When Dead in Greece by L.T. Ryan Read Free Book Online

on the bridge of his nose. His head snapped back. Blood sprayed in all directions. I slammed my fist into his gut. He bent forward. I grabbed the back of his head and drove my knee into his face, then discarded him to the side.
    No one stood between Isadora and me. I darted toward her.
    And then I was upended. Spent a second in the air, then landed on my side. Fortunately, it was the left side. Unfortunately, pain radiated out from my hip and my leg felt numb.
    I didn’t have long to work out what had happened. Hands wrapped around my upper arms and yanked me off the floor. They shoved me against the display case, slamming my forehead into it hard enough to crack the glass. And judging by the trail of blood that slid down the case, my forehead had cracked, too.
    “What is going on in here?”
    I forced my head to the side and saw Esau standing outside his office, armed with a pistol. He extended the weapon at the men surrounding me. They let go. I heard them step back a few feet. I reached up for the counter and straightened my back. Esau nodded at me. I turned around, toward the front of the cafe, and saw five men lined up like scrawny offensive linemen with Michael in the middle. I’d left visible wounds on two of them. A third stood like I’d broken one or two of his ribs. Their quarterback, Chris, who had been absent until now, stood behind them. I saw Isadora through the line of thugs. Hair covered half her face. Chris held his pistol to her exposed temple.
    “Put it away, old man,” he said.
    “Let my niece go,” Esau said.
    The guy cocked the hammer and pressed the muzzle against Isadora’s temple. “Do it.”
    Esau trembled as he lowered his weapon.
    “Good,” the guy said. “Now, do you have what we talked about?”
    Esau shook his head. “Like I told you yesterday, it’s gone.”
    He clicked his tongue a couple times, admonishing Esau. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to take some collateral then until you’ve got it.”
    “What are you doing?” Isadora said.
    The guy wrapped his arm over her breasts and dragged her toward the door. One of the five linemen broke away and opened it. Michael pulled his weapon and kept it aimed at the floor.
    “Let her go.” I lunged forward.
    Three men rushed to meet me.
    I aimed for the biggest and drove my foot into his crotch. Then I connected with the guy on the right with a wide hook. But I couldn’t reach the third in time. He dove into me. We crashed into the display case and then fell to the floor. My injured ribs took the brunt of the fall.
    The two other guys regained composure, and a few seconds later, the three of them pinned me against the counter. Michael stepped forward and backhanded me twice. Then he took a few steps back and cocked his arm. He was going to take a running start on this blow.
    “Let’s get out of here,” the guy at the door yelled.
    Michael shook his head. “Next time, there won’t be a time crunch.”
    They let go of me. I tried to run after them, but took a couple steps and collapsed to the floor where I watched them exit to the sidewalk where a late-model white sedan had pulled up. They shoved Isadora into the back. The rest got in and the vehicle drove out of sight.

Chapter 10
    ALIK ARRIVED THIRTY SECONDS LATER, nearly knocking the front door off its hinges. His breathing was fast and deep and ragged, as though he’d sprinted from a couple blocks away. He looked at Esau, me, then the street.
    “They took Isadora,” he said as though we hadn’t witnessed it. A few breaths later, he added, “Jack, what the hell happened?”
    I rolled over and held out my arm. Alik came over, helped me to my feet.
    “Are you OK?”
    I choked on a bit of blood, coughed, and spat on the floor. “More of the same. I’ll be all right.”
    “What happened in here?”
    I glanced at Esau. He stood stock still, staring at the pistol like it had let him down.
    “The guys from yesterday came in and started busting up the place. I was