AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Go!” he shouted to Hannah.
He kicked out with his leg, but the attacker leaped, drawing his knees to his chest, before using Bart’s body as a ramp to race closer to Hannah.Hell, no.
The thick stand of trees worked to Bart’s advantage, impeding the guy’s progress. He caught the smaller man by the collar of his windbreaker and when he tried to slither free, the bat got caught in the material.
Using the jacket and his size advantage, he warded off the scrappy attack, blocking the wild one-handed swings of the bat and finally wrenching it away from the would-be assailant. The kid was slippery, and clearly determined to get his hands on Hannah.
He jerked one way, ducked the other and was off like a shot on Hannah’s trail. Bart’s long legs and familiarity with the terrain quickly made up the difference, but if the kid got to clear ground, Bart knew all bets were off.
Berating himself for leaving his gun at the apartment, he lunged when the kid scrambled over a log. Catching a fistful of denim, Bart tugged him to the ground. They rolled, each trying to gain an advantage. Bart cuffed the kid’s head and went for a head lock, but the kid slithered free and landed a kick in Bart’s midsection. With only tennis shoes and a bad angle, it didn’t have much effect.
Bart saw the flash of Hannah’s pale shirt as she raced back into the fray. He wanted to roar at her to stay back, but she had a gun leveled on the attacker and was telling him to stand down. For a moment, Bart thought it would work, but suddenly the kid rushed her. Bart followed.
Hannah fired, her aim true, but the bullet in his leg barely slowed the kid down.
“Hold your fire!” Bart raced up from behind and shoved the kid to the side. He picked up the bat and flipped it so he had a good grip at the base and rammed the guy hard, right in the sternum.
The reaction was nearly comical as their attacker stumbled back into a tree, eyes wide with shock and pain. Finally some sort of normal reaction.
“Who hired you?” Bart shoved his forearm hard across the kid’s collarbone and his head lolled to the side.
Hannah leveled her gun at the kid once more. “Look at his hands.”
“Yeah, I noticed.” The attacker was small, but not nearly as young as Bart initially thought. The eyes were too full of hard life experience. And his hands were stained with neon orange paint.
“I called 911 for backup.”
“Then we’d best hurry this along.” Bart spun the bat in a menacing circle. “Who hired you?”
The kid didn’t answer. Sirens sounded in the distance.
“If he’s with the cartel, he won’t talk,” Hannah said.
Bart slapped the bat against the bullet wound in the kid’s leg. He screamed. “Talk to me or your injuries multiply.”
The kid spit in Bart’s face.
Bart plowed a fist into the kid’s jaw and let him slump to the ground unconscious. “That’ll make Wallace’s job easier.”
Hannah snorted.
Hefting the kid over his shoulder, they walked around to the front yard to wait for the emergency personnel to arrive. “How do you think he got out here?”
“Who knows? They probably parked him out here to keep an eye on Tim and Mary Lou.”
Bart dropped the kid none-too-gently on the picnic table and searched his pockets, finding a cell phone and a roll of cash. “Nice shot, by the way.”
“Thanks.”
He turned the cash over in his hands, searching for words. “Think Wallace or the DEA boys will get anything out of him?”
“Doubt he even knows anything but how to paint the tag.”
“I want Tim’s killer.”
“You and me both,” she said as the ambulance rumbled up the dirt drive, a sheriff’s car in its wake.
Deputy Wallace jumped out of the car. “You’re both safe?”
