Read Online Drift Away (Noah Braddock Mysteries) by Jeff Shelby - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Jeff Shelby
Ads: Link
her car, her back to the passenger door window. I couldn’t see their faces because their backs were to me, but I recognized David and Colin standing in front of her and it looked like they were preventing her from going anywhere.
The frustration from my last conversation with Bella immediately flared and my initial instinct was to turn around, walk back to the beach and find another way to the street to get my sandwich. She’d made the choice to keep from me whatever she was into and I didn’t need any more complications. She didn’t want my help and I had enough to worry about. I was better off by myself.
But then I saw Jackson’s head bob up and peer out of the window from the backseat. His fingers grabbed at the door and his nose pressed lightly against the glass, his eyes filled with fear.
I hopped down the stairs and walked across the lot toward them.
Colin turned around first, his eyes masked by the shades from the other day. He tapped David with the splint that encased the finger I’d broken. David followed his gaze and an amused smile emerged on his face.
“Man, you seem to be everywhere,” he said. “Like fucking Superman or something.”
I looked past him at Bella. “You alright?”
“She’s fine,” Colin snarled, sticking his chest out.
“Last time you spoke to me, I broke one of your fingers,” I said. “Answer for her again and I’ll break the other nine.”
David chuckled as Colin ’s chest deflated a fraction.
I looked at Bella again. “You alright?”
The cut beneath her eye had puckered and scabbed over, the dried blood turning a dark red. The bruising around her nose had darkened and the swelling in her lip was gone. None of the defiance I’d seen in her eyes in the restaurant the day before was present. Confusion and fear had replaced it all.
Jackson knocked on the car window behind her and waved at me. I smiled and waved back.
“We were just talking to Bella,” David said, shrugging his shoulders. “Just hanging out.”
I didn’t like that he was so at ease.
I looked at Bella again. “You wanna go have lunch?”
“Yes,” she said, quickly.
“You aren’t invited,” I said to David. “I don’t eat with assholes who beat up women.”
“Man, you are such a … ” Colin said before I shoved my elbow in his mouth.
He stumbled back, blood staining his teeth bright red before he could get his hands to them. He looked at his hands, then at me and charged. I held my ground, then stepped to the side, just as he got to me. I caught him around the neck and moved behind him, locking my arm around his throat and pulling hard. He gagged and his hands pulled at my arm.
But I was stronger.
David watched us, again with amusement. “At least he didn’t break your fingers this time.”
Colin tried to respond, but managed only something between a scream and a gag.
“Let him go,” David said.
I turned to him. “Why? Better to beat the shit out of a woman than some asshole like this? Because that’s what you do, right? Send your shit scum to do the work,” I said, tightening my grip around Colin ’s thick neck. “Or was it you? Did you do this to Bella?”
David’s only answer was a thin smile.
“Get in the car, Bella,” I said through clenched teeth.
She hurried around the back of the car, fumbling for the door handle. She slid into the driver’s seat.
“Let him go,” David said. “I won’t ask again.”
Colin ’s hands pulled at my forearm, pinching and scratching at the skin.
I held on. “Fat chance.”
David reached into the waistband of his shorts and produced a gun, aiming it at us. “I might hit him first, but eventually I’ll get one in you, too, Superman.”
I heard Jackson’s muffled voice in the car and Bella very clearly telling him to get down on the floor of the car.
I yanked hard one more time and
The frustration from my last conversation with Bella immediately flared and my initial instinct was to turn around, walk back to the beach and find another way to the street to get my sandwich. She’d made the choice to keep from me whatever she was into and I didn’t need any more complications. She didn’t want my help and I had enough to worry about. I was better off by myself.
But then I saw Jackson’s head bob up and peer out of the window from the backseat. His fingers grabbed at the door and his nose pressed lightly against the glass, his eyes filled with fear.
I hopped down the stairs and walked across the lot toward them.
Colin turned around first, his eyes masked by the shades from the other day. He tapped David with the splint that encased the finger I’d broken. David followed his gaze and an amused smile emerged on his face.
“Man, you seem to be everywhere,” he said. “Like fucking Superman or something.”
I looked past him at Bella. “You alright?”
“She’s fine,” Colin snarled, sticking his chest out.
“Last time you spoke to me, I broke one of your fingers,” I said. “Answer for her again and I’ll break the other nine.”
David chuckled as Colin ’s chest deflated a fraction.
I looked at Bella again. “You alright?”
The cut beneath her eye had puckered and scabbed over, the dried blood turning a dark red. The bruising around her nose had darkened and the swelling in her lip was gone. None of the defiance I’d seen in her eyes in the restaurant the day before was present. Confusion and fear had replaced it all.
Jackson knocked on the car window behind her and waved at me. I smiled and waved back.
“We were just talking to Bella,” David said, shrugging his shoulders. “Just hanging out.”
I didn’t like that he was so at ease.
I looked at Bella again. “You wanna go have lunch?”
“Yes,” she said, quickly.
“You aren’t invited,” I said to David. “I don’t eat with assholes who beat up women.”
“Man, you are such a … ” Colin said before I shoved my elbow in his mouth.
He stumbled back, blood staining his teeth bright red before he could get his hands to them. He looked at his hands, then at me and charged. I held my ground, then stepped to the side, just as he got to me. I caught him around the neck and moved behind him, locking my arm around his throat and pulling hard. He gagged and his hands pulled at my arm.
But I was stronger.
David watched us, again with amusement. “At least he didn’t break your fingers this time.”
Colin tried to respond, but managed only something between a scream and a gag.
“Let him go,” David said.
I turned to him. “Why? Better to beat the shit out of a woman than some asshole like this? Because that’s what you do, right? Send your shit scum to do the work,” I said, tightening my grip around Colin ’s thick neck. “Or was it you? Did you do this to Bella?”
David’s only answer was a thin smile.
“Get in the car, Bella,” I said through clenched teeth.
She hurried around the back of the car, fumbling for the door handle. She slid into the driver’s seat.
“Let him go,” David said. “I won’t ask again.”
Colin ’s hands pulled at my forearm, pinching and scratching at the skin.
I held on. “Fat chance.”
David reached into the waistband of his shorts and produced a gun, aiming it at us. “I might hit him first, but eventually I’ll get one in you, too, Superman.”
I heard Jackson’s muffled voice in the car and Bella very clearly telling him to get down on the floor of the car.
I yanked hard one more time and
Similar Books
