liam free. While he and Liam tried to get the girl’s hands off his arm, the guy harassing Jade managed to slide by them. He gave Decker a cold, triumphant smile and an arrogant nod. He breezed out of the corridor as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

Decker glared at his back while he continued prying the drunk girl’s fingers from his bicep. Damn was she an octopus with a strong grip, or what? He’d get one hand off and she would clamp back on again.

 

One of Marlowe’s bouncers, Nathan, arrived and helped them successfully remove the blonde from his person.

 

“Chloe, time for you to go home. I’ll call a cab,” Nathan announced.

 

“Aww, but I was making friends,” she slurred.

 

“No. You weren’t, Chloe,” Nathan told her in a soft, but disgusted tone as he led her gently by the arm toward the front door.

 

“You okay?” Decker asked Liam.

 

“Yeah, that chick was strong. I’m no lightweight.”

 

“I agree, I couldn’t get her off me either,” Decker called back to him. He was already on his way to Jade.

 

“What happened? Are you okay?” he asked, stopping when he reached her. His hands rubbed up and down her slender arms soothingly. Her mossy green eyes were wide. She was frowning.

 

“Yeah. That guy was an absolute jerk. He was rude. He was hitting on me and grabbing my hands and arms – even after I told him I wasn’t interested, that my boyfriend was waiting at the table. He kept trying to get closer. He wouldn’t let me walk around him. And he kept telling me to look at him, to look into his eyes. Then he said he was taking me somewhere quieter, that we needed to talk. What a creep! If Harper hadn’t come out when she did…”

 

“I did come out. I heard enough to know what the sleaze bag was up to. When I started yelling at him, Marlowe come close enough to hear, she sent Nathan over. Decker was helping Liam with the drunk lady, that’s when the jerk left.”

 

“Claire recognized him, Jade. That was the guy she told us about earlier, the one who came into the shop today asking for you,” Decker told her.

 

“What?” It was a definite shock. A very uncomfortable, creepy, even bone-chilling feeling washed over her. She was being stalked. The man had his hands on her. Wanted her to leave with him. Her legs felt a little wobbly when the realization hit her.

 

“Don’t worry. I’m taking you back to the table to sit with Liam and Brody then I’ll find him. I’ll show him my badge, and see if I can get some ID on him. If I do, we’ll get a restraining order against him first thing tomorrow morning, for starters. I’ll help you with everything,” Decker said as he put his arm around her waist for support and led her back toward the table. His hand rested possessively on her hip as he looked around the bar for the guy who meant his girl harm.

 

He seated her. “You need something?” he asked her. She looked very pale.

 

“No…just water.” She shook her head.

 

“Okay. I’ll go get it at the bar,” he told her. “Did any of you see where that guy went?” Decker asked everyone at the table before he left. He was looking around for the jerk and didn’t see him at all.

 

“Out the front door. He walked about three rows deep into the parking lot and got into a dark sedan, looked like maybe a BMW, and hauled ass away. I followed him when he walked out,” Connor supplied as he returned to the table. “Damn dark parking lot! The lights out there suck!”

 

“Did you get the plates?”

 

“No. I tried. There just wasn’t enough light. Sorry, man.” Connor shook his head.

 

“Thanks for trying.”

 

“I did take a photo of the back of his car just in case. It’s dark, but you want it?” Connor said as he pressed a button and looked at his phone.

 

“Yeah, send it to me.” Decker gave Connor his number. In seconds, Decker was looking at it on his phone. It was a dark shot.

 

“Hey Liam, Brody, do you think you can blow this up, lighten it some, and maybe get the license plate number for me?” Decker passed his phone to Liam. Brody rose and came to stand behind his brother.

 

“There’s a really good chance we can,” Liam nodded.

 

“Yeah, as long as there’s no glare on the plate or it’s not too blurred when we blow it up,” Brody handed Decker’s phone back to him. “I’ll check it out as soon as we get home.”

 

“Good. That’s what I want to hear.”

 

He went to get a bottle of water for Jade at the bar. He purposely went to Marlowe. She only bartended on busy nights, but as she was the owner and was here most of the time, he asked her, “You ever see that guy before? The one who gave Jade trouble.”

 

“Never,” Marlowe shook her head as she filled a pitcher of beer for someone else. “I’d remember an arrogant creep like him. He was odd. He sat at the bar when he first came in. He didn’t even order a drink. I asked him if he came to see the band. He said no. He said he was looking for someone. I guess he got tired of me trying to make conversation with him because he got up and moved to stand against the back wall over there and just watched everyone.”

 

“If he comes in again, call me, please,” Decker laid one of his cards on the bar.

 

“Sure thing,” Marlowe nodded. “What do you need?”

 

“Two waters.” He slid a ten on the bar.

 

Marlowe gave him two ice-cold waters and took the ten. She turned to the cash register, intending to give him change.

 

“Keep the change.” He smiled at her. “And thanks for the info.”

“Thank you, Officer Decker,” she grinned at him. “I wish everyone tipped like you!”

 

Decker laughed.

  

Jade still wasn’t talking much when he returned. She was halfway listening to the other conversations at the table.

  

“Are you okay, Jade? Do you want me to take you home?” Decker whispered against her ear as he slid onto the booth seat beside her. He set one water bottle in front of her.

 

“No.” She took a deep breath and smiled up at Decker. “I don’t want to go home. I’d rather stay here with everyone. I don’t want to be alone. I want to have fun. That is what we came here to do. I am fine, it is just that I’ve never been stalked before. It’s a strange feeling.”

 

“I’m going to get the guy. I promise you. He won’t get near you again.” He took her hand in his and gave it a squeeze.

 

“I do believe you, Decker. You look very determined.” She offered him a smile.

 

“I am.” He put his arm around her and pulled her close. “I am going to stop him. You can count on that.”

 

Coming Soon: An excerpt from Book 1 of the new Avalon Society series.

The first Books of Both the Decker Brothers Trilogy and the Avalon Society Chronicles will be released in mid - late 2015