The atmosphere was extremely tense.
The gangsters not only stared at Heidi but also at Alex and Debbie.
It was clear that Micky wanted either their money or their lives.
Alex wondered, It must be a local criminal gang. Do the Clifton family know that this gang operates so close to their home?
Heidi saw that the situation had quickly become perilous. She didn't look terrified but she was certainly a little pale.
"All this for just two thousand dollars?" she asked as she glared at Alex with hatred. She couldn't believe he was being so useless. He was just standing there saying nothing.
"Just hurry up and give me the money," Micky said as he finally put the knife down on the desk. With so many martial arts experts in the room, he wasn't afraid of the girl running away.
Heidi suddenly ran behind Alex and shouted, "Two thousand dollars? I won't give it to you. You're obviously conmen."
She made a face, and then pushed Alex out in front of her.
Micky was gobsmacked. He had not expected the girl to be so obstinate. But with so many gangsters backing him up, he was feeling very confident. When he saw Heidi's sublime figure and Debbie's beautiful face, an evil glint appeared in his eye.
"Miss Reels, oh no, Miss Reels, are you telling me that I should let you ride our horses for free?"
He sniggered then continued, "Okay, if you don't have the money, how about you pay by spending a night with me and my friends here?" He looked at her with such obvious lust, that she became very fearful. "A ride for a ride?"
She gulped, really wanting to slap his face, but she knew that she was small and no match for him. Unsure what to do next, she bit her lip hard, almost causing it to bleed.
Just at that moment, a group of students walked in.
They had been watching what was happening for a while and couldn't bear to see any more. One of them approached Heidi and whispered, "You shouldn't argue with these thugs. It's best to just give them the money. They're from the Baltimore Horse Gang. The same thing happened to us but like you, we're just students couldn't afford to pay the money they demanded from us. If we don't give them the money today, they're going to kill us. They've already put our friend in hospital with two broken legs. I'm afraid he'll spend the rest of his life will in a wheelchair."
As he spoke, the other students were nodding their heads gravely. Fear and panic were obvious on their faces. It was clear that they had summoned up all their courage to try to reason with the gangsters.
One of the students also gazed admiringly at Heidi for several minutes. He was very taken with her.
The Baltimore Horse Gang? Alex thought about it for a while. He didn't know anything about them, but judging by how scared the students were of them, it was clear that they had a reputation for ruthlessness and brutality. They didn't seem to have the strength of the street gangsters that he had dealt with before, but their behaviour was no better than that of the street gangs. They were scoundrels and conmen.
From their arrogant attitudes, he concluded that they had tried the scam more than a few times and had succeeded to extort money from people.
"I'm not a student. I'm a grown woman," Heidi stated obstinately.
Alex frowned. He still couldn't work out why she hated people assuming that she was young.
She looked back at Alex and when she saw that he was frowning slightly, she assumed that he was afraid. She snorted and asked the student calmly, "What kind of horse gang? How big is the gang? Scamming people is wrong. No matter how powerful the gang is, why should we give in to them?"
The students were horrified. Didn't the girl realize that these men weren't ordinary criminals? They were from a highly organized and ruthless gang with a reputation for extreme violence.
Seeing these students' fearful eyes, Heidi was even more disgusted. "Why are you all so scared of these bullies? You're also fit, strong young men. Why do you let them bully you? Why don't we stand up to them?"
The students looked at her with wide eyes. They were impressed with her courage. She did seem to be prepared to stand up to the gangsters.
Some of them were ashamed of their cowardice, while others were too busy admiring Heidi's perfect figure to reflect on their behaviour. Some of the men were thinking about asking her out but were scared to date such a hot-headed girl—surely, they could end up dead in the street in a few days.
Micky couldn't believe that Heidi was serious. "Are you for real? You really want to take on the Baltimore Horse Gang?"
He continued to chuckle as if Heidi had told the funniest joke in the world. She lived in fantasy and knew nothing about the real world.
He told her "My offer is still open. If you agree to spend a few nights with me, I'll pay your two thousand dollars. And you can ride here as much as you want in the future for free. How about that?"
Without realizing it, Heidi had moved a few steps away from Alex. Micky saw this and took the opportunity to try to touch her perfect body. He reached his hand out toward her.
He was just about to touch her when Heidi suddenly saw what was happening. Without any hesitation, she punched him hard in the face and then kicked him in the chest.
Although she wasn't strong, she put all her effort into her attack and Micky was caught off guard. With stars in his eyes, he flew more than ten yards out of the door, collided with a tree, and fell heavily onto the ground.
After several failed attempts, Micky finally struggled to his feet. He coughed out a mouthful of blood and fell again as he realized that his leg was broken.
"What?" Alex's eyebrows raised as he thought, Wow, can this girl is trained in martial arts? That looked like a kickboxing move, but what was it just a fluke?
"You thugs," Heidi screamed. Then her voice became steely cold as she said, "Now you can see that you can't beat me so easily just because I'm a woman." Her bright smile had been replaced by a murderous glare.
Alex and Debbie look at each other, increasingly confused by the enigma that was Heidi. They remembered how quickly and skillfully she had controlled the horse and wondered who she was and what powers she had.
The other gangsters backed off with fear in their eyes. They looked at Heidi with respect, clearly believing that she was a highly trained martial arts fighter.
The students were also astonished. They were completely enthralled by her. Not only was she incredibly attractive, but she was also more than able to defend herself. Many of them were imagining what a perfect girlfriend she would be.