Page 51 of Breaking the Rules
“There’s a black SUV chasing a white piece-of-shit two-door down Fourth. I need you to disable the SUV!”
“On it,” the driver said as coolly as if she was asking him to pick up a carton of ice cream on his way home.
Less than ten seconds later, she saw Xavier’s SUV careen down the street in the direction Petra had gone.
For fuck’s sake.She’d beenone second away from finding out what happened to Dante, and she was interrupted by four assholes and a john, she seethed.
Someone was going to pay. She walked backward, facing the remaining men and leading them further away from the main street. The alley was ten feet behind her, and she could either run or lure them in for the ass-kicking she was more than ready to dole out.
They all had guns, but given the setting, she wasn’t too worried they’d use them. The one on the left was a big dude, too big to be agile. She could work with that. The second one was a wiry guy who topped out around five-foot-eight. The way his right shoulder hunched under his tactical shirt made her think back pain or some kind of injury. She’d start with those two. She stopped at the mouth of the alley and waited.
“Looks like blondie wants to play,” the one on the far right said, flashing a glint of gold tooth and a Texas accent.
“Let’s get this over with boys. I’ve got things to do,” she said, taking a wide-legged stance in the middle of the sidewalk and crossing her arms. She palmed the pepper spray from her jacket pocket.
The third guy looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t place him.
“How about we even the odds?” Xavier’s voice came from the alley behind her. He sounded dangerously angry, and she hoped he’d be willing to direct it at someone other than her temporarily. He calmly strolled out from the shadows and stepped in front of her without sparing her a glance. His attention was on the four menacing figures in front of them.
“Four on two looks fair to me,” the chatty Texan said.
“Stay behind me,” Xavier said quietly to Waverly.
As if.
Chatty Cathy made his move first, swinging fast and hard at Xavier’s head. He dodged the blow easily and countered with a body shot and right hook. The man’s head snapped back from the hit, and he stumbled back a step. The big guy lined up next and came in at full speed to grab Xavier in a bear hug while his skinny buddy moved in to take some shots.
She saw Xavier kick the skinny one in the gut but was distracted by Number Three who skirted the grappling threesome and made a grab for her. She let him grab her by the forearm and then stomped on his instep with her icepick heel.
“Nice try,” she said, spinning to throw an elbow to his gut. When he doubled over, she reached into his windbreaker and pulled out his gun. She tossed it in the dumpster behind her and kneed the man in the face.
The big guy had passed Xavier off to his friend to come to Number Three’s rescue. He grabbed her from behind in a bear hug, apparently his signature move, and lifted her off her feet. She whipped her head back, connecting with his nose. When he dropped her, she landed low and swept his legs out from under him. His gun was in a shoulder holster that was stretched to capacity around his bulk. She fished out the Glock and tossed it into the dumpster with his friend’s.
Xavier and the skinny guy were taking turns slamming each other against the brick of the building using some kind of bastardized martial art. It was pretty entertaining to watch, at least until Chatty Cathy got back on his feet and pulled his gun on her.
“I’m done playing, Blondie,” he said, spitting blood. He wracked his slide. “Where’s the girl? You will take me to her, or you will die.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” Waverly popped the cap on her pepper spray and hosed him in the face.
Xavier and the skinny ninja both paused when they heard the man’s wild animal shrieks. Fortunately, Xavier recovered faster and popped his opponent in the face, knocking him out cold before he even hit the ground.
“What the fuck was that?” Xavier demanded staring at the three men at her feet writhing in various forms of agony. His battlefield calm was gone now.
He crossed to her and grabbed her by the wrist. “Who the hell are you?”
She threw herself at him knocking him off balance so the shot that Chatty Cathy blindly fired hit brick instead of flesh. Waverly spun and kicked the gun out of the man’s hand and then landed another blow to his face.
Xavier picked up the gun and stared at the disabled goon squad. He picked the skinny unconscious one and started going through the man’s pockets. Waverly pulled out her phone and fired off a text to Burke.
Everything okay?
His response was tacit.SUV taken care of. Waiting for new ride.
Are you ok??
Fine. But you’re telling Saint.He attached a picture of the Tahoe, which was now sporting a smashed in front end.
She winced, wondering how pissed Xavier would be when he found out she’d given the order to total one of his fleet.
