Shotgun Honey Presents: Locked and Loaded (Both Barrels Book 3) by Laukkanen Owen & Rawson Keith & Ayres Jedidiah & Gowran Kent & Abbott Patricia

Author:Laukkanen, Owen & Rawson, Keith & Ayres, Jedidiah & Gowran, Kent & Abbott, Patricia [Laukkanen, Owen]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: crime, noir, shotgun honey, anthology, hard boiled
Publisher: One Eye Press
Published: 2015-04-26T16:00:00+00:00

Yellow car punch

Nigel Bird

Y’ever play Yellow Car Punch, Colin?” The rolled-up cuffs of Giles Yokobo’s white shirt flapped as he casually shuffled a deck of cards and asked the question. “When you were little I mean?”

Colin couldn’t speak to give his answer, the old snot-rag filling his mouth and the circles of duct tape that were keeping it there making sure no words were going to pass his lips. Instead he nodded hard, figuring that the more enthusiastically he joined in with the conversation the kinder they’d be.

“I used to love it,” Giles went on, placing the deck on a bar stool that stood between them. In the dim light of the basement, his dark skin seemed to shine more than it did in the daylight. The muscles in his forearms bulged inside his skin like an obese woman’s arse inside a pair of size twelve jeans. “Probably because I could hit the hardest. And I was taller than my brothers so I got to see the cars first. You like cars, don’t you Colin?”

He did. It’s what had led him to this pit in the first place.

He nodded again, harder this time. Felt warm beads of sweat falling from his face like he was out in the monsoon rain.

“So I thought we’d have a little game ourselves. Just you and me.” Giles rolled up his sleeves until they wouldn’t go any further, picked up the cards and passed them over to the other man in the room. “Course we can’t see the cars going by from down here, us not having any windows and all, so I’m going to do it a different way. My friend Danny here is going to turn the cards over. See a yellow car and you know what to do. Ready Danny?”

Colin found himself wondering about the pair of men who had dragged him out of the pub. Who was harder? If you were given a choice between taking a beating from Danny or Giles, it wouldn’t be an easy decision to make.

Giles was enormous. Could crush a skull with his grip and knock a hole through a wall with just the one punch according to his rep. And, if the stories were to be believed, he was also a mean son-of-a-bitch. Thing about him was, he wasn’t a natural. It was all gym work that had his body in shape. He was muscle bound and his arms were short, so Colin thought he might not have quite the zing that he might need in a fight. Sure, he was great if you needed someone to put on a show, but might not be so hot if it came down to fast action or tight spaces.

Danny was from another mould altogether. He was a giant, but everything about him seemed natural. His body swung loose and free when he moved, like a basketball pro mid-court. He had the ease of a real fighter and the experience of life on the street on his side.

In the end, Colin decided that he was about to take the beating from the lesser man.

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