Linda Kay Silva - Delta Stevens 3 - Weathering the Storm by Linda Kay Silva Read Free Book Online Page B

that?”
    Connie stopped and listened. As she did, she turned and cocked her head at Delta. “Del—”
    Delta held a finger to her lips. “Shh. It’s coming from over there.”
    Connie listened more intently. “Yes, it is. But we aren’t. Come on, Del, let it be. You’re not on duty. Just walk away and let the big guys in blue take care of it.”
    But Delta wasn’t listening to her. Her head was pointed in the direction of the darkened corner, ears straining at the muffled thumps. Squinting in the half-lit lot, she could make out three, maybe four figures in the shadows, moving like strands of a wind chime, sometimes barely touching, sometimes banging into each other and exploding with sound.
    “Con, someone is getting their bell rung over there. We should do something.”
    “We should?”
    Delta nodded.
    “Del, there’s no chance in me talking you out of this, is there?”
    “Nope.”
    Connie just shook her head. “I didn’t think so. Damn. All that counseling dough gone to waste. Come on. Let’s get this over with.”
    Already four strides ahead of Connie, Delta knelt behind a huge dumpster. Now that she was closer, she could see four men involved in what appeared to be a major brawl. The all-too-familiar sounds of fists against stomach and jaw bones mutely echoed through the air, as Delta surveyed the surrounding area.
    “Well, Storm?” Connie whispered from over Delta’s shoulder. “Do we go in there or are you waiting for your white charger?”
    Delta nodded. “You ready?”
    Connie held out the hands that made her a master at karate. “I’m always ready. Ready is my middle name. What about you?”
    Instinctively, Delta reached to her ankle for her nine millimeter, and winced when she remembered she left it back on the seat of her truck. “Damn.”
    “Oh, swell,” Connie said, shaking her head. “You’ll never make heroine status now. I’ll bet Robocop never forgets his off-duty weapon in the car.”
    “Very funny.”
    “But you’re undaunted, aren’t you?”
    “If you’re asking whether I still want to go in, yes, I do.”
    “Great. I don’t have my badge. Do you?”
    Delta bowed her head in mock defeat.
    “Oh, very good. Very, very good. No badge?”
    “No badge.”
    “Wonderful. I just happen to side with a knight who doesn’t have a horse, armor, a sword, or a charge card.”
    “The latter, I have.”
    “Swell. You can beat them to death with it.”
    Delta rose from her crouched position. “Want to stay here?”
    Connie grinned. “And miss all the fun? Megan would tan my lovely hide if anything happened to you while I stood by guarding this dumpster.”
    A wry smile slid across Delta’s face. “Then follow me, Chief.” Appearing from behind the dumpster like two specters in the moonlight, Delta and Connie emerged to find two of the large beer-bellied pool players holding the young pool hustler, while a third man, the bearded fellow who had just had his wallet cleaned by the youth, stepped up to bury yet another fist in the tight stomach of their captive.
    “I think that’s enough fun for one night, fellas,” Delta said, causing all four men to turn her way. Instantly, she regretted not having her “niner” with her. It would have made a much more impressive sight.
    “Looka that, Stockton. Two dames.”
    The pool player with the beard turned to fully face them. They were a good twenty feet away from Connie and Delta, but she could see they were baked. A little good dope, too much cheap beer, and false bravado was streaming from their pores like the scent of a dead skunk.
    “No shit,” one of the behemoths noted. “And it looks like they came to join the fun.”
    “I don’t think I care for your brand of a good time,” Connie retorted. “Now why don’t you just let him go and we’ll forget we ever saw you.”
    The man called Stockton spat a wad of tobacco on the ground and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He stood two or three inches over six feet