agree. I must, and do, accept responsibility for what happened. However, it would hardly be fair for other … innocent people to get hurt simply because someone acted foolishly.”
“What are you implying?”
“You’re hardly the person to ask what I’m implying! You know full well what I’m saying! You and I are in different clubs, but we’re very much alike.”
“Alike? That’s bullshit! I don’t kidnap and murder people!”
“Kidnap? Murder? I brought you here to save lives! That’s the whole point! You need to know that if I wanted you dead, you would be.”
Damien then took the knife and slashed the tape from Jack’s ankles and wrists.
Jack got to his feet and asked, “What about my partner?”
“He’s okay. Probably relaxing in a tub right now.”
“So you don’t plan on committing any murders today?”
Damien leaned close and hissed, “Don’t you, of all people, stand there and accuse me of murder! You’re only alive because the others didn’t figure it out!”
“Figure what out?”
“The switch! When you get home, wash your jacket. You’ve got an oil stain on the back from crawling under vehicles!”
Jack found himself at a loss for words.
Damien scowled and said, “I bet you and your partner had a good laugh over that one.”
“He doesn’t know. He thinks it was an accident.”
“Loose lips?”
“I prefer to call it a need-to-know basis. He didn’t need to know.”
“Just as well. Do you give me your word that we’re even for what happened this morning?”
Jack thought for a moment, then quietly said, “Yes.”
Damien handed him his knife and pistol. Jack checked the pistol and saw that it was fully loaded.
Damien then yelled, “Thumper! Take him home!”
Jack glanced down at Thumper’s square-toed boots as he approached. The man was slightly shorter than Jack and sneered up at him as he got close. Without warning, Jack kicked him hard in the groin and watched as he buckled over and staggered back.
Jack then turned to face Damien and said, “Now we’re even for tonight, too.”
Jack felt a tap on his shoulder and was surprised to see that it was Thumper.
“Ya want a piece of me, pork chop?” Thumper asked.
Jack had two months of rage burning inside him. He was eager to release some of it. He handed his gun and knife back to Damien and said, “You’re damn right I do!”
Damien and the third man both laughed. Damien whispered something to Thumper, who nodded, then looked at Jack and said, “Okay, pig, let’s see how tough ya are!”
Thumper opened with a side kick to Jack’s ribs. Jack blocked the kick with his forearm and landed a fist on the end of Thumper’s nose. Thumper stepped back, his eyes watering and blood gushing down across his lips. Jack stepped in close to deliver a karate punch to the solar plexus, followed by another punch to the throat. He didn’t connect with either. He found himself sailing though the air, and then he landed in the pit dug for the basement.
He scrambled to his feet as Thumper jumped in beside him and planted a boot squarely across his chest. He staggered back, then lunged forward with another punch. Thumper grabbed his wrist and spun him sideways while delivering another kick to Jack’s armpit.
Jack felt his arm go numb, and for a moment, so many fists and feet were slamming his body that he believed he was fighting all three men. He realized he wasn’t when he was lying barely conscious, face down in the dirt, and heard Damien from above ordering the striker to go down in the hole and help Thumper carry him back to the van.
Jack was still winded and dazed as he was tossed onto the floor of the van.
Damien dropped Jack’s gun and knife on the floor beside him and said, “I think I figured out who the rat is, so we really don’t have a problem.”
Jack didn’t respond.
Damien then said, “Also, for your information, Thumper teaches kick-boxing, karate, and tae kwon do. You should sign up for lessons.”
“Too late. My body just declared bankruptcy.”
Damien chuckled, then softly closed the sliding door and walked away.
The striker hopped in the van and drove, while Thumper sat in the passenger seat. During the trip, Jack heard the striker say, “This has got to be a first, Thumper. Never seen anyone smack ya in the face before, let alone a pig.”
Thumper replied, “Damien said he didn’t want any other pigs getting excited. Told me I couldn’t hit him in the face and to try not to break any bones. It’s hard to fight when you’re only playin’ with someone like that.”
Jack groaned.
When they pulled up to his apartment, Two-Forty Gordy came to the van with Jack’s apartment keys and Thumper tossed them back to Jack. A few minutes later, Jack entered his apartment.
He found Danny wrapped in duct tape and lying face down in the bathtub. It took him a few minutes to take the tape off.
“Christ! Am I glad to see you,” said Danny, blinking and wiping his eyes as he stepped out of the bathtub.
“Likewise,” said Jack.
“What took you so long? I’ve been lying in this tub for hours!”
“I was detained.”
“Detained? You’re filthy! You look like you crawled out of a grave!”
“Close guess. I had the crap beat out of me by a guy who could have won with both hands tied behind his back.”
“What happened? How come we’re alive?”
“Grab the medicine. I’m too sore to reach the cupboard. I’ll have mine on ice. We’ll talk in the living room.”
Danny poured drinks while telling Jack how he was grabbed and tied up like a Christmas turkey.
“Why did they dump you in the tub? Why not leave you on the rug?”
“Maybe they wanted me to think that they were going to drown me. When they dumped me in the tub, that’s what I was afraid was going to happen.”
“Did they run any water, just to scare you?”
“They didn’t need to. I was already scared shitless. How did they grab you?”
Jack
