In Deep Shitake (A Humorous Romantic Suspense) (10 page)

It sounded as if
Gigantor
said, "pretty clotty," from behind his hands as he turned his furious gaze on Ross.

“
Grrrrwwwkkkk
,”
Gigantor
growled when he examined the blood on his hands.

Ross decided he'd better follow up with blows to the body. He delivered right and left punches to
Gigantor's
gut and the pain in his knuckles radiated through his hands as if Ross were punching cement.
Gigantor
barely reacted, only grunting from the impact of the blows.

"You come too,"
Gigantor
said to Ross. After a few more punches—as if he had been waiting for Ross to tire himself out—the thug's club-like fist fell to clout Ross on the side of the head. Surprisingly, Ross didn't go down...because
Gigantor
held him by the front of the shirt.

“Bloody hell,” Ross groaned.

Mo sat up, now leaning against the SUV’s
sidepanel
. “Ross,” she cried.

“Run, Mo. Get out of here.”

Gigantor
tossed Ross over the vehicle’s hood with such force that Ross crashed to the ground on the other side.

Chapter Five

Mo's knees wavered but held her up.

Gigantor
, stomping on his overdeveloped legs in a wide stance, rounded the SUV's front bumper. He marched toward Ross, who rolled away from the thug before jumping up.

Ross appeared strong and marvelously brave, even if he was now covered in lawn clippings. But
Gigantor
—who had half a foot and at least one hundred pounds on him— hopelessly outmatched the actor. Mo had to do something to help. She couldn’t let Ross suffer anymore pummeling by the thug.

Searching frantically around her for a weapon, Mo found a fragment of the broken flagpole, about four feet long and six inches in circumference with the flag still attached. Mo lifted the unwieldy weapon and found it heavier than she’d expected. Although the pole was blunt at both ends, it was the best that she could do in a pinch.

“Get out of here, you bully,” Mrs. Nelson called from the doorway of her house. “Stop trying to beat-up my friend, Mr. Dagger. I’ve called the police and they’ll be here any minute.”

Gigantor
turned toward Mrs. Nelson with a waving gesture and a remark that sounded like, “the mall shot.” Even though she didn’t understand exactly what he’d said, Mo knew it was something which
poo-pooed
the police threat.

Ross ran at the thug, ramming him with a surprise head butt to the gut. There was a slight “
Oof
” from
Gigantor
before he grabbed Ross around the middle, picked him up, and squeezed him like a tube of toothpaste.

Mo charged, jamming
Gigantor
in the lower back with the end of her pole.

“
Aaargg
,” he cried and dropped Ross.
Gigantor
turned his evil eye on Mo.

She lifted the pole to club him on the head, but
Gigantor
caught the flag, intercepting the blow. He pulled the pole and Mo’s only weapon began slipping through her grasp. She dug into the grass with her feet and straightened her legs for the maximum leverage but was pulled forward despite her struggle. As tug-of-wars went, her level of resistance didn’t amount to much of a battle.
Gigantor
was about to have full possession of the pole.

Gigantor
sneered with a wicked smile as he tugged the last bit from Mo’s grasp.

“Oh pickles,” Mo mumbled, hoping the tribute to gherkins wouldn’t be her last words.

However
, the sneer abruptly disappeared from
Gigantor’s
face. His eyes faded to a blank, glassy-eyed stare as he sank down on his knees. Fragments of broken concrete fell like hail stones around his head.

Then she saw that Ross stood behind
Gigantor
, holding the remaining upper third of a bulldog statue which had adorned the Nelson lawn minutes before.

Breathless, Mo's gaze locked with Ross’s. He'd saved her. As his lips curved into a smile, Mo had the sudden urge to kiss that gorgeous mouth.

Gigantor
groaned. Concrete chunks flew off him in every direction as he shook his head. What did it take to finish off this meathead?

 Ross sprinted around
Gigantor
and grasped her by the hand.

“Let’s get into the house.” Ross pulled her along after him as he ran. “That fellow isn’t going to be down for long.”

* * * * *

After ushering Mo and Mrs. Nelson into the house, Ross closed the front door, and then threw the bolt lock into place.

Would the flimsy wood hold if
Gigantor
started battering it? Mo glanced from the entry into the living room. Never mind the door. The house had plenty of floor-to-ceiling windows he could easily break.

“I have to say. I’m a little disappointed, Mr. Dagger,” Mrs. Nelson remarked. “Fights are a lot different in the movies, aren’t they?”

“Fight scenes in the movies are choreographed, Mrs. Nelson.” Ross gulped in air, trying to catch his breath.

If Mo had had enough breath, she would have laughed at his exasperated expression. Was this broad crazy? Mrs. Nelson didn't seem all that concerned that a huge thug had just driven over her lawn and tried to kidnap Mo and Ross before her eyes.

“You didn’t use
any
of those cool martial arts moves,” Mrs. Nelson said to Ross as she gave a condemning shake of her head.

“I’ll use those
cool moves
next time.”

Unfortunately, the next time might be coming very soon.

* * * * *

Mo took a tentative peek out the window of the front room but didn't see
Gigantor
or his SUV.

“Thank gouda,” she muttered. Mo’s heart was finally returning to a more normal beat as she returned to the kitchen.

After the thug had driven away, Ross had allowed himself to be ushered into the other room by Mrs. Nelson. He now sat near the kitchen table and the lady of the house was ministering to his battle wounds, which consisted of scraped knuckles and a small cut at the temple.

Ross glanced up when Mo entered.

“He hasn't come back,” Mo said.

“Brilliant. Regrettably we didn’t get his license plate number.” Ross winced slightly as Mrs. Nelson poured antiseptic on the scrapes on his right palm. “And where are those bloody police.”

“Oh, I didn’t really call them,” Mrs. Nelson said abashedly.

Ross grimaced when Mrs. Nelson applied antiseptic to the cut at his temple.

“I’m sorry,” Mrs. Nelson said.

Ross waved the apology as unnecessary. "Probably just as well. I don't need publicity—any publicity—right now.

 Ross tapped his fingers on the table in seeming impatience to be out of that chair. Ross frowned at Mo and stood.

“I’m all right," he said. "You really should apply some of that antiseptic to Ms. Tuttle’s scraped legs. And she needs to put ice on her jaw to keep the swelling down.”

Mo had already used the antiseptic on her own cuts. Nevertheless, his concern would have been sweet if he didn’t have an ulterior motive. No. That thought was mean. After all, hadn’t Ross run full force into combat, and risked not only his multi-million dollar face but also his life, to save her? Mo felt her chest constrict and her eyes tear.

Whoa! Don’t go there, Mo
. If she started thinking that way, the next thing she knew she’d be kissing the gorgeous jerk senseless and where would that get her? Setting aside the obvious answer—which was much too tempting at this point— Mo knew she had to turn these sentimental emotions around immediately. Time to make a cutting remark.

"Would you like some ice?" Mrs. Nelson asked.

“Don’t mind me.” Mo walked to the refrigerator. "I can get it myself." She extracted some ice from the freezer, placed it in a kitchen towel that had been lying on the counter, she applied the package to her face.

She turned back Mrs. Nelson to continue, “I’ll be just fine. After all, he's the royal celebrity. We wouldn’t want him to lose his looks.”

Ross’s jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed. He'd apparently caught her insinuation that his looks were all he had going for him and she felt a twinge of guilt.

“Look Ross, I’m sorry—”

“I suppose you also think I should have been able to knock that thug down with a few well placed karate chops interspersed with jumps that are physically impossible without the aid of cables and trick photography. Unfortunately, I’m not Stephen Dagger.”

“I know—”

“But you wish I was. The famous super spy would have saved the day without breaking a sweat. Isn’t that so?”

“I don’t…” This argument had spiraled way out of Mo’s control. Ross had read too much into her comment. Well, she’d wanted to alienate him to avoid surrendering to temptation. And she’d done a great job of it. Now Mo realized it was the last thing she really wanted. “I don’t wish you were…I mean I thought you were fantastic—”

“And just what did Ms. Tuttle do to incite that altercation, may I ask?” Ross's tone was supercilious.

“Wait just a minute. Are you saying that attack was my fault?” Mo advanced on the jerk and then stood on tiptoes to stare him in the face. “I don’t know who that guy was. I’ve never seen him before today.”

“Obviously, he perceived your natural
charm
from afar then. Because he certainly knew you.”

“You gumball! Maybe I do wish Stephen Dagger was here.” She stretched up as far as she could get, hoping for an intimidating stance. “Your character was certainly more gallant than the real you. The real you is a complete and total cheese puff. Yeah, right now if I had my choice I would much rather be here with Stephen Dagger than Ross Grant.”

“Be careful what you wish for, honey,” Mrs. Nelson piped in. “Look at me. I wished my marriage
was
more exciting. I certainly got my wish.”

The three of them fell silent as a car door slammed outside. Was
Gigantor
back? They waited expectantly as footsteps clomped to the front door followed by the sound of a key in the lock. The door banged against the interior wall and heavy steps hurried down the hall.

“What is going on here?” Walter Nelson bellowed. “The mailbox is smashed and there are tire tracks on the lawn. And tell me what the hell happened to
Uggie
?"

“Who’s
Uggie
?” asked Mo.

“The concrete bulldog,” Jessica Nelson said.

“Oh.”

Mr. Nelson glared first at Mo then at Ross. “Who are these people? Why are they in my house? I demand an
explan
—” Abruptly, he stopped and smiled, before pointing at Ross. “Aren’t you Stephen Dagger?”

“Yes, he is,” Mrs.
Nelson
said before either Ross or Mo could offer an explanation. . “Let me introduce you properly.” Mrs. Nelson brought Ross forward with a smile on her face. “Stephen Dagger, meet my husband,
Sharlene
Lansing.”