Reach For the Spy (17 page)

He laughed. “I
know.”

“I’d appreciate the
ride. Thanks. See you then.” I waved and followed Lola’s diminutive
figure toward the shop.

Close to midnight I
staggered away exhausted, my sides aching from an evening of
laughter. I’d come in for my fair share of teasing about Big John
the Wonder Horse, but I’d given as good as I’d gotten. The party
was still in full swing behind me, and I wondered when they’d
finally pack it in. It had been fun, but I was definitely ready for
some silence, solitude, and my bed.

I was humming the last
tune from the movie we’d watched when the scrape of a footfall made
me jerk around to look behind me. A man in a red plaid shirt stood
a few yards behind me, weaving slightly as he stared. With chagrin,
I recognized the man who’d peeked in and caught me vamping in the
sex shop wearing the thigh-high boots.

Shit.

As I wheeled to head
for the car, Bill Harks stepped out from between the buildings. I
recoiled and backpedalled a couple of steps before realizing the
first man was closing in from behind. Before I could even formulate
the idea of running, they had executed a pincer movement that left
me with my back to one of the buildings, all escape routes cut
off.

My mind frantically
sorted and discarded options while I eyed them, my heart pounding.
The streets were deserted. The music was still blaring at Lola’s
party. Nobody would hear me if I screamed. They were both big men
with long arms. The way they’d closed me in, I likely wouldn’t be
able to dodge past them.

“Hey, you hot bitch,”
Red-shirt slurred. “Let’s party. How much?”

“Fuck off,” I
snarled.

He frowned and
staggered. “What, I got money. How much for half an hour?”

“I’m not a hooker.”

Harks sneered down at
me. “Oh, yeah? Saw you night before last using my hotel for one of
your johns.”

I drew myself up. “I
was visiting my boyfriend. He was staying there.”

Harks laughed. “Yeah,
and you were in and out of there in half an hour, putting your
clothes on and looking at your watch. What, your boyfriend couldn’t
get it up?” I glared at him as he continued. “Yeah, and my buddy
saw you later with your next boyfriend after you fucked him in the
park.”

Red-shirt chimed in.
“All sweaty and covered with grass. You like it kinky, don’t you?
What’s it cost to be your boyfriend for half an hour?” He grinned
and staggered. “I want you to wear those whore boots while I fuck
you.”

“Go fuck yourself! I’m
not a hooker!” He made a grab for me, and I dodged his hand. Fear
and anger made me reckless. “And even if I was, there’s not enough
money in the world to make me screw a sack of shit like you.”

Harks and Red-shirt
closed in a pace. “You’re gonna learn some respect,” Harks snarled.
“And you’re gonna drop those assault charges, too.”

“Not a fucking chance
in hell. You’re going to rot in jail, along with your bum-buddy
here. Which one of you is the wide receiver?”

Jesus, I’m a moron.
Start with two dangerous guys. Piss them off thoroughly. Mix
lightly and bake in hell. My heart pounded so hard I could feel the
front of my T-shirt vibrating.

Harks’s face contorted
with rage. “You won’t be so fuckin’ mouthy with my cock shoved down
your throat.”

I bared my teeth at
him. “You’re going to look really fucking stupid without a
dick.”

He lunged and I
sidestepped barely in time. His knuckles connected with the wall
behind me as I dove under his outstretched arm. He caught me with a
glancing blow on my back, and I hit the pavement hard and
rolled.

I scrambled to my feet
to run, but Red-shirt tripped me. I sprawled on the pavement,
twisting frantically. Thank God, he didn’t try to kick me. Instead,
he launched himself at me, trying to pin me to the ground. In pure
panicked reflex, I drew up my knee at the last second.

There was an unpleasant
crunch as the immovable object met his balls with irresistible
force. He let out a high-pitched squeak and collapsed on top of me.
His forehead smashed against my mouth as his weight crushed me.

The pain galvanized me
into berserk terror and rage. A wild roar ripped from my throat as
I bucked his limp body off and lurched to my feet.

Harks was already
lunging at me, his hand reaching. I grabbed his wrist and yanked
with all my strength, using the momentum to propel myself past
him.

Run like hell. It was
my only hope. If he connected with even one solid hit, it’d be all
over for me.

I had only managed a
couple of steps when my head snapped back. Harks yanked me toward
him by my hair. I dimly realized I was roaring and shrieking like a
wild animal as I spun under his grip.

I aimed a knee at his
crotch, but he was too fast. My attack thudded into his thigh
instead. I swung a fist in a hammer-blow at his nose and felt a
solid crack. My head wrenched sideways as he jerked my hair, and I
had to let my body follow or have my neck broken.

I sprawled on the
sidewalk again, rolling wildly. At least he’d let go of my hair.
Gasping, I scuffled my feet under me for another attempt at
flight.

Too slow. Harks
bellowed and swung like a windmill. I ducked and dodged
frantically, and the blow aimed at my head connected with my
shoulder instead.

God, he was strong.
Pain and cold fear shot through me as the glancing blow drove me
back against the side of the building. My breath slammed out of me.
I was saved from a punch to the face simply because my knees
buckled and I dropped like a stone.

Harks yelled again when
his fist hit the wall where my head had been seconds before. I
managed to suck a breath into my lungs and took another shot up at
his nuts. It was a bad angle and there wasn’t much strength in my
blow, but it slowed him down. I floundered away on hands and knees
while he gasped.

My chest and back were
crushed in thorny bands of agony. I panted hysterically, dragging
myself to my feet for another try at running. I hadn’t even managed
a step before a tremendous blow to my back flung me to the ground
again. I barely managed to get my hands in front of my face before
the pavement rushed up and smacked my forehead.

Time stopped.

Slow despair coursed
through me while lights exploded behind my eyes. I tried to roll,
but my body wouldn’t cooperate. I managed to flop over onto my
back, but I could only lie helplessly gasping.

So this is how it ends.
Beaten to death by some brainless monster. Shit. I’d been hoping
for a bullet to the brain. Tidier.

Harks’s foot drew back
languidly, a freeze-frame of his bruised, bloodied face grinning
down at me.

Kick me when I’m down.
Really fucking brave, Harks.

This was going to hurt.
My heart drummed slowly in my ears.

I heard a shout that
sounded like “Melee!” An elf leaped on Harks’s back just before his
foot hit my ribs. The blow didn’t have as much force as it could
have, but it still folded me into a ball. My tortured breath wailed
in my throat.

Have to get up. Have to
run.

I forced myself to
uncurl.

Harks was overrun by
elves.

I squeezed my eyes shut
and shook my pounding head violently. This wasn’t a sim. I was sure
of it. If it had been, I would have conjured up something a lot
more lethal than elves to attack him.

I looked again.

Pointy ears. Elvish
costumes. Little hats. Six of them. Or maybe seven. Hard to
say.

I groaned and swiped my
hand across my face. The elves bore Harks to the ground, uttering
yells of triumph.

I collapsed slowly to
the hard sidewalk and closed my eyes. I must have sustained a
massive brain injury. Please God, don’t let me hallucinate elves
for the rest of my life.

“Aydan! Oh my God,
Aydan!” I cracked an eye open. One of the elves was kneeling beside
me. I squeezed my eye shut again and groaned. Please, not
elves.

“
Aydan!
” The
voice sounded familiar. My brain slowly engaged.

“Spider?” I
mumbled.

“Aydan, hang on! The
police and ambulance are coming!”

I groaned. Not another
friggin’ ambulance ride. I opened my eyes. “Spider, please tell me
you’re dressed like an elf.”

“What?”

“Oh, God. I’m so
fucked.”

“What? No! I mean,
yeah, I’m dressed like an elf.”

I let out a whimper of
relief. “I’m not even going to ask why. Cancel the ambulance,
Spider, I’m fine.”

“No, I don’t think you
are,” he quavered.

I rolled over and sat
up painfully despite Spider’s attempts to convince me to lie still.
The remaining elves had distributed themselves between sitting on
Bill Harks and his still-moaning buddy. They were doing a pretty
good job of restraining them. Considering they were elves...

Two of the elves were
texting furiously. Another stood apart from the group, holding his
phone at arms’ length while he apparently recorded the scene on
video.

“Okay, no; I have to
know. Why are you dressed like an elf?” I demanded.

The skidding of tires
on asphalt interrupted his reply as Kane’s black Expedition rocked
to a halt beside us. I recognized Kane’s smooth, fast combat mode
as he bailed out and reached my side in a few quick steps. He
spared a brief, incredulous glance at Spider’s costume before
focusing on me.

“What happened.” Flat,
expressionless cop voice.

I sighed and leaned
over to dribble a bit of blood from the cut inside my mouth. “Harks
and his buddy decided to tune me up a bit.” I surveyed the
bloodstains and ground-in dirt on the torn remains of one of my
nicer blouses. “I’m never fucking dressing up again,” I
mumbled.

The elf who’d been
recording the video bounded up to Spider. “Dude, this is mad cool!
I got just about the whole fight scene! Watch this... She ducks,
she nuts him, bam! Sweet! And then our guys come in. Swarm the
troll! AWESOME!”

Kane’s large hand
closed around the elf’s phone.

“Hey, dude, that’s my
phone,” the elf protested.

“No, it’s evidence.”
Kane’s flat stare and expressionless voice made the kid step back a
pace.

“But, dude...” He
subsided and trailed away disconsolately as Spider made shooing
motions.

The ambulance pulled
up, sirens blaring. The rest of the women from Lola’s party tumbled
out of the building to form a gasping, exclaiming ring around the
scene. Elves chattered, Harks swore and blustered, and Red-shirt
threw up.

“Get me out of here,” I
muttered to Kane.

“Right.” He picked me
up and carried me to the ambulance.

“You’re showing off
again.”

“Stay at the hospital
until I come for you. That’s an order.”

“Roger that.” I sighed
and let the stretcher roll me into the ambulance for the second
time in two days.

This time, the doctor
on call was a hard-looking middle-aged man. He eyed me with barely
concealed resignation as I was wheeled in. “What happened?”

“A couple of guys
attacked me. It’s just minor scrapes and bruises. I just have to
wait here until Kane collects me. Sorry.”

His eyebrows went up.
“A couple of guys? Who?”

“Bill Harks and one of
his buddies.”

“And you have minor
scrapes and bruises.” He shook his head. “Now I’ve seen
everything.”

The paramedic grinned.
“You should see the other guys.”

“I’d love to.” The
doctor’s savage smile made me think perhaps the Hippocratic Oath
wasn’t uppermost in his mind. He turned to me. “Let’s get those
abrasions cleaned up. Where did you get hit?”

I slouched against the
wall while the doctor picked the last of the gravel out of the road
rash on my shoulder. My entire body throbbed slowly.

Kane’s voice broke my
dull reverie. “How’s it going?”

“Dandy.”

The doctor taped on the
last dressing. “You’re done. Next time you’re going to roll around
on gravel, try wearing riding leathers.”

“I’ll keep that in
mind.” I groaned my way off the examining table and turned to Kane.
“Please tell me I can go home now.”

He eyed me with
sympathy. “Soon. Come on out to the truck. I need to get your
statement.”

I plodded beside him.
“Aren’t you going to carry me?”

He chuckled. “I
wouldn’t want to show off.”

“Yeah, now you get all
modest.”

He paused in the lobby.
“You sit here. I’ll bring the truck around.”

“No, it’s okay. I’m
just bitching because I can. I’d rather walk so I don’t stiffen up
so much.”

We made our way out to
the Expedition, and I hoisted myself into the passenger’s seat with
a grunt. I really hadn’t taken that many hits. I hated to think
what would have happened if not for the onslaught of elves. Come to
think of it, I never did find out about the elves. Maybe I didn’t
want to know.

“Aydan…?”

I jerked upright and
managed to muffle my yelp of pain. “Sorry. Did you ask me
something?”

“Tell me what happened.
Start to finish.”

I explained the whole
sordid story while we drove back to where I’d left the Corvette.
Kane parked and raised an eyebrow at me. “You’re just a magnet for
trouble, aren’t you?”

“Tell me about it. I
lived forty-five years without the slightest hint of trouble. Then
I move out to the country to live the quiet life, and I turn into a
punching bag for the entire friggin’ universe.”

“Well, you won’t need
to worry about Harks for a while. He won’t be released again before
his trial. Thanks to that stupid kid, there’s a video record of
most of the fight. At least he called the police right away, but
it’s too bad he didn’t have the brains to help you sooner.”

I shrugged. “He’s an
elf. What can you do?” I glanced over at his profile in the dark.
“Dare I ask why Spider was dressed up as an elf?”