Buccaneer (Dane Maddock Adventures) (4 page)

“
All right, Avery,
”
she said to herself as she climbed out of her truck
.
“
You know what
’
s at stake. Time to sell this baby.”

“
Ave, what are you doing here?
”

“
Rodney, what a surprise.
”
Avery turned to face her ex-boyfriend and his idiot friends. Now, as ever, she wondered why she
’
d ever consented to a single date with the man
, much less four months of dating
. Actually, she knew why. She was a lonely girl working in a college full of academics with sticks shoved so far up their... Anyway, Rodney had
been a
distraction. He was handsome and uncomplicated.

He was also a bully. She hadn
’
t
seen it at first but, once she spotted
the signs
,
she put the brakes on the relationship. In her mind, it was over. Rodney, however, didn
’
t see it that way.

“
You really shouldn
’
t be coming alone to a place like this,
”
he said, folding his thick arms across his chest and smirking.
“
Drunk guys everywhere. You never know when you might run into someone with bad intentions.
”
He grinned with pride, as if he
’
d made a brilliant joke. Behind him, his buddies
,
Carl
, Doug,
and Reggie
,
guffawed.

Don
’
t encourage the buffoon,
she thought.

“
I
’
m not alone. I
’
m actually meeting someone. Now, if you
’
ll excuse me.
”
She tried to move past him
, but Rodney blocked her way.

“
Meeting somebody?
”
Rodney
’
s voice rose an octave as the idiot chorus behind him began to
ooh
like a
bunch
of twelve year-olds.
“
One of those Einsteins from your work? You
’
d be safer going in there alone.
”

“
It
’
s none of your business who I
’
m meeting. Now, get out of the way. I
’
ve got an appointment and
you
’
re going to make me
late.
”

“
Cancel it.
”
Rodney
’
s voice was suddenly cold.
“
Me and you should go somewhere and talk.
”

“
We have nothing to talk about. Now get out of my way.
”
She tried to keep her voice calm, but she
frustration welled inside of her
. She hated this feeling of helplessness. She couldn
’
t make Rodney move and she wasn
’
t about to leave. She couldn
’
t. This meeting was too important.

“
Watch out Rod. She
’
ll
call the cops on you, man,
”
Reggie
crowed.

Avery hoped she wasn
’
t blushing. Rodney
’
s father was the sheriff of Bridge County, and his son used that relationship as a shield. Rodney worked as a bouncer at a local club and had abused his position too many times to count. He took pleasure in humiliating, and sometimes seriously injuring, bar patrons. Any other employee would have been terminated, even prosecuted, several times over for such conduct, but everyone tiptoed around Rodney.

Sick of standing there, s
he tried to
brush past
him
, but he grabbed her by the arm and held her tight.

“
Sorry we
’
re late.
”
The strong voice cut across the chatter, and everyone turned to look at the speaker. It was Dane Maddock, followed by Bones and Angel. He clearly understood what was happening.
“
Are we interrupting something?
”

“
Yeah, you are,
”
Rodney said, releasing his grip on Avery. He turned and looked down at Maddock, who stood a few inches shorter, and smirked.
“
Why don
’
t you step off?
”

“
I never miss an appointment,
”
Maddock said, stepping closer.
“
Give her your number. Maybe she
’
ll call you, but I doubt it.
”

Avery tensed. She
’
d felt a momentary relief at Maddock and Bones
’
arrival, but Rodney and his friends outnumbered her would-be rescuers, and they all loved to brawl.

“
I
’
m not gonna tell you again.
”
Rodney thrust out his chest and took a step toward Maddock.

“
Good. I
’
m getting tired of the sound of your voice.
”
If Maddock was at all fazed by Rodney,
it didn
’
t
show.

“
Your breath is pretty stank, too,
”
Bones interjected.
“
I can smell you from over here.
”

Tension crackled in the air. A few patrons had come out front to watch the inevitable fight. Avery
’
s eyes flitted from one man to the next, wondering who would throw the first punch.

Surprisingly, it was Angel.

Bones
’
sister pushed her way past
Reggie
and held out her hand to Avery.
“
Let
’
s go inside.
”
She smiled and gave Avery a reassuring nod.

“
Mind your business.
”
Doug, the third of Rodney
’
s cast of stooges, grabbed her roughly by the upper arm.

That was a mistake.

Faster than Avery would
have thought possible, Angel lashed out, and
Doug
cried out in pain
as she crushed the bridge of his nose with the back of her fist. His hands
came up to protect
his face
,
and she punched him in
the
gut,
and
followed
with
a knee to the groin. As he staggered a few steps, she kicked him in the side of the knee.

Everyone flew into action. Rodney reached for Maddock, who sidestepped and struck back with a barrage of crisp punches that sent the larger man reeling.

Reggie
was slow to react,
drawing back his fist just as Bones drove an overhand right into his temple.
Reggie
looked like a marionette whose strings had been cut as he flopped, rubber-legged, to the ground.
Carl took one look at his fallen friend and ran.

Bones stepped over
Reggie to help his Angel
, who had leapt onto Doug
’
s back
and
was choking
him. Red-
faced, Doug wobbled toward Bones, who smiled and delivered another one-punch knockout.

Angel rolled free as Doug slumped to the ground, and came up cursing.

“
Damn you, Bones! That one was mine.
”
Her face, so beautiful only moments before, burned with a dark fury.
“
You
’
ve got to cut that out.
”

“
You should have finished him sooner,
”
Bones said, still smiling. Angel made an obscene gesture at him, then they turned toward Maddock.

“
Quit playing with him, Maddock!
”
Bones called.
“
I
’
m hungry.
”

Maddock was still peppering Rodney with punches and easily avoiding every attempt to take him down.
Rodney
’
s
face was a mask of red; he was bleeding from his nose, mouth, and
from
cuts above both eyes. Maddock winked at Bones as he ducked a wild punch, then struck Rodney on the chin so hard that Avery swore Rodney
’
s feet came off the ground.

His eyes rolling back in his head, Rodney fell into Bones
’
arms. Bones slung Rodney over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and turned to Avery.

“
Car or dumpster?
”

It took her a minute to understand what he meant.

“
That
’
s his truck over there.
”
She indicated a battered pickup truck on the other side of the lot.

Bones dumped the semi-conscious man into the bed of his own truck.

“
Anyone else need a lift?
”
he called to
Reggie
and Doug, who had regained their feet but clearly wanted no part of him, Maddock, or even Angel. They cut a wide berth around the trio as they made their way to Rodney
’
s truck, fished the keys from his pocket, and drove slowly away.

“
Now that we got that out of the way,
”
Bones said, offering her his arm,
“
let
’
s eat. I worked up an appetite.
”

Avery suppressed a grin as she hooked her arm in his and allowed him to escort her toward the entrance. She froze halfway there.

“
We might have a problem.
”

“
What
’
s that?
”
Bones asked as Maddock and Angel fell in either side of them.
“
Don
’
t tell me that anal probe is your boyfriend.
”

“
He is... I mean, he was. But it
’
s not that. His dad is the sheriff here.
”

Maddock and Bones exchanged knowing looks.

“
It
’
s cool,
”
Bones said.

“
But he might make trouble for you. He
’
s the reason Rodney gets away with so much.
”

“
We don
’
t run from bullies,
”
Maddock said,
“
even ones who wear a badge. Besides, if we leave, that makes us look guilty. If daddy shows up, we
’
ll deal with it then.
”

Maddock held the door
for her and Angel, then stepped
in and closed it in Bones
’
face.

“
They
’
re like kindergarteners sometimes,
”
Angel said, rolling her eyes.

“
Well, they are men,
”
Avery said, eliciting a knowing chuckle from Angel.
“
I have to ask. Where did you learn to fight like that?
”

“
It
’
s sort of my profession,
”
Angel said. She
looked a little
embarrassed as she explained that she was a professional mixed martial arts fighter, and was, in fact, in line to fight for the bantamweight title.

“
That
’
s awesome,
”
Avery said.
“
How did you wind up working with these two?
”

“
Oh, it
’s just a little vacation for me.
”
H
er eyes flitted toward Maddock, who stood talking with someone at the bar, and her face fell.
“
Besides,
”
she continued, her expression quickly back to normal,
“
I live to annoy my brother. He
’
s such a loser.
”