leaped into the doorway. “How about these bouncy ones?” He held out his dick and balls in one hand as he stepped into the room, then lunged forward at High Voice with his rebar. “En garde.”
High Voice leaped to his feet. “What the fuck?”
Lindsey parried and thrust with his pseudorapier, then hit High Voice full in the chest with its blunt end and shoved his weight behind it. “Owww.” The sound of wind escaping and a searing crack of bone suggested the thug’s ribs were broken. Good.
Lindsey whirled, delivered a high punch to Deep Voice’s chin, and the guy fell backward. Lindsey leaped, landed astride the man’s hips, and grabbed his gun. With a quick turn, he pointed it directly at High Voice, who was just reaching for his back holster. Lindsey grinned and set the end of the rebar on the man’s crotch, pressing just a little. “I’d forget about being a hero if I were you. A jail sentence is far superior to death, darling, and never for a moment doubt that I’ll kill you with very little provocation. Of course, we could do a bit of damage first.” He pressed a little harder.
High Voice scrambled backward and shook his head. “Shit, who are you, man?”
“Someone your employers will ultimately be very sad they messed with. Sit on this chair.” The smaller of the two men, High Voice hadn’t given up. His eyes shifted as he walked to the straight-backed chair, clutching his chest.
Deep Voice was regaining consciousness. Lindsey stepped over him to a little metal desk. Staring at High Voice, he opened the drawer. Nothing. One more drawer.
High Voice leaped up and dove toward Lindsey. One shot, straight into the upper thigh, stopped him. The guy crumpled and fell to the floor. Lindsey pointed the gun at Deep Voice. “Would you be kind enough to get me some packing tape from this desk?”
“Uh, I don’t know if we have any.” His eyes shifted back and forth between the gun and Lindsey’s dick.
“Look.”
The guy scrambled to the desk. Meanwhile, High Voice lay writhing on the floor, clutching his thigh. Those wounds had to hurt really badly, but he’d heal.
“Uh, is this it?” Deep Voice held up a roll of plastic tape.
“Yes. Get scissors and wrap your friend’s hands and legs tightly together with the tape. Tight, you understand?”
The man did as he was told, wrapping High Voice where he lay on the floor. Lindsey pointed at the chair, and Deep Voice sat in it. Lindsey bound him tightly. Finally, he stuck his hand in High Voice’s pocket and extracted the cell phone. First, he dialed Cole. It rang twice.
“Who’s this?” The soft voice sounded suspicious.
“Me, darling. I’m in a warehouse. I’m not sure where, but I’m safe and have overcome the bad guys. I’m calling the cops now. I just didn’t want you to think I’d let the, uh, cat out of the bag, so to speak.”
“Shit, Linds! I don’t care about cats, I care about you. Are you all right?”
“Yes. I have to call Seth. Love you all. Bye-bye.”
He hung up the phone. Call Seth. Yes, he had to do that for one highly practical reason: he didn’t know the number of anyone else on the case. And for one highly impractical reason: if he didn’t hear the man’s voice soon, find out if he was still angry, he’d die. Just that simple. He’d spent an afternoon with Milquetoast and it got him kidnapped. Now, all he wanted was Seth. Yes, it was impossible, but those were the facts.
“Zakowsky.” The tone said who the fuck is this?
He breathed deeply. “Hello, darling.”
“Shit, Lindsey, where are you? Are you all right?”
Oh good, he didn’t sound mad. Just concerned. “Yes. I’m afraid I took matters into my own hands again. I’m not quite sure where I am, however, so please trace the call.”
“We’re doing it. Oh baby, are you really okay?”
“Perfectly.” He liked the sound of “baby.”
“Okay, we’ve got the address. We’ll be there in a minute. What happened to the kidnappers?” His breathing changed. Probably walking.
“I’ve got two of them tied up. If any others arrive, I have a gun, so don’t worry. I’m quite a good shot.’
“Jesus, you blow my mind.”
Lindsey smiled.
Seth’s pace seemed to have picked up. He was breathing hard. He chuckled. “Of course, there are other parts of me I would rather have you blow.”
Lindsey’s smile spread all over his face. “So you forgive me?”
Silence. “I’m truly sorry, Lindsey. I didn’t mean the shit I