Mustache stumbled forward, almost colliding with Gruff Man. It didn’t work. Gruff Man shoved his partner away, though it ruined the element of surprise he’d had to get the better of Tyler.
It occurred to him then that he was bigger than both of them. They were tall, but they weren’t as thick as him, and he knew, from all the training he’d received, that he had to use every advantage at his disposal.
He charged, leading with his shoulder as Gruff Man recovered. The man’s eyes widened in shock right before Tyler slammed into him. There was enough force behind the attack to lift Gruff Man off his feet and send him flying. A crash echoed through the room as the man hit the TV and crumpled to the desk below it with a groan.
Tyler swept the room with his eyes, knowing the danger hadn’t passed yet. Nate was in the corner, between a bed and a wall. Gruff Man was stirring, recovering quicker than Tyler might have guessed. Mustache was still trying to figure out which way was up by the confused stirrings of his head.
“Stay there,” Tyler told Nate as Gruff Man picked himself up, searching his coat once more.
“Right here,” Tyler said, kicking the gun that had fallen to the floor beneath one of the beds.
Unbelievably the distraction proved to be useful, with Gruff Man’s eyes snapping to the gun as it slid under the bed. Tyler surged forward, pushing his arm into Gruff Man’s chest and shoving him against the wall. The force shook the wall, unhinging the half-broken arm holding the TV up and swinging down toward them. Tyler leaped back as the device crashed down, missing his head and landing in Gruff Man’s lap.
“Behind you!” Nate cried out.
Tyler whirled around in time to see a flash of something moving toward him. Twisting, he tried to get away, feeling a line of fire race up his forearm as he held his hands up to defend himself. Without thinking, he lashed out with his foot, catching the still dazed but very pissed Mustache in the knee. The man grunted, stumbling back as he clutched hard to the large combat knife in his hand.
Another jolt of pain lanced up his right side, sending him stumbling. Gruff Man was just as dedicated to the fight as Tyler was apparently, and his next blow missed Tyler’s knee by half an inch. It was enough, however, to send him crashing to the ground between the beds.
“Fucking hell, rich boy has himself a bodyguard,” Gruff Man grunted, spitting out a wad of saliva and blood.
Both Gruff Man and Mustache were on their feet, and Tyler knew he was at a disadvantage. His eyes caught the sight of something beneath the bed, however, and his heart leaped with a sudden surge of excitement. Flinging his arm out, he grabbed the gun, flicked the safety off and swung it around to the two men as they advanced.
Swearing, both men dived out of the way, hurrying toward the door before Tyler could say anything. Tyler took to his feet, hobbling on his partly injured leg to follow them. For a moment, he had the back of one of the two men in his crosshairs, felt his finger tense, and then...relax.
“Call the police,” Tyler told Nate, slowly advancing toward the door. “Nate.”
Nate grunted and Tyler walked forward, trying to catch every angle just outside of the doorway before stepping out into the hall. A door at the end of the hall slammed shut, making him whirl around, gun outstretched. The hallway was completely empty.
“Shit,” he muttered, backing into the hotel room.
Knowing it wouldn’t do them a bit of good if the two men showed up with more firepower, Tyler still closed the hotel room door. He shoved the bolt across and flipped the bar over the top half of the door as well. It might not stop anyone determined enough, but it would deter them, and now he was no longer unarmed.
He could hear Nate speaking on the phone, his voice tense, but speaking quickly and clearly. Tyler grabbed the chair that had sat under the desk, marveling that it hadn’t been knocked over in the process.
“What the hell was that?” he wondered faintly as he pondered how long it would take for the cops to show up.
Two hours later, after both the cops and an ambulance showed up, Tyler flopped down on a bench outside a pizzeria across from the hotel. He could see Nate,