grinned, and Harry was amazed to see he had fairly even, white teeth. “So you didn’t like me pushing the scrawny runt around?”
Knowing he’d handed Floyd his revenge on a silver platter, Harry almost groaned. Damn his mouth anyway. He started to speak, his brain searching for words to defuse the situation, and in that instant Floyd backhanded the woman. She went sprawling, landing with a clatter in a stacked display of canned tuna.
Harry growled, discretion forgotten, and lunged forward to grab Floyd by the neck. The proprietor shouted. Ralph, the only one thinking at this point, snatched the woman up and held the gun on her. “Stop now or the little bastard’s gonna be in some serious trouble.”
Harry stopped. The woman was dazed, he could see that, a bruise already coloring her jaw, but she was otherwise unharmed. Breathing hard with his anger, Harry slowly opened his hand and Floyd stumbled back two steps—and threw a punch. Harry caught the fist an inch from his nose, then made “tsking” sounds of disapproval. “I do believe your associate said to stop.”
“He was talking to you, not me!”
Harry heaved an annoyed sigh. “Look, gentlemen, you obviously had business here and it’s gotten sidetracked. Perhaps you should let us innocent bystanders go and finish up whatever it was you started?” Rather than observing, as he’d wished, Harry had managed to complicate things hideously. Now he only hoped to salvage what he could.
The proprietor nodded his head in frantic, disgruntled agreement. His low, scratchy voice was that of an aged sailor, used to taking command. “Yeah, take the damn cash. But put the gun away.”
“Shut up, old man, and let me think.”
Harry considered that an unlikely prospect given that Floyd obviously had very little brain to work with, but he held his peace. He didn’t want to rile anyone further, especially the proprietor who looked ready for violence. That would be all he’d need to tip the scales into the never-imagined.
After a considerable amount of time, Floyd nodded. “I think you’re a cop.”
That straightened his spine. Harry blustered. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
A low whistle slipped past Ralph’s drooping mustache. “Now that you say it, Floyd, he does look like a cop. Check out that coat he’s wearing.”
Rolling his eyes, Harry said, “You’ve been watching too much Columbo. It’s drizzling today, therefore I wore a trench coat. I hardly think it’s standard dress for the police force.”
“Come to that,” Ralph added, “you speak damn fancy for someone from these parts.”
“I’m not from these parts.”
Floyd jutted his chin forward. “Then what are you doing here?”
“I was in the area on business and I remembered I needed to pick up something for my dinner. It’s no more complicated than that, I assure you.”
“I don’t believe you.”
Well, hell, Harry thought, eyeing the female who now remained blessedly silent, her eyes downcast. Was he to be done in by a damn coat?
“Just to be on the safe side,” Floyd said, grinning, “I think we’ll take the boy with us. You call the cops, or try to follow, and I’ll kill him.”
The situation had gotten completely out of hand. “No, you can’t do that.”
Ralph tilted his head, his smile taunting. “And why not?”
The woman began to struggle. “I’m not going anywhere with you two! If you want a hostage, take him!” Her slender finger pointed in Harry’s direction, disconcerting him for just a moment.
“Somehow I think you’ll be easier to handle.”
She kicked at Ralph’s shin and he neatly sidestepped her, but Harry could see he was nonplussed by her somewhat feminine, awkward reaction. “What the hell?”
She tried to run. Harry was helpless, seeing the gun held steady, knowing any move on his part could get her injured. He wanted to curse at her theatrics, since she only complicated things further.
Floyd made a grab for her, and after his arms circled her chest, he too stopped, stunned. He released her as if burned, his eyes wide, going over her entire body in a single sweep.
“Take off your jacket.”
“Go to hell!”
Floyd began to laugh. “I’ll be a son of a… He’s not a boy at all.”
Dryly, for he was tired of the whole thing, Harry muttered, “How very astute of you.”
Floyd swung around to glare at Harry, his voice a sneer. “I suppose you knew?”
“Of course.”
Ralph drew a deep breath. “I don’t like you much, mister.”
The woman crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t like him at all.”
Of all the nerve! Here he was, trying to preserve her ungrateful slender neck, and she—
“I said take off your jacket. Now. I want to get a better look at you.”
Ralph held the gun pointed at her chest while Floyd did his ordering. Gently, buying some time, Harry said, “Better do as they ask.”
She glared at him. “Go to hell.”
Trying to be reasonable, Harry said, “There you have it, gentlemen. Surely you can see you’re wasting your time.”
The elderly owner, fairly bristling in outrage, slapped an envelope down on the countertop, offering it like a bribe. “Here’s your damn money. Forget the girl and get the hell out of my store!”
“Be quiet, Pops. Now, even if you don’t take off the jacket, I won’t shoot you. That’d be too messy and would probably ruin the fun of this. And Ralph and I do like a little fun every now and again, don’t we Ralph?”
Ralph snickered.
“But if you don’t take the damn thing off, and right now, I’ll have Ralph shoot him.”
The gun dutifully switched so once again it pointed at Harry.
After the briefest of hesitations, the girl shrugged, her chin elevated. “Go ahead, shoot him. What’s it to me?”
Harry’s chin hit his chest. Why that miserable little… “Now, see here!”
Enjoying himself, Floyd laughed. “So maybe you two aren’t working together after all. It doesn’t change anything. I want to see what you have under there, girlie. What are you hiding?”
She seemed to calm, and her eyes, which Harry just noticed were a very deep, dark blue rimmed with thick lashes, held steady. “Touch me and I’ll kill you.”
Both men laughed at that.
