BLOOD RETRIBUTION

by Blake Hudson

  “You ordered extra toast… and what was this rubbish about not understanding the menu?” Dani laughed after her mouth dropped a little in shock. His French had been flawless.

  “The trouble is, not how much caviar, but how much toast they serve with it. There is never enough toast or bread,” Knox said as he winked at the bemused Dani.

  “And that you understood the menu and pronounced everything so well,” Dani questioned again with a sceptic tone.

  “You explained things so well, and it’s my job to learn fast and understand orders.” Knox tried his best to sound believable and hide a cheeky grin. When really, he had played dumb over the menu as he had known of Dani’s love of fine food as she had her own blog on the topic, one she updated weekly. A blog he read regularly.

  “Lucas Knox…with a face like yours, you could have me believing anything you say,” Dani said as she cut him a playful look.

  “Nice to hear my rugged looks still work,” Knox said with just as cheeky a grin.

  “Carte des vins, Monsieur.” The waiter offered the wine list, breaking the moment between Knox and Dani.

  “Please, can I select us something?” Dani said as she placed a hand on Knox’s, and gave him a look he couldn’t say no to. A look that just made him want to put his hand around her throat and kiss her.

  “Go right ahead,” Knox replied as he opened and closed his hand trying to shake his thoughts from his head before his face gave him away.

  “Thank you, I know champagne is the drink to have. But I would prefer to drink a brut Cava with you tonight. It is the perfect wine and suits the occasion of us being here in Spain, I hope you agree,” Dani said as she clapped her hands in excitement.

  “Then that is what we shall have, anyway I am not the biggest fan of champagne, not that I know much about it,” Knox said as he called the attention of the wine waiter.

  “May we have a bottle of the 2005 Recaredo Reserva Particular,” Dani said and looked so happy that Knox looked on and thought it was easy to forget why they were there. And would it be so bad if they forgot the mission and just enjoyed the evening?

  Their food came and they enjoyed every mouthful along with the drink, but most of all they enjoyed each other. Knox was given a look at what his life could be like, and with a woman like Dani, it seemed like a beautiful dream if not a perfect one. And as he didn’t know when he would have a chance like this again and as they had finished their meal, he took Dani’s hand as he stood up.

  “Where are we going?” Dani looked puzzled.

  “Come with me,” Knox said before he led her through the maze of tables and dinner guests all sat enjoying themselves.

  “Lucas… No, I don’t…” Dani tried to say but it was too late, Knox had her on the dance floor.

  “I can’t dance…” Dani whispered into Knox’s ear.

  “I don’t know why you are whispering, Lass, the music’s very loud,” he teased, with his lips touching her tender skin just under her ear. He liked the breathy sound she exhaled because of it.

  “Just follow my lead, Sweetheart,” Knox said, taking hold of Dani in a firm grip, one she couldn’t help but like as Knox led her perfectly to the Bolero dance. Taking her hand in his felt like the perfect fit but pulling her body into his even more so. His hand pressed at the small of her back, he took control of her body, leading it around the space and slowly the reasons they were there became blurred. A deck full of people surrounded them but for Knox and Dani, they lost themselves in each other and the romantic setting. Neither wanted it to end and just as Knox pulled back to look at her he knew in that moment that he was no longer falling…he had fallen.

  So, he leant down ready to continue what they had started in the bathroom when reality stopped him, just as he reached her lips.

  “Lucas?" She uttered his name in a breathy whisper and the only words he wanted to say was ‘Fuck it' and take her lips… but responsibility was a bitch, so instead said,

  “Time to go to work, Darlin,” as he spotted who he thought was Howard. He was easily given away by the sheer number of security around him. And security was used in the loosest sense of the term, as the men looked like a motley crew of mercenaries forced into suits that were too small for their steroid fuelled upper bodies.

  “Come with me.” Knox leant in and whispered in Dani’s ear as she took a breath, Knox then led her off the dance floor and they made their way to a corridor. They found themselves out on deck as they made their way to a door that had a guard stationed at it. Knox put his arm around Dani and acted like he was drunk.

  “No access here, go back the way you came,” warned the guard who came over to meet them.

  “Sorry my date’s a little drunk, can you help me?” Dani surprised Knox by playing along without being asked. It wasn’t his plan but he would roll with it. And as the guard smiled and took pity on what he thought was Dani’s trouble, Knox took the man clean out with a well-timed strike to his chin. Dani let out a surprised little shriek that thankfully for Knox wasn’t loud enough to alert anyone. He ignored her reaction, Knox picked the guard up and dragged the lump of a man inside the door that Dani opened. They hid him inside a storage cupboard where Knox took a fire axe from the wall and wedged it in the door frame.

  “Remind me not to piss you off,” Dani joked as they walked along the hallway. Knox looked at a map on his smartphone and directed them to a small elevator. They stood and waited what felt like an age, they willed the doors to open as they hoped no one would walk past and see them. A ping sounded loudly as the doors finally opened, only to find they were greeted by a crewman. Knox and Dani smiled, and just as the crewman was about to question them, Knox leapt forward into him and he struck him across the face with his elbow. Then he repeatedly punched to his body followed with a close quarter jump and knee into his gut. Finally finishing him off with locking his fingers behind his head and pulling his face hard down into Knox’s rising knee. The crewman fell in a heap on the floor of the elevator, Knox leant out took hold of Dani's hand and pulled her inside.

  All the while Dani could barely catch her breath and it was nothing to do with keeping up with Knox. No, it was all down to the sight of this side of him and the killer she knew he kept a tight lid on. It was the natural violence his training had burrowed deep into the roots of his soul. Even now, his gentle hand wrapped around hers, she knew what it could actually do to a person in real life. Not just written down in some file she had obsessed over. She knew his past, everything about him in fact, something she told herself was part of the job. But memorising every factor about him, no matter how small, no matter how bad, she knew that wasn’t down to the excuse of it being part of the job. It was because she was… in love with him.

  Now on the correct floor of the yacht for the office and server room, they just needed to make their way down twenty or thirty metres of the corridor. As they reached a corner Knox stopped and took a quick look to see there were two guards at the door to the server room.

  “Dani, just follow my lead okay?” he said as he walked them both closer and just in view of the two men at the end of the hall. Now if he could just make them look this way. He knew what to do, he pulled her tightly into his body, making her yelp as he took her off guard. Then he pressed her up against the wall and started kissing her neck. She let her head fall back and moaned unknowingly. Knox hated that this was all for another’s benefit, feeling like a bastard but he needed the distraction…and Dani was one hell of a distraction!

  He caught her ass in his large hand and pulled her flush with his growing arousal making her moan louder this time. Yes, that was it, now they had the guards’ attention.

  “Hey, you two, you can’t be down here!” One of the men said and the other one started laughing at seeing them fooling around. Knox pretended not to hear and still kissed her neck, stepping them out of sight around the corner. Then he painfully tore himself from her body and moved her so she wouldn’t get hurt.
r />   “Stand back,” he ordered, as he noted she still had a look of bewilderment on her face.

  Knox crouched down and listened, waiting for the footsteps to get closer. But he could only hear one guard coming their way. The guard came around the corner ready to confront them both and Knox was ready for him. He hooked his arm up and between his legs as he lifted him in one fast move and sent the guard head first into the wall. Then in one swift move, delivered a boot to the head for good measure. Dani looked at Knox wide-eyed and with a small amount of fear and disbelief in what she was seeing.

  The commotion sent the second guard running to see what was going on. He pulled a gun on Knox who instantly put his hands up at head height. Knox waited, Dani looked at Knox as if it was the end, but he just smiled and winked.

  “Don’t move or I will shoot,” the guard said, as he pushed the gun muzzle into Knox’s back. This was what Knox was waiting for. The second he felt the gun make contact he spun quickly to his left. In the blink of an eye, he had knocked the gun to the side with his left hand and hit the guard square in the throat with his right, using his extended thumb for extra pain. He grabbed the gun and struck hard into the pressure point of the guard’s wrist, pulling the gun safely away then used it to knock him out. On inspection of the gun, Knox smirked as the safety switch was still on.

  “Amateurs”, Knox muttered down at the two as he stepped over the body in his way. Knox then walked into the server room, making sure his tech genius was following and saw that it was clear.

  “Okay beautiful you are on, back in a moment.” He left Dani and shut the door behind him. Dani stood there frozen, unable to move.

  Knox returned with one of the two guards and dropped him in a heap on the floor making her jump.

  “Hey, what’s wrong?” Knox touched Dani and she flinched before taking a step back. Knox couldn’t stop the hurt he felt and tried to mask the feeling before it made its way to his eyes.

  “Sorry Knox, I am just not used to… I don’t know, seeing you kicking the crap out of people,” Dani said in a way that suggested she was only just holding it together. Knox looked sympathetically and took hold of Dani’s hands after putting himself in her shoes for a moment. After all, what was second nature to Knox, wasn’t second nature to the warm-hearted Dani.

  “You can do this, they are bad guys working for even bigger, bad guys. And you’re here to help me stop the bad guys, remember? I can’t do it without you,” Knox said looking intensely into Dani’s eyes and hoping what she saw reflected back was the truth. Dani nodded and became focused. She took the USB device that she had stuffed in her dress. Knox looked at her as though he didn’t know how she kept it there.

  “I will be right back, okay?” he said as he left the room, but first he gave Dani one last reassuring look, telling her silently that she could do this. Dani looked around the server room and found what she was looking for. She plugged the USB device into the server system, then looked around for an interface but there wasn’t one. Knox bust back in carrying the second guard and dropped him onto of the first.

  “Okay, so how many more are you going to stack up?” Dani looked at the sorry looking men.

  “As many as it takes to get the job done, Lass,” Knox said with a little heavy breathing.

  “Well it may take a little longer,” Dani said tensely, then gave him a look of panic and said…

  “We have a problem.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Splash & Grab

  “We have a problem,” Dani said with a worried look.

  “Why, what’s wrong?” Knox asked as he checked over the guards.

  “I need an interface to get my drive to connect and transmit,” Dani said worried that she had failed them.

  “What about the main computer in the office?” Knox suggested as if it wasn’t a problem.

  “That would do it,” she said beaming at him. He took her hand and they made a move as the office was only a few doors down the corridor. Once they reached the door to the office it was locked, and the only way in was with a keycode.

  “Shit think, Knox, think.” Knox stared at the keycode, and Dani looked up and down the corridor, waiting for someone to see them. Knox then noticed that four of the numbers were faded more than the other six.

  “Dani, the nine, four, one and three are more faded and dirtier than the rest.” Knox pointed to the keypad, and Dani looked. She punched in three, four, one and nine and was quickly rewarded by a click and a buzzing sound before the door opened. Dani looked at Knox with the biggest grin, obviously proud of herself.

  “You jammy minx… come on, let’s get you to work,” Knox said as he swung the door open, looking at Dani as though she had the luck of the Irish. Dani took a seat at the computer on the double sized carved oak partner desk. The office walls were completely covered by book shelves and there wasn’t a single inch spared.

  “The computer is, as I expected, encrypted, but I will just work my magic,” Dani said and her fingers moved faster than Knox could make out. Dani was obviously in her element.

  “I am in,” she said clapping her hands before punching the air making her look cute as hell.

  “What are you doing in here?” yelled a voice from the doorway. Knox turned to face a three-hundred-pound giant of a man and he groaned inwardly. The last thing he needed now was a wrestling match with a juggernaut, one that might get Dani hurt in the process. So, Knox did the only thing he could think of…he acted like an arrogant ass.

  “Why shouldn’t I be in here, and how dare you interrupt us?” Knox said as he stared at the brute, who for a moment looked confused and wasn’t sure what to say.

  “My good friend Malcolm Howard kindly offered his office so my lovely wife here could do some private banking,” Knox said and he looked back to Dani, who smiled at Knox as she fixated on him making the ‘wife’ statement again.

  “I… I am sorry, but I will have to call this in to check.” The brute’s body language became less aggressive and almost hangdog, as he put a finger to his ear and was about to speak.

  “Yes, yes you call it in. I want your name as I will be taking it up with your boss, Mr Howard. Darling can you believe….?” Knox bold as brass said as he walked slowly over to the brute. When he was close enough and just as the brute was about to speak, Knox turned back to Dani, stopping mid flow of his rant and delivered a swift kick to the brute’s wedding tackle. The big guy bent over in sheer pain no man should have to feel in his balls and Knox upper cut him sending the brute backwards into the bookshelves.

  Knox turned back to Dani whose eyes peered over the monitor screen like a rabbit in headlights. Then she winced and Knox thought that’s odd before he looked back over his shoulder. The brute was getting up and once upright he wiped the blood from his mouth and spat the rest down on the floor. Great, so much for not getting into a wrestling match, Knox thought rolling his eyes.

  Then, with a look of a man ready to go to war, he charged at Knox. But he shifted quickly, standing to one side as the guy stopped himself just as he reached the massive desk. The brute roared in anger as he slammed his hands down on the desk, making Dani jump before she steadied the now shaking monitor screen.

  “You do have a temper, Tiny,” Knox said with a smile as he beckoned his sparring partner over with a simple flip of his finger and took a fighter’s stance. His opponent smiled a bloodied grin and came at Knox with a big telegraphed right hook, one Knox easily read stepping to the left and then forward into him, so that he could land his own right-handed punch. A sharp crack rang out as his fist connected with the brute’s jaw, sending the enraged bulk of muscle stumbling. Knox took up his stance again, waited and then beckoned him over once more.

  The guy was stupid but had finally learned his lesson, this time taking a slower approach and with his guard up he got within striking distance of Knox. A right followed by another right came Knox’s way, he ducked the first and blocked the second with his ar
m. The guard smiled and let off a second barrage of punches. Knox dodged the first two then blocked the third, and a fourth came within millimetres of Knox’s face as he pulled his head back. The brute almost laughed as he gave Knox a look of ‘you weren’t expecting that’, then he beckoned Knox to him.

  Knox went to right hook his opponent, who lifted his guard up to block and without mercy Knox snap kicked the guy’s knee. Then he launched an attack consisting of a flurry of punches to the half falling body, before delivering a low swinging punch to his groin. But Knox didn't stop there as he shoulder barged him to the floor before taking advantage of his adversary’s new position. Knox then continued his assault, brutally punching the guy’s head, one that only stopped when Knox couldn't lift his hands anymore. Knox took a second, panting like an enraged beast after the kill, before getting up and dusting himself down as if nothing had happened. He adjusted his tux after he wiped his hands on the brute’s shirt.

  “I am all done, and I can see that you are too,” Dani said as she stood up and pushed the monitor off the desk, letting it smash on the floor. Knox looked at Dani, almost shocked at her destructiveness.