Six Degrees of Desperation (Dirty Tricks) by Myla Jackson Read Free Book Online

the corner
of the bar and into the fray. She landed on top of the man
attacking Connor, rocketing him into another’s gut.
    Apparently the guy whose back she rode had a
girlfriend who was quick to jealousy.
    Before Charli could get her own legs under
herself, the bleach-blond cowgirl shrieked and grabbed Charli’s
hair, flinging her around and away from Connor, screaming, “You
bitch! Get off my man.”
    Caught off balance, Charli fell face-first
on the floor, the wind knocked out of her lungs.
    "Leave my man alone!" Blondie landed in the
middle of her back, yanking and tugging at Charli’s hair, slapping
her upside the head several times, making Charli’s ears ring.
    When she finally sucked in enough air to
make a difference, Charli had just about had enough. She bucked
once.
    The skinny-ass bitch on top rode her like a
mechanical bull.
    Well, ride this.
    Anger spiked and adrenaline kicked in,
giving Charli enough oomph, she bucked and rolled, twisting the
vicious bitch over onto her back. She straddled her and pinned her
arms above her head. “Don’t call me a bitch and leave me the fuck
alone!” She wanted to, but she didn’t, slap the woman, although it
took all her control not to.
    Before Charli could rise and put distance
between herself and the crazy woman, men formed a circle around the
women on the floor, shouting, “Cat fight!” The circle grew, hoots
and hollering going up all around, drawing more spectators.
    “Sorry, fellas, this one’s over.” Charli
stood and reached down a hand to help the blonde up.
    The woman clasped Charli’s hand and shot to
her feet, her lips pulled back into a sneer as she yanked Charli
forward and slammed a fist into her belly. “Not yet, it ain’t.”
    Doubled over, her hands clutching her belly,
Charli gasped. “Oh, you did not just do that.”
    Blondie stood with her fists on her hips. “I
sure did and I’m gonna do it again.”
    Her lips forming a thin line, Charli forced
her back straight, despite the pain in her midsection. “Not in this
lifetime.”
    The other woman took a swing. Charli leaned
to the side just enough the woman’s arm sailed past her, her
momentum carrying her forward. Charli stuck out her foot, pressed a
hand to the woman’s shoulder and sent her flying into the arms of
the men around her. “Don’t fuck with me.”
    The woman screeched like a wounded cat and
spun to face Charli. “You want some of this?” She wiggled her
fingers, urging Charli forward. “Come on.”
    All Charli wanted was to get to where Connor
was and make sure he was okay, not lying comatose under a table. “I
don’t have time for this.”
    When the woman came at her again, Charli
braced herself, and waited until the last minute, then ducked to
the right, raising her knee to Blondie’s belly, landing it hard in
her breadbasket.
    The woman collapsed to the floor on her
hands and knees, coughing.
    One end of the circle of men broke open and
a deputy sheriff shouldered his way into the middle. “What’s going
on here?”
    The man Charli had landed on pointed. “That
bitch attacked me and then she tried to kill my girlfriend.”
    Without waiting to hear Charli’s side of the
story, the deputy snapped a cuff to her wrist. “You’re coming with
me.”

Chapter Five
    “That man’s lying,” Charli cried out, but
her voice was lost in the cursing and yelling going on all around.
She yanked away from the deputy, determined to find Connor.
    “Sorry, lady, but you have to come with me.”
The deputy dragged her toward the front door.
    “No, I need to check on Connor. That baboon
could have killed him. He could be lying under a table dying. Let
me go!”
    As she kicked, scratched and clawed her way
toward Connor, the deputy lost patience and slung her over his
shoulder, pushing his way through the thinning crowd near the front
entrance. Once outside, he dumped her into the back of his SUV,
clipped the other end of the cuff to the wire mesh separating the
front of the