Page 45 of Stone Coast (Tyson Wild Thriller)

The fist clocked me hard, like a wrecking ball. It twisted my head aside, filling my mouth with blood. My hair twisted, and a jolt shot through my jaw and down my spine as I tumbled back to the gritty concrete.

If I didn’t have amnesia before, I certainly did now.

By that time, Diamond was on top of me. The shitbag cocked his fist back, then dropped the hammer, pounding me harder than a virgin on prom night. My skull bounced between his fist and the concrete, rattling my brain.

After a few blows, I was a little discombobulated, to say the least .

That’s when the cretin went for my pants.

His greasy fingers unbuttoned my waistband.

I swiped at him, clawing across his face, drawing blood.

Buzz Cut watched, amused.

Diamond was pissed. He clutched at the grooves I had carved in his cheek. Then he responded with a freight train to my face.

I damn near blacked out.

I thought I was dead.

A bright light filled the room as the door flew open.

Silhouetted figures stormed it.

BOOM!

BOOM!

Muzzle flash flickered and smoke wafted from venomous barrels.

Buzz Cut and Diamond hit the ground, moaning in agony, gasping for breath.

A figure drew near and hovered over me. “Are you okay?”

Dressed in all black, wearing a black balaclava, I recognized the voice and the eyes. It was Cooper.

I nodded, and he helped me to my feet.

“I leave you alone for two minutes, and you’re already trying to mix it up with two strangers in a storeroom. ”

Another masked figure dragged Ray into the room and shoved him to the ground. He aimed his shotgun at Ray while another figure watched the door and the hallway.

“Tell the lady what she wants to know!” Cooper said with a growl.

Ray didn’t look so tough now. They had roughed him up a bit.

His goons still writhed in agony, but there was no blood. It took me a moment to clue in to the fact they’d been shot with non-lethal bean bags. Those will crack ribs and take the breath out of you. Make you wish you were dead.

“I don’t know,” Ray whispered.

Coop shoved the barrel of his shotgun in his face. At that distance, non-lethal became lethal. “I’m not playing around with you.”

“I don’t know. Some guy. He came to me with a job. I didn’t ask questions. Paid in cash.”

“What did he look like?”

“Clean cut. Curly brown hair. Blue eyes. Boyish face. Early 30s.”

“Fed?” I said.

“Could be. No tattoos.”

“I need a name,” I demanded.

“Lady, it’s not the kind of transaction where you exchange names. ”

“How did he approach you?”

“He came into the club.”

“Bullshit. You’re not going to take a job from some schmuck off the street.”

Ray hesitated.

“Start talking, dipshit.”

After a long moment, he said, “He was referred by Mako. It checked out.”

“Who’s Mako?”

“Dominic Mackey. Everybody calls him Mako. Look, you didn’t get his name from me.”

Cooper whispered in my ear. “We need to go? What do you want to do with him?”

I thought long and hard about it. These guys would have killed me in a heartbeat and wouldn’t have thought twice. And that would have been after they did unspeakable things. I wasn’t inclined to show them any mercy, but that voice in the back of my head said, walk away .

And I did.

We left the sniveling dirtbags on the floor and hustled out of the storeroom, then made a hasty exit through the back.

The van waited with a driver at the wheel.

We hopped aboard, and Cooper rumbled the door shut.

The driver stomped the gas, and we blazed out of the alley.

The team pulled off their balaclavas—Cooper, TJ, Finn, and Piper behind the wheel .

I gave a look around at the motley crew. “I guess I owe you for saving my ass.”

Cooper flashed that brilliant smile. “We take care of our own.”

With a few twists and turns, Piper put the Cool Cat behind us. I said to her, “I thought you were just tech support.”

“Yeah, well, sometimes I like to drive.” She paused, then glared at me in the rearview. “That was pretty fucking stupid.”

“I’m not gonna argue.”

“I know you’re new around here, but we don’t ever do anything alone,“ Cooper said. “Always have a partner. You should know better.”

“I haven’t committed to your organization yet.”

He laughed. “Yes, you have. You just don’t know it yet.”

“You’ve been following me around?”

“Somebody’s gotta keep your ass out of trouble.“ Cooper flashed that pearly grin again. “I suppose you want to run down Mako?”

“He’s on my list of people to talk to. But I think I’ve had enough excitement for one night.”

“I don’t know about anybody else, but I think it’s time for a cocktail.”

“I’ve had my fill for today, thank you,“ I said.

“That’s right, you and Olivia indulged at the Tipsy Turtle. She’s a hot little number. ”

“Go get it, tiger. She’s available.”

He chuckled. I think he said it to get a reaction out of me.

“Where are you gonna stay tonight? I don’t think it’s safe for you to go back to your boat.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Do you think Ray is just gonna let this slide? I mean, I can respect you prioritizing life, not wanting to be a cold-blooded killer. But you’re making a slew of enemies. You realize that? You don’t even have a gun.”

“Seems you have plenty.”

He gave me an incredulous look. “You want one of my guns?”

“Anything will do.”

Cooper hesitated for a moment. He drew a pistol from his holster, checked the safety, then handed it to me.

I press-checked the weapon.

“That’s unregistered. But try not to kill anybody with it.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“She can stay with me tonight,” TJ said. “Helluva lot safer than Coop’s place. And you won’t catch anything from the sheets.”

I chuckled, and Coop sneered at him.

“Thank you both, but I’ll be fine.”

TJ seemed like he could control his hormones a lot more than Cooper .

I told Piper to take me back to the marina. It pained her to do so, but she complied.

When we pulled into the parking lot, there were still a few media types hanging around the Intrepid . I was in no mood to deal with them. “On second thought, I may take you up on your offer.”