Page 5 of Ice Cold Liar (Ice Breaker Cold Case #14)

Chapter Two

The music still pounded, but every eye in the place was on him.

Eb stood just inside the old bar’s doorway. As soon as he’d crossed the threshold, heads had whipped toward him. Several goons jumped to their feet. Their hands were fisted, and it was clear that they were just waiting on the order before they attacked him.

Yep, he was gonna have to take out far too many bastards in order to get back one mangy dog. Such a pain in his ass. He didn’t even like dogs. That’s provided that the story about the dog is even true. He half-feared she was just setting him up for an ass-kicking.

But if that was the case, Naomi would discover he could more than hold his own in a fight.

“Who’s gonna be first?” Eb wanted to know. He lifted his right hand and waved two fingers in a come-and-get-some motion.

One tattoo-covered man with a shaved head and a face full of piercings took a step forward. Right. Why not start with the biggest guy in the place? Figured. Eb rolled back his shoulders. “Okay, so are there gonna be any ground rules?”

A giant fist came at his face. Eb dodged the blow, lunged to the right, then immediately plowed his fist into the attacker’s stomach. “Guess there are no ground rules.” He shoved the prick into a table. “Good to know.”

Someone grabbed Eb from behind. Thick, hard arms closed around him and tried to squeeze the life from him.

Eb just slammed his head back at his attacker and drove his foot back at the SOB in the same instance.

When those grabbing arms let go, Eb spun around and delivered an uppercut that had the biker stumbling back.

Two more attackers came at him. Dammit. Eb had started to breathe a bit harder.

He grabbed the first attacker, but the second managed to slam a fist into Eb’s side.

Eb kicked the fist-slamming bastard in the dick.

Hard enough to have the man howling, and then he took out the other jerk with two fast punches.

Eb scanned the room and saw that plenty more attacks were about to come his way.

Fine. Bring it. Let’s get this show over.

They advanced.

“Stop!” A hard order from Ivan.

The goons stopped advancing.

“Really? The fun is ending so soon?” Eb rolled back his shoulders. “And here I was getting good and warmed up.”

Ivan strolled right up to Eb. He barely spared a glance for his injured men. Instead, he raked a stare over Eb. “You took care of the woman?”

“Yes.” For the moment. “She’s long gone.”

Ivan grunted. “Then we talk. In my office.”

But Eb didn’t move. Not yet. Suspicion crystalized in him. “You know who I am.” Not just that he was a friend of Hudson’s as Eb had said before. The Russian understood exactly who—what—Eb was.

A shrug. “After seeing those punches, I figure you have to be Eb. Always heard you had a killer punch.”

Ah, so Hudson had definitely mentioned him to the Russian. Good to know that Ivan was holding lots of secrets.

Ivan turned and began to stalk through the crowd. Of course, the crowd parted instantly for him.

Not so much for Eb. He had to shoulder and shove his way past the jerks.

But after a few moments of shoving, he found himself in front of a black door. Ivan swung it open. They marched inside and?—

Growling.

Huh. How the hell about that? There was a dog, after all. So he wasn’t just chasing a bullshit story from Naomi. Good to know. “I think the dog’s owner wants him back—” Eb broke off, stunned.

Because they’d just made it fully inside of Ivan’s private office.

An office that had been locked because Ivan had unlocked the door before he swung it open.

The dog was inside the office—a big, grinning Golden Retriever with a blue collar waited in a black cage near Ivan’s desk. Only the dog wasn’t alone.

Naomi crouched right next to him.

A Naomi he’d seen drive away moments before.

“Sonofabitch,” Eb growled. He kicked the door shut behind him.

“What the hell is this?” Ivan bellowed. And then he reached for his gun.

Naomi had one hand shoved through the bars of the cage, petting the dog’s head, and the other hand had been poised over the latch in front of the cage. When she saw the gun, her eyes widened, and her lips parted to scream.

Eb grabbed Ivan from behind, and he shoved the bastard as hard as he could toward the desk.

The gun fired, the blast echoed around them, but it didn’t hit Naomi.

Or the dog. The bullet just thudded into the wall.

Ivan tried to come up and aim that gun again, but Eb was on him.

He slammed the bastard’s hand into the side of the desk.

Two slams and the gun dropped to the floor.

Ivan snarled and pushed at Eb, but Eb was not in the mood to be pushed so he just pinned the Russian against the desk.

“Who’s a good boy?” Naomi cooed. “Not just a good boy, but the best boy in the entire world!”

For fuck’s sake. “Naomi!” Eb thundered.

He heard the frantic thuds of footsteps rushing for the office door.

Ivan started laughing. “You’re both dead. Dead—for a damn dog.” More laughter.

Eb backed away from the laughing bastard, but he just retreated so he could pull out his own weapon and, when Ivan faced him, Eb aimed the gun dead center at the gang leader’s chest. “Weird. I feel oddly alive.”

The door began to swing open?—

“Tell them to stay out or I fire,” Eb ordered, voice low.

“Or even better,” Naomi murmured, “why don’t you just tell them that their boss is an informant. Then his own gang can kill him and handle the dirty work for you.”

“Stay out!” Ivan roared to his men. “Out! My gun just misfired. Everything is fine in here.” Then he was rushing toward the door and slamming it fully closed himself. Then locking it.

“Boss?” A fist pounded into the door. “Boss, you sure?”

“Get the fuck away from my office,” Ivan ordered as spittle flew from his mouth. “Now. I’m handling business in here. You know I don’t like to be disturbed when I’m handling my business.”

Naomi had opened the cage door, and the dog bounded right into her arms. She crouched beside him as the Golden Retriever sniffed her neck, then butted its head against her.

Thank you, she mouthed to Eb. She looked all grateful and relieved. Her beautiful face practically glowed.

Screw that.

“I just saved your life,” he snapped at her. “ After you lied to me. Believe me when I say…I get more than just a thank you.” But for now, he kept his weapon aimed at a glowering Ivan. “You stole her dog.” Talk about a dick move.

“That’s my dog!” Ivan argued. “Mine!”

Eb spared a glance for a still crouching Naomi. “The dog that is currently cuddled against her is your dog? That’s the story you’re going with right now?”

“Henry, here!” Ivan boomed.

The dog placed its body in front of Naomi. Sat down. Stared at Ivan.

“Henry, here! ” Ivan’s voice broke a bit around the edges.

Henry did not move.

Behind the dog, Naomi rose. Her fingers skimmed over Henry’s head in a brief caress. “I’ll be taking my dog now. And you’ll be staying the hell away from us both.”

Ivan’s eyes narrowed. His head swung from her to Eb.

“Not so fast, Hudson’s partner. I know all about you.

So many details.” He smiled. “We can make a deal. Same kind of deal I had with Hudson. I figure you’d be coming around, sooner or later.

Actually took you a bit longer to show up than I’d originally guessed. ”

Unease slithered through Eb. “What kind of deal did you have with Hudson?”

“Oh, the usual.”

There was no usual deal.

“You make sure my life stays nice and easy,” Ivan said. “In return, I make sure you get all the inside info that you need. Simple enough, yes?”

Nothing was ever really simple.

“But why are you pointing that gun at me?” Ivan asked. His bushy brows lowered. “It should be on her. We both know what she did.”

A low whine came from the dog.

Eb’s gaze jumped to the big Golden Retriever. He saw that the dog had glanced back at Naomi. Once more, her fingers skimmed over Henry’s head.

“You should have let me shoot her,” Ivan continued, a definite note of petulance in his voice. “I had a clear case of breaking and entering. The DA probably would have thanked me when he found her body.” Ivan grunted. “It could still happen. If we play the scene right.”

“Uh, Eb?” Naomi seemed worried.

She probably should be. The Russian wanted her dead.

“I am happy to do the job.” Ivan tapped his chin. “Or…or do you just want to kill her yourself?”

Silence.

“You have to be pissed,” Ivan added. His accent deepened just a little in those words. Half-forgotten. “She murdered him. Took a knife and carved up Hudson. I liked the guy, and I don’t like many people in this world.”

Everyone had liked Hudson. He’d been open, friendly, easy-going. And rich as hell.

“Turn the gun on her.” Ivan stepped away from the door. “I can be your witness. I’ll claim it was self-defense. One quick squeeze of that trigger, and we both get the vengeance we want.”

Eb stalked toward Naomi.

The dog shifted, instantly alert as it stood on all four feet.

“You didn’t follow orders,” Eb told Naomi. He’d specifically told her to go home. Had he said to break into a bar? To sneak into a Russian criminal’s private office? Nope.

She grimaced. “It’s a character flaw I have. A distinct inability to follow orders.”

“You lied to me.”

“That’s another character flaw I have. I do tell the occasional lie.” A nod. “Do you want me to apologize?”

He wanted to get her the hell out of there without utter chaos erupting on them both. One wrong shout from Ivan would have all his goons breaking down the door. Ivan’s fear of being revealed as an informant was the only thing currently keeping the wolves at bay.

Ivan grunted again—he seemed to do that a lot—as he swaggered closer. “What about being a killer, pretty lady?” Ivan asked. “That a flaw you want to confess about having, too?”

Her deep, dark eyes didn’t leave Eb. “You aren’t going to shoot me.”

“At the moment, no, it’s not on my agenda.”