Don't Give A Dwarf (Dwarf Bounty Hunter Book 2)

by Martha Carr

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  “Who the fuck is that?” the man shouted. “You said this place was cleared.”

  “It was!”

  Una sighed in the water and bobbed almost motionlessly while thin streams of purple smoke drifted from the top of her body. She submerged fully with a hiss and reappeared again a moment later.

  “Y’all fuckers gettin’ a kick out of fryin’ a mama and her kid, huh?”

  The man swung the electric rod toward Johnny and turned the voltage up. “Well, I’m a fan of calamari. Stop right there. Hands up.”

  “Naw, I like my hands where they are.” From the corner of his eye, the dwarf saw the other three hired guns move down the dock toward the leader of this fucked-up operation. “Tell your boys to stand down and maybe I won’t have to shoot that other lightbulb before I bash your face in.”

  The man sneered and stepped between the magicals with the whips. “Shut this idiot up.”

  The wizards—he knew that was what they were once they turned the orange sparks on their whips into a constant roar of magical energy—darted toward the bounty hunter and snarled. He lowered his weapon and shot the first one through the kneecap. The wizard fell with a shriek, and the other one’s whip cracked around the barrel of his rifle.

  A small jolt ran up through the dwarf’s arms. He growled and jerked his weapon toward him. The wizard stumbled forward, unwilling to release his whip, and Johnny drove his forehead into his face. His rifle butt cracked against the side of the wizard’s head and he fell too. The orange sparks of his magic faded.

  “Who’s next, assholes?” The bounty hunter trudged across the road toward the truck and the two SUVs parked at the end of the dock. He yanked an explosive disk from his belt, pressed the button, and lobbed it at the three thugs who aimed their weapons at him.

  One of them looked at the projectile that blinked with a tiny red light and kicked it into the swamp. It detonated halfway into the water and shredded reeds, and muddy water erupted all over them. “You’re screwed now, ain’tcha?” He sneered unpleasantly.

  “Not even close.” Johnny raised his rifle again and a pistol’s crack rose behind him.

  Lisa’s first shot struck one of the thug’s hands and pinged off his weapon beneath it. “Aw, fuck!”

  “Shit! He’s not alone. Second shooter’s in the fucking reeds!”

  Her second shot barely missed the ducking men as they ran back toward the one remaining flood lamp. One of them grasped the cage around the bright light and swiveled it across the water toward Lisa’s position.

  The dwarf shot the other light and it shattered as the much larger report of a fired weapon rang out across the water. The second the floodlight went out, the truck holding the generator erupted in a furious blaze of fire and smoke. Metal shards and glass flew everywhere, peppering the mud around the reeds, and showered over the thugs and the man with the electric rod. The truck’s cab lurched a foot in the air before it crunched down again and bounced on three full tires and a shredded fourth.

  Grinning at the blazing fire that lit up the end of the road and the dock, Johnny trudged toward the men who shielded themselves from the explosion. “Boom 4.5, fuckers.”

  Lisa appeared beside him with the explosive rifle swinging against her back and drew her service weapon again. “Yeah, we can simply call it Boom 5.”

  One of the three remaining hired guns searched frantically for the weapon he’d dropped in the explosion.

  “You should hold onto your valuables,” the bounty hunter growled.

  The man looked up with wide eyes and caught the butt of his assailant’s rifle on the underside of his chin. He spun and fell without a sound as his eyes rolled back in his head. A second man recovered from the explosion and raised his rifle.

  A wad of thick, dark-purple goo sprayed with impressive precision from one of Una’s dripping tentacles. It splattered the man’s face and he screamed and discarded his weapon to claw at the stinging flammable substance in his eyes and filling his mouth.

  The third henchman was a real Einstein. He attacked Johnny with a roar instead of using the semi-automatic strapped across his shoulder. The bounty hunter dropped to one knee and ducked the meaty arms that swung toward him. He snatched an explosive disk from his belt and smacked it onto the man’s lower back before he caught him by the back of the shirt, spun, and hauled him across shattered glass and metal to fling him over the side of the dock. The man fell with a splash, the disk detonated, and nothing more than an extra collection of bubbles rose to the surface.

  The man’s head breached and he gasped for air as he moaned.

  “That one is still breathing,” Una said.

  “How observant of you.” Johnny dusted his hands off and watched the guy flail in the mud and drag himself out of the swamp. “He’s lucky I threw him in the water. Otherwise, he’d be draggin’ his top half up while the bottom half floated out with the tide.”

  The man slumped forward in the mud, gasping, and clutched his back. “My fucking ass, man. You broke my fucking ass.”

  The bounty hunter snorted. “You’re one of the real smart ones, ain’tcha?”

  He turned to locate the man who’d headed this operation and who now crawled across the glass-littered road toward a lost and abandoned rifle. His hand came down on the barrel, and Lisa’s foot settled on his hand a second later.

  “Don’t even think about it.”

  The leader froze and looked slowly at Agent Breyer, whose face was blocked from view by the barrel of her service weapon aimed at the center of the man’s head. “You won’t shoot me. Do you have any idea of the kind of hell that’ll come down on your head if you—”

  Lisa thumbed the hammer back and inclined her head. “Do you?”

  “All right.” Johnny trudged toward them and sneered in the flickering light of the blazing truck. “Let’s get a better look at this scumbag.” He grasped the man by the lapels of his casual suit jacket and hauled him to his feet. “Naw. Still ugly as shit.”

  “You have no idea who you’re fucking with.” The man spat a glob of something unpleasant.

  “So why don’t you tell me. Wait. Hold on.” He drove his fist into the leader’s gut and elicited a sharp grunt and a gasp, then pulled him upright again by his jacket. “Okay. Now tell me.”

  Una splashed lightly in the water, still bobbing at the end of the dock. “That was wonderfully satisfying.”

  The bounty hunter sneered at his captive. “You’re tellin’ me.”

  “My—” The man wheezed and drew in another gasping breath. “My name is Terrance Glaston.”

  “Uh-huh. Now try tellin’ me somethin’ useful.”

  “Have you ever heard of High Tide Resorts?”

  “Oh, yeah. I think I’ve heard the name,” Lisa said, her service pistol still aimed at Terrance’s head. “Up-and-coming tourism and travel conglomerate, right? Only been around a few years, huh?”

  “I heard your hotels were shit,” Johnny added. “That why you’re tryin’ to tear down all the others on the coast? Swoop in to buy up all the properties after they’ve been destroyed and prices plummet?”

  The man sneered at him, still breathing heavily. “A smart move after an Oriceran piece of shit like that one leaves its mark with an uncontrollable rampage. Think of it as an economy boost.”

  “Yeah. The economy of your company’s damn pockets. Who’s your boss?”

  “I’m chairman of the fucking board, you moron.”

  “Good for you.” The dwarf clicked his tongue. “Not cool, Terrance. ’Specially when you’re holdin’ somethin’ like a kid over that Logree’s head to get the job done.”

  “It’s a fucking animal,” the man snarled. “Doesn’t even belong on this planet. Who gives a shit?”

  “Huh. Una, for one. And her kid. And me.” He punched him in the gut again and Terrance dropped to his knees. The dwarf stooped to mutter in his ear, “Now you’re gonna fix it.”

  The closest thug Joh
nny had knocked out with his rifle butt groaned and rolled onto his stomach. He stared at his employer, who wheezed on his knees with his jacket wadded in his captor’s fist. Lisa trained her weapon on the hired help instead. The man blinked woozily through a trickle of blood that spilled down his forehead. “You got this, boss?”

  “No, you fucking idiot.” Terrance’s shoulders sagged as he fought for breath. “Does it look like I fucking got this?”

  The bleeding man swiped the blood from his forehead and struggled to push into a seated position.

  “Watch it,” the agent warned and stepped toward him. “Nice and easy.”

  The chairman grunted. “You’re the bounty hunter, aren’t you?”

  “Well, not the only one.” Johnny gave the man’s jacket a little shake. “But probably the best.”

  Lisa glanced at him and cocked her head.

  “Damnit, Raul.” Terrance snarled at his one remaining henchman. “I told you to eliminate him.”

  “We were on him.” Raul glared at Lisa’s gun and blinked heavily again, most likely from a severe concussion. “We trailed him around Everglades City and would’ve had him in Marco Island if your idiot son hadn’t gotten in the way at the fucking jewelry store.”

  “Oh, that wannabe jewelry thief was your son?” The dwarf grinned and gave his prisoner another shake. “Is that right?”

  Terrance’s teeth clacked together and he scowled before he muttered, “Shut your fucking mouth, Raul. I swear. It’s like everyone west of Miami was born with half a brain.”

  “Naw, you’re merely dippin’ into the wrong pond, asshole.” Johnny hauled the man to his feet again, shoved him away, jerked him forward again, and slapped his cheek. “You and me are gonna take a ride, Terrance. And Agent Breyer here’s comin’ with us, ’course.”

  Both men both widened their eyes at her.

  “Yeah, that’s right, shithead.” He slapped the man’s face again. “I have friends in the Bureau. And unless you wanna sit down for a little chitchat with about a dozen of ʼem who ain’t near as friendly or easy on the eyes as she is, you’re gonna do everythin’ I say.”

  Lisa raised an eyebrow at the bleeding thug who swayed at the front of the dock but decided to ignore Johnny’s summary of her character.

  “Why the fuck would I do that?”

  The bounty hunter sneered at Terrance and leaned forward until his face was inches from his. “Because I’m the one who tied up your idiot son. His words, not mine. But they ain’t wrong.”

  The man on the ground sighed heavily and hung his head.

  “So come on Terrance Asswad.” He yanked the man’s jacket toward the SUV least damaged by the exploding truck. “We’re gonna get that Logree kid outta whatever cage you’re keepin’ it in. And you get to keep your kid out of a cage in county. How’s that sound?”

  Terrance snarled and scrambled across broken glass as Johnny hauled him toward the SUV.

  Lisa stepped toward the woozy asshole seated on the ground and nodded toward the vehicle. “You too, genius.”

  “No, I’m…I’m good right here—”

  She squeezed off a shot that went through the boards of the dock beside him and flurried splinters of wood over him. “I wasn’t asking.”

  “Damn…okay, okay. Jesus Christ. Who gives a woman a gun anyway?”

  The agent removed one hand from her weapon to grasp the back of the guy’s collared shirt and help him roughly to his feet. She shoved him toward the vehicle and returned both hands to her pistol. “I still have my weapon. And I’m the one who scared you so badly you dropped yours.”

  The bounty hunter shoved Terrance roughly into the passenger seat of the SUV and called cheerfully, “Do I need to come shut someone up for ya, Agent Breyer?”

  “We’re good for now, Johnny. I think this one’s used up all his brain cells.”

  “I will stay here,” Una called after them with a low rumble and a spray of water. “And await the return of my offspring.”

  “As agreed.” Johnny walked around the front of the vehicle to take his place behind the wheel. “This shouldn’t take too long.”

  Lisa opened the back door, muscled Raul inside, and waited for the hunched man to scoot across so she could get in beside him. She shut the door and kept her pistol aimed at him, although he looked like he was about to drop again at any second. “Let’s get going, then.”

  Johnny started the engine. “This is the part where you give me an address or goddamn directions, Terrance. Unless you want another slap first.”

  “Fine.” The man grimaced and leaned forward to punch the address into the GPS. “You’re wasting your time playing savior to those brainless invertebrates, dwarf.”

  “Brainless, huh? You had no idea that baby was sending everything it heard and saw from your little meetings back to its angry mama, did you?”

  The chairman lowered his hand slowly from the dashboard and remained silent.

  “Yeah, didn’t think so. That invertebrate’s a better parent than you ever were.”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Oh, sure. But I seen your boy. He’s in bad shape, Terrance, and might need an intervention.”

  The man jerked on the lapels of his suit jacket as Johnny followed the GPS prompts leading them to their destination. It’d better be the goddamn right one.

  A thump and a loud snore rose from the back seat. Terrance turned to see the barrel of Lisa’s service pistol trained on him now. She nodded toward Raul beside her. “Your buddy fell asleep. So now you get all my attention.”

  He turned quickly in his seat and released a shuddering breath.

  Johnny snorted. “Lucky you.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  The GPS took them to an industrial business complex on the southern edge of Miami. Lisa was more than happy to holster her pistol again after she’d trained it on Glaston for the hour it had taken them to get there.

  They left Raul in the SUV.

  Terrance led them to a huge room on the third floor and snapped commands at the four men keeping watch over the large aquarium tank at the back of the room. “Get that ready to move.”

  “Boss, we ain’t even got past Naples—”

  “I’m not paying you to tell me what we haven’t done!” He pointed at the aquarium. “Get that fucking maggot ready to move!”

  “Someone has a problem with name-callin’,” the bounty hunter muttered. The men lurched from their chairs when they saw Lisa’s pistol trained on Terrance’s back. Two of them reached for their weapons, but the dwarf swung one of his rifles to aim it at them first. “I don’t think so.”

  “Don’t try to shoot him either,” Terrance ordered as he strode toward a long table crammed with computer monitors. “I promise he’s smarter and faster than all of you. That’s not saying much, but if you prefer to not die with bullets in your bellies, stand down.”

  “Aw.” Johnny swung his rifle toward Terrance. “Looks like it hurt to give even that much of a compliment.”

  “Fuck off,” the chairman muttered. He snatched a radio off the computer table and muttered into it, “Get a speedboat ready to go at dock three. Fifteen minutes.”

  “Change of plans, boss?”

  “I don’t need to tell you what the goddamn plans are. Just do it!” Terrance slammed the radio down and turned. “There. Everything’s in motion.”

  “Uh-huh. And you’re sticking around for all of it until that watery purple kiddo is back in her mama’s lovin’ tentacles.”

  A quick splash came from the aquarium tank at the back of the room. “Johnny!”

  “What the fuck?” He turned to scowl at the tank.

  “Johnny, you’re here! You came!” The shrill, tinny voice of Una’s offspring filled the room and two small, light-purple tentacles draped over the edge of the tank as the baby Logree’s head bobbed above the surface. So maybe Una had remembered his name after all.

  “Uh…yeah. You hang tight.”


  Lisa stepped toward him and shifted her gaze from the tank to a glowering Terrance. “Telepathy, Johnny.”

  “Yeah, I know. It’s still damn weird.”

  Two of the hired men secured the tank with an airtight lid, lifted it between them, and shuffled toward the door and the elevators in the hallway beyond.

  “Does that give her enough air?” the dwarf asked.

  “They live at the bottom of the fucking ocean, moron.”

  He stalked toward the man, who straightened and raised his chin belligerently. With a smirk, Johnny swung a fist at his face. Terrance flinched, but the bounty hunter stopped himself before he made contact and sniggered. “Two for flinching.”

  With a grim smile, he slapped the man twice on the cheek and shoved him toward the door. “Let’s go.”

  As dumb as Terrance Glaston’s hired brutes were, they were surprisingly efficient in preparing the speedboat and loading Una’s offspring’s tank onboard before Johnny, Lisa, and the High Tide Resorts’ chairman of the board stepped up. One of the thugs tried to come with them, and the agent leveled her gun at him and shook her head. “Private cruise, buddy.”

  “Don’t do anything until I get back,” his boss muttered. “Check in with the others.”

  The bounty hunter steered the speedboat away from the dock and in moments, they cruised along the coast toward Una, who waited for them on the other side of Florida’s southern coast. Terrance’s men stood dumbly on the dock and watched their boss leave as a hostage. Johnny chuckled and shook his head. “Morons.”

  When they approached the hidden dock off the road from the Flamingo Visitors Center—which was easy enough to locate with the still-burning truck illuminating the area like a makeshift lighthouse—Una was where they’d left her. She backed away when Johnny pulled the speedboat up to the dock and tied it off.

  “You did it.”

  “Ain’t no good if I don’t keep my word now, am I?” He unlatched the lid of the tank and tried to tip it to release the baby into the water. The creature squeaked with joy and scrambled out and almost knocked him over in the process.