Jack Stone - Deadly Revenge by Vivien Sparx Read Free Book Online Page A

recovering in hospital.”
    The bartender scowled suddenly, like he was offended. “Boy, you’re messing with the wrong man, and a bar full of trouble,” he said. He narrowed his eyes and glanced over Stone’s shoulder again. Stone sensed the gorilla edge a little closer, so that he was just a few feet behind him.
    Stone pushed himself away from the bar. Stood up straight. Ignored the guy behind him and planted his hands on the counter. Leaned forward until his face was just inches from the bartender.
    “You don’t have a bar full of help,” Stone said. “You’ve got one guy, and that’s it, but that’s not enough. Not by a long way. And once I take him out, anyone else in this room thinking about getting involved in our discussion is going to reevaluate.”
    The bartender looked smug. “Is that so?”
    Stone nodded. “It’s a promise,” he said. “Now you can either give me an address, or you are going to spend the rest of your life trying to eat corn on the cob – with no teeth.”
    The bartender didn’t move.
    Stone turned to Celia. “Take your drink outside,” he said, his voice steady and conversational. “I’ll join you in a minute.”
    Celia’s face was a mask of trembling uncertainty and dread. Her hands were shaking. She nodded mutely and slid off her stool. Carried her glass towards the door and then suddenly stopped defiantly and stood beside a table near the jukebox, like she had reconsidered. Stone shrugged and then turned back to the bartender.
    “Katrina Walker,” he said again. He tapped the photo on the counter. “I just want an address. I’ve asked you politely. I’m prepared to pay. But I won’t ask you again.” He said it calmly, his voice quiet and matter-of-fact. The room seemed silent. There was just the distant subdued sound of the jukebox and the hum of air-conditioning.
    The bartender didn’t move.
    Stone did.
    He pushed himself away from the counter, and used the momentum to make a half-turn, lifting his elbow up until it was parallel with his shoulder, and then driving the point into the face of the gorilla standing behind him. It was an explosive split-second of movement. A colossal release of energy into the man’s unprotected nose. All of Stone’s weight was on his right foot, planted solid, and he drove through the blow, felt the cartilage and bone spread then split as his head whip-lashed back on his neck and he began to fall.
    Stone wheeled around. His expression hadn’t changed. He heard the gorilla thrashing and flopping around on the carpet like a landed fish but he ignored the commotion. Reached across the counter and fisted a handful of the bartender’s singlet.
    The bartender reacted slowly. He threw an instinctive right – a roundhouse punch that had plenty of muscle behind it, but no real power. Stone dropped his chin onto his chest and the blow hissed into the empty air above his head.
    The bartender’s eyes went wide as saucers.
    Stone unleashed a right, snapping the punch upwards. It landed flush on the bartender’s jaw with enough force to slam his teeth together but not enough to knock him out. The man went suddenly woozy. Stone held him up and hit him again, crushing his fist into the man’s mouth and mashing teeth and lips and gums together in a gush of bright red blood.
    Stone stepped over the gorilla who was laying prone and unmoving on the floor. The guy had his hands over his ruined face and blood streaming through his fingers. Stone ignored him and walked calmly round the end of the bar. He heaved the bartender to his feet and pushed him towards an office door at the back of the room.
    When he emerged a moment later he was holding a crumpled piece of blood-smeared paper. Celia hadn’t moved. She was standing frozen and aghast, with her hand over her mouth. Stone stuffed the paper into his pocket and guided her back out into the bright sunlight of the afternoon.

Ten.

    Despite her petite, elegant appearance, Celia was stubborn, and it