Heckler delivered another blow to the kidney, and a bolt of searing pain shot up into his guts. More likely than not, he’d be pissing blood tomorrow.
“This is your first and final warning, asshole. There’s not a place you can go in this state where I can’t reach you. If I ever see you with my woman again, I won’t be nearly as gentle.”
A baton blow to the back of Pinto’s legs sent him crashing to his knees. A kick to the ribs knocked the air from his lungs. But it was the blow to the back of his head that made everything go black.
Chapter 19
Pintofeltworsethanhe looked, and he looked like death warmed over. The bruise under his left eye had developed a sickly yellow tinge, while an angry red welt marked the side of his face where he’d smacked the pavement. His whole body ached, his bottom lip was swollen, and his ribs felt as though somebody had beaten them with a mallet. On the bright side, he still had all his teeth, and he was pretty sure his nose wasn’t broken.
Head pounding like a pile driver, he braced one arm against the break room countertop and silently willed the coffeemaker to brew faster. Just a few sips of liquid caffeine and he’d feel a whole world better. At least, that’s what he kept telling himself.
He’d expected some sort of escalation from Fiona’s ex, but not to this degree. Next time, he might end up in jail or the hospital. Or the morgue. At this point, he wouldn’t put it past the asshole. And if Heckler was willing to do this to Pinto, what would he do to Fiona once he finally got it through his thick head that she wasn’t ever coming back to him?
His phone pinged with an incoming message. After coming to, he’d sent Fiona a text to let her know he’d had an altercation with Heckler and to warn her to be careful.
Are you okay?was her response.
I’m fine, he typed, intentionally vague, because he didn’t want to freak her out. But he did want her to be on alert so he added:Stay away from Dennis.He’s dangerous. Don’t answer the door if he knocks. We’ll talk more when I get home from work.
That prick was sadly mistaken if he thought his warning would keep Pinto away from her. If anything, it only reinforced his resolve to make sure Dennis Heckler never got his hooks into her again. Now he only needed to find a way to convince the cop to leave Fi alone and move on with his life.
The sound of masculine voices drifted down the hall, and seconds later, Austin Flint walked into the break room. He looked more casual than usual in jeans and a red Six Points polo shirt, most likely because it was the day before Christmas and he didn’t have any client appointments on the schedule.
“Morning, Pinto, you’re here early—” The rest of the sentence died in Austin’s throat, while a pair of deep grooves formed in the space between his black eyebrows. “What the fuck happened to you?”
“Long story.”
Truth be told, he didn’t remember everything that happened to him last night. His memory got pretty hazy after the shot to the back of his head. When he regained consciousness early that morning, well before the sun came up, he was alone in the auto repair shop parking lot, his wallet gone and the screen of his phone covered with spider web cracks. By some miracle, his car was still there, probably because any would-be thieves didn’t know how to drive a stick. But the Mustang’s interior was thoroughly trashed, and the rear windshield was shattered. He had no idea whether Heckler was responsible or whether the damage occurred later, while he was passed out on the pavement.
Somehow, he’d managed to drive himself to work, where he cleaned himself up and changed into the spare set of clothes he kept in his locker.
Austin made a buzzer sound. “Wrong answer. I can’t have you working with the public when you look like you’ve been through a wood chipper. Who worked you over and why?”
He’d come up with a host of plausible scenarios to explain his current state, but he found it impossible to look his boss in the eye and lie his ass off. He was raised better than that. “I’m having some issues with a cop. He’s pissed because I’m friends with his ex.”
“Friends orfriends?” Austin punctuated the latter with air quotes.
Pinto leaned against the counter and tried not to cringe at the pain in his ribs. “Like I said, it’s a long story.”
“I’ve got time. How about you enlighten me?”
“I’d rather not, sir. It’s personal.” He knew guys who had absolutely no problem with airing their dirty laundry to anyone willing to listen, but he preferred to keep that kind of shit close to the vest.
Arms crossed over his muscular chest, Austin glowered at Pinto. This was his turf, and as the top of the chain of command at Six Points, he didn’t take kindly to subordinates telling him no. “That’s all well and good, but when your personal life interferes with your job performance, it becomes my business.”
Pinto drew a deep breath and let it out slowly, because copping an attitude with his boss would land him in the unemployment line. Overall, Austin was a damn good boss. He wanted what was best for his business, but he also seemed to genuinely care about his people, a rare trait for employers nowadays.
While the coffee finished brewing, Pinto filled Austin in, from his first encounter with Dennis Heckler outside Fiona’s apartment to last night when he’d been beaten and left unconscious.
To his credit, Austin didn’t explode until after Pinto finished speaking. “Why the hell didn’t you say something about this earlier?”
“It’s not work related.”
The muscle along Austin’s jaw flexed. “Tell me that you at least went to the hospital.”
Pinto shook his head and felt a wave of disorientation. “It’s just a few bumps and bruises.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Austin muttered, and then bellowed, “Hey, Wade!”
