Page 9 of The Last Grift
Why were some people so predictable?
The quiet man imperceptibly moved his head. Whether it was a yes or a no, Gabriel had no idea. From behind Gabriel came more scuffing sounds; maybe Gordon was trying to ease his way out from the back of the counter. Gabriel really wished he wouldn’t.
“Hold it right where you are, Gordo. See? It’s all cool.” Calvin moved a step closer. In the small space, the lack of personal hygiene was unfortunate.
“This is between us and City Boy.”
“I’m calling the sheriff, Calvin.” Gordon sounded scared,and Gabriel figured he had the right idea. This wasn’t going to end well.
“Sheriff Rizzi is busy,” Calvin said in a singsong voice. He followed that up with a creepy snicker.
“Look, you have one more chance,” Gabriel said. “I’ve had a long twenty-four hours and I’m out of patience. Gordon here politely asked you to let me leave without making a scene, and I think you should know the suggestion is a very good idea. My mother taught me to fight and?—”
Rocking his head back, Calvin released what Gabe thought was supposed to be a laugh. The rasping noise, which also managed to sound like the braying of a donkey, filled the small store and had Gabriel registering that, on top of everything else, he had a headache.
“Your mama taught you to fight? A city boyanda mama’s boy.” He pretended to wipe tears from his eyes. “We all know about mama’s boys, don’t we?” Calvin shot a glance toward Gordon and grabbed the front of his jeans.
Wow, the misogyny was strong enough that Gabe could almost smell it. This guy must bathe in it.
Heidi hadn’t been perfect. She’d lied more often over her life than she’d told the truth. She’d stolen from the innocent and the guilty without discretion.
His mother would already have had this shit-heel on the floor and regretting his life choices.
Quit stalling, Chance. Hurry up and get it over with.
“Yes, I am my mother’s son, but unlike her, I am giving you one more chance to step aside, please.”
The warning was answered by another one of Calvin’s brays.
A sharp intake of breath from behind him told Gabriel that Gordon understood that things were about to get real.
Without further ado, and mentally apologizing to his newfriend Gordon, Gabriel stepped into Calvin’s personal space and landed his right foot squarely on top of the asshole’s worn motorcycle boot. Pressing down with his full body weight—those few extra stress-related pounds were paying off—Gabriel snaked his hand down, grabbed Calvin’s junk, and wrenched, squeezing as hard as he could through the man’s camo cargo pants. The asshole’s body odor was eye-watering; Gabe was going to need a long, hot shower after this.
Calvin shrieked, “What the fuck! Stop!”
“Didn’t see that coming, did you?” Gabriel asked. “I tried to tell you that my mama taught me not to fight fair.”
Dwayne, caught off guard for a few seconds, came alive and tried to grab Gabriel in a bear hug, but the small space worked against him and Gabriel was ready. He swung his head around and smashed his forehead against Dwayne’s face. A juicy crunching sound was followed by a garbled grunt of pain. Dwayne rocked backward and his hands flew up to cover his undoubtedly broken nose as he tried to stop the gush of blood.
That move was going to leave a mark on both of them. “I hope I remembered to pack ibuprofen,” Gabe commented. “And you’re gonna want to ice that.”
Calvin moaned.
With Calvin’s hammer and nails still firmly in his grip, Gabriel tightened his hold and slowly twisted his wrist further.
“You assholes are pissing me off,” Gabriel snarled, letting his anger flow. “All I needed was gas, and instead I got this. You two really take the cake.”
He calculated that he had about five seconds before the duo would come to their senses and try to wipe the floor with him. In a move his dead mother would have been proud of, Gabriel stepped forward and, without letting go of Calvin, used his momentum to jam his other knee up and into Dwayne’s crotch. The man moaned and dropped to theground. Gabriel felt a teensy bit of regret that Dwayne was taking the worst of the punishment, but he didn’t have a choice.
“P-please stop,” Gordon begged. “Please, they’ll leave you alone. I p-promise.”
Gabriel knew Gordon couldn’t make that promise and keep it.
“I’m letting go,” he ground out, staring directly into Calvin’s beady, piggy eyes, “and then I’m walking out of here. If you lay a hand on me—or on Gordon, who was an innocent bystander in this—you will regret it.”
Gabriel released his grip and, as expected, Calvin immediately tried to rush him. The confined area made the move a little difficult, but Gabriel elbowed him in the chin, snapping Calvin’s head back, then followed up with a not-so-gentle nudge to his already sensitive groin. With a wail, Calvin backed away and into the snack display, sending candy and bags of chips to the floor with a crash.
“I said you’d regret fucking with me.” Gabe slowly shook his head. “It’s almost as if I can predict the future.”
