Page 53 of City of Vice

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Ava grimaced as she swallowed it down. “Yeah,” she gasped. “You could say that.” And as it burned, she tried to recall the last time she’d had a drink. She’d snuck one here and there when she’d been singing (much to Clarence’s dismay) but those occurrences had been few and far between.

“Another?”

Ava had to catch her breath, blinking back tears. Jesus, but it burned. Still, there was a delightful taste to it and a pleasant warm feeling flushed through her.

“Yes, please,” she said. “Another.”

As Ms. Zebra took the glass back and began to refill it, a man’s voice spoke up. It came from Ava’s right and further back, from an area hidden in the darkness.

“Let’s not send our new guests home too dizzy now, Ms. Zebra.”

Ava realized her mistake right away. When she turned to seek out this new voice, she was not keeping her face lowered. Sowhen she saw the man and he, in turn, saw her, there was no hiding her identity.

The man currently walking out of the darkness was Jim Spurlock. And the recognition that gleamed in his eyes with malicious intent made it clear that he knew exactly who she was. He walked over to the bar, undaunted by her presence. Ava felt herself wanting to go for her gun right away. But the number of witnesses in the place made the decision rather difficult. If she shot a man in front of all of them, she’d lose her job and likely spend some time in jail, no matter who the victim was.

Spurlock joined her at the bar, making sure to keep a few feet of space between them. For just a split second, he glanced in Ms. Zebra’s direction. “Take a break, would you, love?”

Ms. Zebra said nothing. She simply set the glass of moonshine down and walked away. As she made her way out onto the floor, her black and white feathered boa fluttered slightly behind her.

As soon as she was gone, Spurlock leaned over and smiled widely at her. “You got a gun in that purse?”

“I do.”

“Put it on the desk.”

“Or what? I found you.Again. And you know why.”

“Yes, I know why. I also know that you beat two of my best men yesterday as if they were nothing more than schoolyard bullies. But I have many more people at my disposal. Men that won’t think twice about hurting a worrisome bitch like yourself in as many ways as I tell them to.” He grinned again and said, “Youarea treat on the eyes. Maybe there could be some pleasure before all of the pain. It really all depends on what you do right now. So…put the purse on the bar. Are you really planning to shoot me in front of all of these people?”

She didn’t answer. But she did slowly put the purse on the bar. As she slowly set it there, she became aware of the silence inthe place. Without turning to look, she knew that every eye in the so-called Ash Lodge was on them.

“No,” she finally answered. “I’d rather just see you in jail for the rest of your life.”

“Well, that’s not going to happen. Detective Gold, I fear you made a very big mistake coming in here tonight.”

Ava was running out of patience, no longer interested in talking. While she may not shoot him in front of everyone in the Ash Lounge, her right hand was still throbbing from the punches she’d distributed to bouncer—as if reminding her of her boxing skills.

“You decide, then,” Ava said. “Because you’re getting embarrassed one way or the other, and I—”

Spurlock moved quickly…much faster than Ava would have given him credit for. He faked a slap with his left hand, which Ava blocked easily. But in blocking the slap, she missed the motion to her left as Spurlock grabbed the bottle of moonshine and brought it sailing across in a hard arc.

The glass jar slammed into the side of her head, shattering. The rich, pungent smell of the strong alcohol filled her nose and eyes as she fell to the floor. There was an explosion of pain in her head as she toppled to the floor but she barely had time to even register it. Spurlock delivered a kick that caught her squarely in the ribs. She knew at once that she was fortunate he was wearing dressier shoes; if he’d been wearing boots, he would have broken her ribs.

The unpredictability of his attack had her at a loss, as well as not knowing if anyone else in the room would take part. She was dimly aware of the sound of chairs being pushed back and hurried footfalls crossing the floor as she tried getting to her hands and knees.

Spurlock dished out another kick, but this one was more playful than anything else. He then dropped down to a knee andslapped her in the face. A moment later, he slapped her on her backside.

He leaned down slightly and spoke softly to her. “I’m going to take you upstairs, Detective. We’re going to have some fun, you and I, but I imagine some of it will hurt you. But let’s be honest…killing your husband and then having you in a way you’ll never have him again…well, that’s just too good to pass up.”

Ava wasn’t expecting the roar of rage that came out of her as she pushed herself up. To stop her, Spurlock once again slapped her. It was harder this time, and that curtain of pain in her head increased. She could feel blood trickling down her head as Spurlock grabbed her by the hair and yanked her up. Her scalp felt as if it were burning, but she looked past it. Spurlock had put such a beating on her that he’d gotten cocky. The idiot was actually helping her to her feet. Granted, the room was spinning, and there was blood trickling down into her right eye, but she was at least being brought to her feet.

“The rest of you,” he said, looking out to the room, “are welcome to stay and enjoy your night. And if anyone breathes a word of this outside of here, I’ll send people to find you and end you. Are we understood?”

He punctuated this with a laugh. And it was that sound—that pleased and humored sound of delight that came out of his throat—that gave Ava the spark she needed.

She planted her feet and attacked the only way her current position would allow. She braced herself, knowing it would hurt, and then sprang into action, She stiffened her back and tossed her head back as fast and as hard as she could. Even before the back of her head slammed into Spurlock’s face, Ava’s head was screaming in pain. But the brittlethunksound of Spurlock’s face being crushed helped her push past it.

As a follow-up, she tightened up her left arm and drove her elbow back. She’d forgotten just how short Spurlock was, soinstead of striking him in the chest, she caught him just below the neck. She heard him gag right away, his grip on her hair now released.


Tags: Blake Pierce Thriller