Triad Death Match by Seth Harwood Read Free Book Online Page B

they'd be better off with the police.
    The gong beat again, and Bolo popped onto his feet. Chen stood slowly and started to backpedal around the ring as Bolo approached him. Chen moved as well as could be expected on the sand, his left calf and thigh swollen to twice their normal size. Bolo lunged forward to kick out Chen's front leg, and Chen leapt over the kick. Bolo came again, and this time Chen only got his front leg out of the way. When Bolo hit his back calf, Chen went down for a moment and toppled sideways. In a second he was able to push himself up. But by then it was too late.
    In the second Chen had taken to right himself, Bolo leapt forward with his right hand cocked beside his ribs. He lunged and delivered, splitting Chen's nose open with a wicked straight punch. Chen fell back onto both hands, his face covered in blood, and Bolo kept on. He kicked Chen's feet out from under him and fell onto his chest, straddling the smaller man.  
    As if someone had cued him to end the fight, Bolo started to unload. Immediately, Jack heard Jane scream. He didn't need to look to know it was her; she was the only woman in the house.  
    Bolo's right arm pumped up and down like a piston in an Indy car, methodically beating what was left of Chen's nose, cheeks, and eyes into the sand. When Bolo finally stood up, he had destroyed Chen's face and whatever was left of his soul.  
    Bolo shook out his right hand, scattering drops of blood across the ring. He turned toward the stage and bowed once to Mr. Ruby. The crowd cheered as though they'd finally lost the last bit of sanity in their collective mind.  
    Jane looked down at the stage, Mr. Ruby standing over her, clapping in time with the crowd. Bolo bowed at all four corners of the ring, then stepped down. He crossed to the stage and climbed up to stand next to Mr. Ruby, where he took a final bow and then turned to leave.
    As he did, he gave a slow nod to Jack, a look in his eye like he wanted Jack to be next.   Jack was no lunatic; he knew he'd never last a round with Bolo. He doubted even Niki or a healthy Freeman would stand a chance.  
    Then Niki was across the arena, standing at the top of the rows, just at the bottom of the entrance steps. He glanced around, realizing the life he'd come to save was already over. Two attendants climbed up to the ring and began to carry Chen's head off the floor in chunks, the separate parts of his skull just so many pieces inside a bag of skin that had once been a human head.
    "Jesus," Jack said out loud.  
    Gannon shot him a look. If anyone inside the bureau found out that a potential informant and witness had been brutally killed on Jane's watch, in front of her eyes, there'd be hell to pay. And after Jane's ex-husband had betrayed the bureau, Jane's career was already on the line.  
    Jane stood up, as did many of the others in the stands. Jack saw people filing past Niki to be among the first to get out.
     
    Niki and Jack stood on a street corner in China Town, waiting for Jane to come out of a bar. They'd hit two different places, moving on when Jack felt the prying eyes of former fans. Now Jane was using a bathroom, and Jack had his eye up the block at the Li Po Lounge. He'd listened to a story about man-eating zombies who dropped a major mob hit at this bar; it'd been podcast by one of his favorite authors, Scott Sigler. Scott sounded funny as all shit and barely had any teeth in his head, but he could tell a great story. That couldn't be denied.
    The Li Po had been rumored to have a secret basement, but as soon as the rumor got out and people wanted to see it, the management started opening it all the time. Anything to please the customers, put the place on the map, or sell another overpriced drink, heavy on the ice.
    All Jack wanted to do was get drunk. It was simple as that. One drink led to another, and soon all his fingers wanted was another glass to hold. His head was starting to buzz, but the cigarettes kept him steady,