A Fistful of Trouble (Outlaws of the Galaxy Book 2) Paul Tomlinson (reading strategies book .TXT) 📖

“Scracker!” Casey’s face was flushed now. Thick veins stood out on his neck and little red ones showed in the whites of his eyes. When he bared his teeth, I could see that he had quite long canines. Vampire blood on his mother’s side, perhaps.

One good blow to the head would finish this, I thought. I adjusted my grip on the wooden bat. But Casey was now unarmed and his right hand was out of action, probably broken. I risked a quick glance at the devastation around us.

“The Colonel isn’t going to be happy with you at all,” I said. “Look at all his broken toys.”

Casey’s grimace became a sneer. “Do you think he cares about these pieces of scrap?” he asked. “He wants rid of them to make space for the new ones.”

By ‘new ones’ I had to assume that he didn’t mean Floyd or any of Danny’s inventory. I didn’t have the opportunity to give this new development much thought.

“Quincy! Duck!” Harmony was pointing her gun directly at me so I ducked. A backhanded swipe from a baseball bat whistled past, skimming the top of my head. Harmony fired at the attacker behind me. The explosive slug caught the robot in the chest. It staggered backwards but quickly regained its equilibrium and stepped forwards again. Smoke billowed out of the hole in its casing. Harmony fired again and hit the same spot. This finished off the robot – it stiffened and fell backwards.

“Thank you, darling!”

“Welcome!”

Casey lunged forward and grabbed the bat I was holding. He only had his left hand to my two, but we ended up in a pretty evenly matched tug-o-war.

“You’ve got a good strong grip,” I said. “I like that in a man.”

“I’m going to crush your skull!” he snarled. The look in his eyes said he meant it.

“Enough foreplay,” I said. Summoning all of my strength, I wrenched the bat free from his hand. Before he could retreat, I swung the bat towards his head.

Casey brought his right arm up to ward of the blow. The bat smashed into his arm and there was a sickening crack! Casey opened his mouth and let out a deep, hoarse scream of pain.

“Give it up, Casey,” I said, holding the bat ready for another swing. “I don’t want to hurt you any more.”

“Finish it!” He was clutching the broken arm to his side and his pale skin was beaded with sweat but the challenge in his eyes was intense.

I shook my head and tossed the bat away. “I’m not you,” I said.

“You’re weak,” he said.

“You’ve lost,” I said. “Go home and tell the Colonel I don’t give in to violence.”

“He’ll kill you!”

“Tell him to come himself next time. I’m tired of whupping his boys.”

“You know what I’m gonna do?” Casey asked.

“Learn to jerk off with your left hand?”

“Nobody likes a smart-mouth,” Casey said. His fist shot forward, hitting me in the mouth. A lot of people threaten to do that, but I don’t usually let them get close enough to make good on it. I felt the skin split and blood splattered down my shirt. I half expected to see stars and hear the twittering of little birdies.

Casey backed away to admire his handiwork. He smiled at me. I took a step towards him, staggering more than I needed to. He stepped back, still smiling. He stuck out his lower lip, tempting me to try and bust his the way he’d split mine. He was a nasty piece of work. But he was kind of cute in a pale, lanky sort of way. It would be a shame to ruin that thin, straight nose. Instead, I put all of my weight behind an uppercut to his jaw.

In my imagination, the blow lifted Casey off his feet and he flew backwards. In reality, he probably staggered back and tripped over a broken chair. Either way, the outcome was the same. He lost his balance, throwing up his arms but unable to save himself. His shoulders hit the window first, shattering the glass, and then the rest of him tumbled out through it. I heard him hit the ground outside the hotel.

I went and stuck my head out through the hole he’d made. I wanted to make sure he didn’t get up and rejoin the fray. Casey lay on the ground surrounded by broken glass. He was moving but not making any real effort to get back on his feet.

A shout across the street caught my attention. I squinted into the darkness. Sheriff Galton and a handful of his men were coming towards the hotel. I ducked back inside the hotel. It was time for us to disappear.

“Sheriff and his deputies coming this way!” I called.

I surveyed what remained of the dining room. Harmony and two of the robots were still standing.

“You take the right!” she yelled, grinning.

Harmony went for the headshot. A piece of flying shrapnel nicked my cheek. I fired two rapid shots into the chest of the final robot and it exploded in a shower of sparks and a cloud of smoke. This set off the overhead sprinklers.

Harmony and I picked our way carefully across the battlefield and headed for the stairs.

I peeled off my wet, torn, and bloody clothes and dropped backwards onto the bed. I was exhausted. My bottom lip felt like it was the size of a turnip. The door flew open and Harmony bounded in looking flushed and bright-eyed.

“That was invigorating!” she said. She hurled herself onto the bed, crawling up and planting a very gentle kiss on my swollen lip. She sat up and stripped off her blouse. The lace on one side of her bra was torn. That was the only damage she seemed to have sustained.

“I don’t have the energy to do anything,” I apologised.

“You just lie back,” she said, “I’ll be on top.”

“Just so there’s no misunderstanding between us,” I said, “the back door is closed tonight.”

“All right,” she said, smiling down