“Strange as it may seem, Gunnar, my reputation with women may be precisely what makes me the best inside man.” Gabe continued, keeping his voice calm not wanting to give away the anxiety he was feeling, “Sniffing around women is what I do best and you damn well know it. No one is going to be surprised if I make my interest in Ana known.” He grinned. “That’s the real reason we have to wrap up this operation in a week or two at the most. No one will believe that my interest could last longer than that!”
Eagle nodded. “I think you’re right, Gabe.” Pointing to the stack of notes, he shared his first insights from his careful study of the entrails. “These notes point to a couple of things. The most obvious is that this is an inside job. At the very least, someone in Chao’s operation is feeding information to the bad guys. Or it’s even closer than that. These notes reveal too damn much about the man and his family to be just one more fucker Chao skinned at the money trough. Few people know how often we have done work for Chao, but everyone knows that incident from when you were a kid. You’ve got a history with him. It makes total sense that now that his girl is a grown woman, that an unprincipled asshole like you would try to take advantage of her.”
Gabe glared at him. “Thanks — I guess — for understanding the wisdom of my strategy, Eagle. May I assume you didn’t mean to drive that spear as deep as you did?”
Eagle tossed his head. A glimmer of amusement shone in his eyes. “Hell, Gabe, just want to make sure you know that you can fool the rest of the world, but Gunnar and I see right through you. There’s a reason we hooked up. We’re both as unworthy of women like Ana Li as you are, but that won’t stop any of us from going after them.”
Gunnar guffawed and his eyes danced with appreciation. Gabe felt his irritation melt as he looked at the two men who would give their lives for him, as he would them. It had been a fluke that the three of them hooked up. Who would have known that the debacle with Jake Connor’s gang would bring the three young U. S marshals together and push them over the edge? Connor was as evil as they came. Robbery, rape, murder were everyday dalliances for Jake and his gang. Hell, they ate women for breakfast, making their men folk watch before they killed them all.
Gabe headed up the team that finally brought them in, in a daring takedown that was the stuff of legend at the marshal service. But true to the tenor of the times and the rotten core of the marshal service, Connor’s men were out of prison six weeks after they went in. The judge who freed them did so on the good word of the local sheriff, and the head honcho at the California U. S. Marshal’s office. Gabe could have handled the betrayal by his superiors. It was part of the corrupt game played every day when dealing with feared outlaws like Connor and his men. But it was the massacre Connor headed up, burning to death an enclave of Quakers just for the hell of it, that pushed Gabe over the edge. He might have handled the eight men that were killed or even the like number of women, but it was the mutilated bodies of more than a dozen kids that enraged him. After cleaning up the mess and burying the bodies, Gabe walked into the California marshal’s service and threw down his badge. He never looked back.
To his surprise, two weeks later he met Gunnar and Eagle at a poker game in one of the ritziest brothels in San Francisco.
After Gabe had taken everyone’s money and it was just the three of them, he learned that Gunnar and Eagle left the service when he did. They were working undercover for the guy who owned the brothel. The money they were making rivaled Gabe’s earnings from the game.
Two hours later, their partnership was formed and they never looked back. The only rules they followed were that there weren’t any rules. The men they worked for were as dirty as they came and into businesses that most former lawmen would avoid like the plague. That didn’t stop the three former marshals. Bad asses needed protection as much as anyone, and their ability to pay for those services was far better than most.
Within months, the skill and uncompromising violence of the partnership was known among the men who could best pay for it. Gabe’s poker moniker stuck and they became known in the shadows as Angel’s Avengers. Whether it was protecting their property, or avenging real or perceived wrongs, wealthy men who had the wherewithal knew where to look for redress. If it was secrecy they required, and men who were smarter than hell and as violent as their adversaries, they turned to the Avengers.
Their reputation spread among men who themselves inspired fear. But, no matter how corrupt, how powerful the big guy was, he didn’t want to be on the wrong side of Gabe and his team. They might call him Angel, but there wasn’t a devil bad enough, hard enough to match the fearsome skills of the green eyed charmer, whether at the poker table or in the cesspools of the underground.
~~~
Gabe shoved back his chair and rose to his feet. He threw down a fistful of bills and jerked his head toward the back room. “Say good night to Shorty for me. Tell ‘im we appreciate him looking out for us.”
Eagle and Gunnar eyed him without speaking.
Gabe grinned. “It’s not what you think, fellas. I gotta go kick some ass tonight. I need to help a certain Chinese boy learn what it means to be a man, a warrior. If I can’t, he won’t be any good to us or his sister. And we need him on our team.”
Chapter 10
“
Evening, Kai.”
Kai jerked around, startled, peering into the darkness, hunting for him. Gabe smiled to himself. Another lesson to teach the kid. Always keep your back against a tree or another solid surface if you plan to ambush a man. And, he snorted to himself, don’t try to ambush a guy you know in your gut is gonna take you down.
Gabe struck a match, making lazy work of lighting his cigarette. In the glow of the sulfur, he sized up his young adversary. Kai’s face had lost none of the strain he had seen earlier. If anything, his scowl was more ferocious. Shaking his head, Gabe marveled at how easy it was going to be to bring this young warrior down. He thought through his strategy. He needed to hurt the kid, show him the danger of fighting from anger. He also needed to leave visible bruises. Signs for the world to see. More important, the kid needed interior wounds to acknowledge he had been bested by a master.
But, Gabe reminded himself, this was Chao’s son, Ana’s brother. The lessons needed to be tempered with mercy. The purpose was to teach, engage, not crush the kid’s spirit any further.
“Sure you wanna do this in the dark of night, kid? I was looking forward to kicking your ass in front of everyone, including your sister.”
At Kai’s growl, Gabe taunted him further, eager to ratchet up his anger to the boiling point. “Yeah, kid, I think your sister needs to see how a man fights. See me take down a snotty nosed kid who thinks he’s a warrior, but is nothing more than a scared boy trying to prove to the world he’s tough. Yeah, Kai, it’s important that Ana sees who can really protect her, keep her safe.”
Kai face flushed a dark reddish purple, his body vibrated with rage. “You fucking son of a bitch. God damn you! So help me God, you go near my sister again, I’ll kill you!”
Gabe tossed his cigarette, grinding it out with his boot. He saw that Kai was at the breaking point. All he needed to do was tweak him a little more.
“What’s your problem, boy? You want to be the only one Ana turns to for protection? Or can’t you stand to see another man kiss her, run his hands over that lush, nubile flesh?”
Kai exploded. His shrieking warrior yell screamed across the courtyard. He threw himself at Gabe, his strong young body potentially a lethal weapon. The move was precisely what Gabe expected, engineered. Gabe sidestepped him. Meeting nothing but air, and propelled by the strength of his attack, Kai flew by and landed in a heap on the ground. Shaking his head in surprise, he leapt to his feet and charged, an angry bull powered by fury.
Gabe wasn’t all that much older than Kai, and practiced the same warrior arts as the kid. The difference was that he was in fact a warrior, whereas Kai was a brash street fighter. Gabe struck with the same contained violence that destroyed his adversaries at the poker table. He never lost his strategic focus. Relying on the moves that made him the scourge of the back alleys of Boston, Gabe was pitiless. He sidestepped or batted away each angry rush of his furious opponent. When Kai was thoroughly confused, striking blindly out of anger, not skill, Gabe finally turned to his particular advantage.
Trained by a Kung Fu master who included
savate
in his repertoire, Gabe attacked. He aimed a flurry of savage kicks at Kai’s most vulnerable body parts. Overwhelmed by the ferocity of the attack, Kai huddled helplessly, trying to scuttle away from the merciless overkill.
Gabe eased up a little to give Kai the chance to concede. It was important that Kai acknowledge he was beaten, to own the defeat. A minute later, Kai rolled over in a protective ball and put up his hands, the signal for “enough.”
Gabe stepped back, watching him carefully, judging his injuries. Kai rose to his hands and knees coughing up blood. He tried to stand, but couldn’t. He sunk back down to the ground, spitting out mouthfuls of blood.
Gabe dug his bandana out of his back pocket and sopped up water from the cistern by the horse trough. Kai managed to heave himself to a sitting position and leaned against the hitching post, the damage to his face visible in the moonlight. His lip was split, puffy, his right eye swollen shut, but not enough to halt the tears streaming down his cheeks. Gabe knelt beside him and pressed the cold rag into his hand.
“Here, Kai. Hold this against your eye. It’ll keep the swelling down.”
Kai tried to shove his hand away but Gabe persisted, folding the damp cloth like a bandage, and held it against the kid’s face.
After several minutes Kai stopped spitting blood and leaned back against the post, holding the bandana to his face. Gabe rose to his feet.
“Look, Kai, I don’t hit a man when he’s down, but you need to hear this. You are a hell of a fighter. You’ve got the skills. Someone taught you well. And, hell, you’re strong as an ox. Damn, you probably have thirty pounds on me. But until you learn to control your anger, you’re nothing but a schoolyard bully. Tough, brash, and easy to beat. All it takes for an accomplished fighter is to step back like I did tonight and let you beat yourself.”
Gabe could see the kid was listening.
“That’s not good enough, Kai. You’re right. You are Ana’s first line of defense. I need you, boy. I need to count on you. I need you on my team.”
He waited for a moment. When Kai didn’t answer, he asked, “Need help getting up?
Kai shook his head and mumbled, “I’m okay. You can go.”
Gabe nodded. “Sure thing. See you in the morning.”
He walked away, but stood quietly in the shadow of the barn. He waited until Kai hoisted himself to his feet, clutching the post. After several minutes, Kai got his balance and walked unsteadily toward the big house. Gabe followed him at a discreet distance. When he was sure Kai made it inside, he headed across the courtyard to the guest house.
Chapter 11
The next morning, Gabe ducked by the dining room entrance. He pretended not to hear Penelope call out to him. That’s all he’d need, he thought with a grimace, to get shanghaied by that loathsome woman. His quick glance told him all he needed to know. Ana was not at the table. He chuckled. Not surprising. From what he learned about this family in the last twenty-four hours, it amazed him if Penelope could get anyone to eat with her. Or be in the same room, for that matter.
His humor died a quick death when it hit him again that Ana wasn’t there. An unfamiliar emotion gripped his chest. It felt like anxiety edging toward fear. Neither emotion was familiar. From what he sensed now, it wasn’t a feeling he would enjoy.
He headed out to the barn to look for her. To his relief he saw Clem, the ranch foreman, educating a group of bored-looking stable boys on the rights and wrongs of stable mucking. The boys weren’t impressed. Gabe had to agree. What more could you learn about shoveling horseshit, except to do it as fast as you can and learn to like the smell.
Gabe closed in on the group and tipped his hat to Clem.
“Morning, Clem. Know we haven’t officially met. I’m Gabe McKenna.” He stuck out his hand. To his surprise, the wiry little man ignored it and glared at him. In a voice far from cordial, he said, “I know who you are.”
When he turned to walk away, Gabe called after him. “I’m glad that you do. Chao Li told me last night if I had questions about anything around the ranch I should go to you.”
Clem stopped at the mention of Chao’s name and stood several feet away. Hostility vibrated off his sinewy body. “What do you want?”
Gabe frowned, than plunged ahead. “I’m looking for Ana. Have you seen her?”
Clem shrugged. “Not lately.”
Gabe held the man’s gaze for a long moment then said in a careful voice.
“I see. Well, let’s put it this way, Clem. You can tell me what’s got vinegar in your craw and we can deal with it. Or the two of us can find Chao Li and see if he can figure out who or what put a stick up your ass.”
Clem’s dark suntanned face flushed. Gabe was sure it was with anger not embarrassment. While he waited for Clem to decide if he was going to answer him, Gabe took out his cigarette case and held it out to the man.
“You smoke?”
“Hell, yeah. What man doesn’t? But not that sissy chickenshit crap. I roll my own. That way I don’t smell like I just stepped out of a chippy joint.”
Gabe nodded. He took his time lighting his cigarette, never taking his eyes off the other man’s hard face. While the insinuation was clear, he decided not to take him on. After he took several drags and Clem had yet to answer him, Gabe decided enough was enough.
“Let’s try this again, Clem. See if we can get a better start. Is Ana here?”
Clem shrugged. “Her roan’s gone.”
Gabe let a smile tweak his lips although he could feel the anger stirring in his gut. Goddammit, he was worried about Ana and this little fucker knew where she was, he was certain.