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“We can leave. All three of us. We’ll start over somewhere new.”
“You want me to run away with you?” He snickers. “That’s fuckin’ sweet. But I don’t run with snitches.” He rushes me, coming forward with right-left-right punches.
The first blow hits my nose, then I block the next two strikes and take a hard step right at his last swing. As he moves by me, I launch my fist into the side of his face, knocking him off balance.
“Motherfucker.” He rushes me again with a sloppy, uncalculated assault that I defend with a sharp side kick to the shin.
He snarls, his eyes flaring with fury. “Kicking? Seriously? Where the fuck did you learn to fight?”
“Look, man. I told you, we don’t need to do this.” I raise my hands in surrender. “Walk away while you still can.”
“Still can?” He snickers. “Jesus, you’re one cocky prick.”
And that’s exactly what I need to be to put him off his game. I can already feel his frustration. I can see it in his impulsive moves.
He clenches his fists and holds them in front of his chest. “This is how real men fight. With their hands.”
I shrug. “Seems like all it’s doing is getting your butt whooped.”
I counter his circling steps, watching his every move, reading his expression. I know he’ll swing first. He lacks the patience to wait me out.
“How long did you study me before you figured out a way for us to work together?” He feigns relaxation his expression doesn’t back up. He’s tense, tight, almost panicked.
“You came to me for help, remember? You instigated this.”
He flashes his teeth in a snarl, my verbal strike inflicting injury to his ego.
In reality, it took months to find a way into his life. Then many more to train to fit the role. Hunter’s weakness has always been technology—computers, hacking, online surveillance.
With a million hours’ study, I became a master. I built a name for myself so quickly in the Portland criminal circles that Hunter came ru
He lunges, swinging a powerful blow. I dodge the punch, grab his wrist, and swing out my leg, using his own momentum to knock him off balance.
He falls to his back, and I go down with him, bending his wrist while pi
“I’m not doing this anymore,” I growl.
He swings at me with his left hand and bucks, fighting like an animal. I slice at the blows and grab the attacking arm, pi
“Go to my house. Find the information. Then pick a side.”
The look he gives me is the most brutal offense. My bruises don’t mean shit. That pain will eventually fade. But I’ll never forget the loathing in his eyes. I won’t lose the guilt of what I’ve done to him.
His lip curls. “Get fuc—”
I lunge forward, head butting him right above the eyes. The impact ricochets through my skull, temporarily blinding me. But it does the trick.
It’s nighty-night for the big, bad Hunter.