Before she and Bianchi got there three guys who looked like they could have played for the Jaguars front line intercepted them.
“Too soon to sit down, pretty lady,” a tall blonde with shoulders about three feet wide and hair down to his shoulders said. “Stay out for one more go-round and we’ll treat you for the rest of the night at our table. You’re too hot to be wasting your time at the Lame table.”
“The lady’s going back to our table,” Bianchi said. “She’s got something special waiting for her.”
With one slight motion of his arm, a dark haired grizzly swept him aside, saying, “She’s got something special waiting at our table.”
“What about it, sweetie? You’ll have a much better time with us. Money is no object. Just tell us what you want.”
“What I want is for you to get out of my way and let us go back to our table and our friends.”
“You just don’t have any idea what you’ve got waiting for you, baby, so here’s a sample,” the blonde would-be Thor said, bending over and grabbing her in a bear hug and fastening his lips on hers.
As people started to stare, the two of them started to moan. Actually, the moan was coming from the Thor look-alike. A moment later he was backing away but couldn’t straighten up because a 5-4-inch barracuda had her teeth locked on his lower lip.
“Uh-uh-ohhh…shit,” he finally screamed as he jerked himself away, a spray of blood gushing from his lip. As he backed up he put his hand to his lip and felt the chunk of lip missing, which Myra proceeded to spit onto the dance floor.
“I don’t like anyone putting their hands on me without my permission,” she said, glaring at him as if she wanted to attack again. “Do it again and see what I bite off.”
The grizzly grabbed her trying to get her in a bearhug, but she swiveled and tried to kick his balls through an upright with those sexy boots. The kick actually lifted him off his feet. Guys all around groaned in a sympathetic reaction as he sank to his knees.
The third bruiser, another dark hair but not as formidable as the grizzly, pushed Bianchi backward to almost fall over the table. As he did, Thor wiped the blood from his face and glared back at Myra. He raised a big right fist and stepped toward her.
“You miserable bitch.”
As he drew his fist back, I stepped into him and attempted to catch his right with mine and do a hip toss. Attempted. But he was too big and too strong. He almost flipped me completely head over heels. He was strong enough to send me flying. Somehow I managed to avoid taking out Myra and I banged into our table.
But I knew he was still after Myra and I managed to do nothing worse than bang my side and knock over a few bowls of salsa. I went at him planning to duck under his next right and either hit him in the gut or get in a kidney shot if I could get behind him. I blocked his right, but the son of a bitch was ambidextrous. His left came out of nowhere and the next thing I knew I was under our table.
My left eye hurt like hell and the world spinned around a couple of times as I tried to get to my feet to get back to Myra. She was turned toward me with concern on her face as Thor loomed up behind her. To stop short as Deel pressed the barrel of his Glock upward into his throat.
“Stop, you son of a bitch. Freeze.”
Deel was spun around and almost off his feet as the second brunette grabbed him by the shoulder. As he wound up facing him he came up with his Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office badge that he carried clipped to his belt.
“Back off asshole. I’m a cop.”
“Tell it to somebody that gives a shit.”
“You should give a shit.”
The brunette stared over Deel’s shoulder at the short barreled revolver in McConnell’s hand. It looked like a miniature cannon. The click as he pulled the hammer back and cocked it sounded very loud in the sudden silence.
“Fuck you and that damned cannon. You don’t have the balls to use that.”
“He’s a cop. I was a cop and I work for the State Attorney. The guy you knocked under the table is a top prosecutor. The woman works for THE top prosecutor.”
Deel swung back around to cover Thor who had taken one step forward. They train cop recruits to always put your bullets into the center of the body. Head shots miss. But Deel ignored that to center the Glock on Thor’s face.
“If you bastards hurt anyone here, you’re going to spend time – a lot of time – in Raiford,” he said, never taking his eyes off Thor’s. “They’ll eat you fuckers up. And they won’t take you on one at a time. Doesn’t matter how big you are. They’ll come at you in packs and fuck your ass until you could hide a bazooka up there.”
“Hands getting sweaty, little man?” Thor said. He didn’t sound terrified. “If you don’t kill me I’m going to take that away from you and shove it up YOUR ass. And my friends are going to tear the arms off your little friend and beat him to death with them. And then I’m going to take that big-tittied bitch out of here and show her what she’s been missing.”
The grizzly who had been bent over holding his hands over his groin and moaning, interrupting it once or twice to heave, shook himself and rose to his feet. He actually growled. All three of them were closer to seven feet than six and probably well over 300 pounds. He looked around and spotted Myra, standing there looking like a toy compared to the beefcake on the dance floor.
He started moving in her direction. I managed to roll out from under the table and get my feet under me, although the world wanted to spin for a bit. I prepared to try to get in front of her, although so far she’d been a hell of a lot more effective at defending herself than I’d been.
The grizzly stopped. And stood very still. So still that his two friends looked over at him. He had an odd expression on his face.
A tall, thin, dark haired individual peeked out around him. In that instant I knew I knew him, but wasn’t sure from where. He still looked like a child compared to the man in front of him, who had a good 8 inches on him and probably 200 pounds.
“What’s the matter, Jon?” the third man asked, glances darting back and forth from McConnell to the grizzly.
The big man looked like he wanted to say something, but it was the man standing behind him who said softly, “Shh…careful big fella. Do you have children?”
The grizzly shook his head.
“Do you want children?”
When the big man was silent, the man standing beside him said again softly but in the quiet of the hushed restaurant it was clearly audible, “If you ever think you might want them, nod, or the chance goes away forever.”
He nodded. Thor stared at them and said, “What the fuck?” as he turned and prepared to move toward them.
The thin man stepped away from the grizzly and from my angle I couldn’t see what he held, but Thor could and he stopped. The thin man looked at him with the trace of a smile and said, “So what we have here are three very large men, and three much smaller men, with guns. What do you think is going to happen, handsome?”
I moved and I could see what looked like an old-fashioned Colt-45 automatic aimed directly as the Grizzly’s asshole.
There followed what could only be called a pregnant silence.
“Everybody freeze.”
I looked up at the entrance to the outside patio. Officer Wilkes stood there with his Glock in a shooting stance aimed at the group in the center of the dance floor.
‘Nobody move. I want the guns on the floor. Now. There are two other officers on the way and I can have plenty more right after them. Guns on the floor. Everybody else, move away.”
Deel raised his badge into the air high over his head.
“I’m an off-duty cop, Officer. And my friend is a State Attorney Investigator and licensed to carry.”
Wilkes took in the crowd and I noticed his eyes stop on Myra.
“You may be, but I still want your hands up and I want every gun up in the air. And nobody move until my backup gets here.”
Speaking into the radio on his shoulder, he said, “
Davis, Hunter, the Mexican Rose, now. We have a situation.”
Davis and Hunter came in from the Landing side. The thin man and McConnell kept their hands in the air while Hunter, who seemed to be the senior man, talked briefly with Wilkes and then called Deel “Officer” and gestured to him to join them. The three cops talked while Deel returned his Glock to a shoulder holster under his jacket. Deel pointed to Myra, myself, McConnell and our table. Hunter, a tall black cop who looked to be in his 40s and while nowhere close to the three behemoths was a big man in his own right, walked over to me. He took in the damage and tilted my face to look at my left eye.
“Mr. Maitland, you need to go to the hospital for that?”
“It hurts like hell but I can still see out of it. I’d rather stay here.”
McConnell had been allowed to put his Colt Python back in his shoulder holster and approached us.
“You okay, Maitland? Deel and I would have been quicker if we’d seen what was happening sooner.”
“What did happen, Maitland,” Hunter said.
I gave him the short version and he inspected Myra as she swiveled her way to stand beside me and reach out to touch my face.
“Oh, Bill, I’m so sorry. Do you want me to call an ambulance?”
“I’d rather stay here with you. Think you could kiss it and make it well?”
“Anything, Bill. That was so brave of you. They’re monsters.”
“I’ll just have to make sure you’re with me if I get into any barroom fights from now on. You’re definitely tougher than I am.”
“You remember I told you no man was ever going to put his hands on me without my consent? I meant it. Normally I’d have a clasp purse with a very strong pepper spray canister for big and stupid men, but I had to use what I’ve got tonight.”
“Are you okay as well, Ms. Martinez?” Hunter asked, doing a heroic job of keeping a professional expression on his face.
“I’m fine, Officer,” she said, looking over at Wilkes. “I’m just glad your Officer Wilkes showed up at the right time. People could have gotten hurt.”
“I guess you guys will have to file reports on this,” Deel said with a disappointed look on his face. “McConnell and me are going to be tied up all night writing reports and making witness statements to get the three bears put away.”
He glanced over at a sweating and almost gleaming Caprice and for a second he looked like a kid who’d just been told there was no Santa Clause and no money for presents this Christmas. I understood. No more curvy Italian beauty. Just paperwork.
A tall baldheaded black man stepped through the crowd and approached us. He had a business card in his hand held out to us.
“Gentlemen, can I talk to you for a moment?”
“This is a police matter, sir,” Hunter said. “We’re still investigating and it will take a while to get things figured out. I’ll be glad to talk to you later.”
He handed the card to Hunter, then glancing at my face, handed me another card.
“Cyrus Bold, Owner/Operator Worldwide Wrestling Entertainment.”
I didn’t watch it that much, but I’d heard of Vince McMahon’s WWE which came to Jacksonville and its Veterans Coliseum every month or so.
“You’re with that WWE? These guys are pro wrestlers?”
Hunter picked up on it as well.
“No, not that WWE,” Bold grinned and the wattage could have blinded somebody.
“We’re not that big YET. We operate mainly in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, what they call the Gulf Circuit. But, yes, my men here – my stupid, stupid employees, are professional wrestlers. We’ve got a show going at the National Guard Armory on Normandy tomorrow night.”
“Well, Mr. Bold, Officer Hunter is in charge here and there may be some brass show up soon. But I’m a prosecutor with the State Attorney’s Office here and I can tell you your guys are looking at potential felony charges of assault on Ms. Martinez and myself, nearly creating a riot, destruction of private property and a few other assorted charges.”
Bold glanced at Myra’s heaving bosom, than at Hunter and finally at myself. Finally he pulled out a bulging wallet.
To myself, he said, “Mr.-?”
“Maitland. Bill Maitland.”
“Mr. Maitland, I assume there were no serious injuries other than that shiner you’ve got. If you need medical care, I’ll give you cash and leave you my card. I’ll be liable for any expenses you suffer. If Ms. Martinez needs any care – and I have to say she looks fine – I’ll cover those.”
He looked at the table behind us.
“I’ll gladly pay for your meals and replacing anything you lost. And if the management suffered any losses, I’ll get with them before I leave.”
Turning back to Hunter, “Officer, it doesn’t look like anybody was seriously hurt. There’s been no major damage and I’ll make it all good. My guys are scheduled to perform here tomorrow and Sunday night and they’re my headliners. I know you could run them in, but all we really have is a drunken brawl involving three over-grown juveniles. If you could see your way clear to let them off with a warning, I would really appreciate it.”
“Nobody was really hurt and there wasn’t that much damage. I could let them go, but it depends on Ms. Martinez and Maitland. If they want to press charges, I’ll have to run them in.”
Hunter looked at me.
“I have no problem with letting them walk away as long as all the damages are covered.”
When he glanced at Myra, she said, “I’ll let it go on one condition. I want apologies from all three of them.”
Bold just looked at them. All three of them lined up in front of her.
“I’m Harry Goldfinger, “Thor said. “Real name. I wrestle under the name of Thor The Mighty. I apologize. I don’t normally-come on that strong. I – uh- drank too much and watching you out there….you were just too damned hot. But I am sorry.”
Rubbing his bleeding lower lip, he said, “I am sorry and I learned my lesson about trying to kiss somebody who doesn’t want to be kissed. But, I have to say, I never saw a broad – a woman – built like you that could move like that. If you came out in spandex, I think you’d fill any arena in the whole damned country. You ever thought of giving wrestling a try?”
He glanced at Bold, who gave Myra the once over, and said, “Harry isn’t the most eloquent guy, but he’s telling you the truth. A woman who looks like you and could do even some basic moves, which he seems to think you could, could rake in some serious cash.”
“No,” she said. “I’ve got a job.”
The grizzly said, “I’m Jon Smith, wrestle under the name of King Grizzly. Like Harry, I’m sorry. I’ve got a girlfriend and if she ever hears of this, she’s going to kill me, but watching you out there, I forgot. I don’t do shit like this, I really don’t.”
The third wrestler, who considered apart from Goldfinger and Smith was a very big man in his own right, stepped forward and extended his hand. After a moment Myra took it.
“I’m Perry Benning, wrestle under the Killer Grizzly name. Jon and I are The Grizzlies. I do hope you’ll forgive our actions. This isn’t who we are. Harry has a degree in accounting, Jon has a Masters in English Lit from Miami and I’m a licensed dentist. We were just blowing off steam. We’ve been on the road for four months, I haven’t seen my wife and son in two months, and sometimes we just have to get out and raise a little hell.”
Bold made a gesture and the three of them stomped away. Jon Smith was still limping and stopped by Bold to say, “I got to go to the emergency room, Cy. I think – I think she might have damaged one of my nuts.”
“Fuck it. Put an ice pack on it and get some rest. If you assholes hadn’t decided to go out and get drunk, after I told you not to, your nuts wouldn’t be hurting. You’re wrestling tomorrow and Sunday or you don’t get any of the gate for this weekend. Man up.”
After they had left with the attention of a lot of the ladies in the bar section, Bold turned
back to us.
“Officer Hunter, thank you. Maitland, Ma’am are you sure you don’t want any cash for a trip to the ER?”
Then, “I’ll give the owners enough to cover any damages and order new meals for all of you. By the way, does anybody want free tickets to the show tomorrow or Sunday.”
He wound up giving free passes to Deel, McConnell and two of the cops including Wilkes. I gave McConnell a look and he just shrugged.
“What can I say, Maitland. I like wrestling. I’d like to see how they operate when it’s make believe.”
When they had gone, Deel came up and told Hunter, “Thanks, man. I did not want to be tied up writing reports tonight.”
“Understood,” he said looking at Caprice, who had stayed close to Deel. Then he looked over her to the dark haired man who had shoved his .45 into the Grizzly’s ass. He stood quietly, Officer Davis having relieved him of the .45. Both Wilkes and Davis still had their service Glocks out. Hunter gestured and he walked casually over in our direction.
“Okay, both Officer Deel and Investigator McConnell are licensed to carry. You, I don’t recognize and unless you have a carry permit and some excuse for pulling out that firearm during a brawl, I’m afraid I’m going to have to take you with me. Who are you?”
I recognized him now. He was thin, a whole lot thinner than I remembered him, and seven years older. His hair was dark but there were a few faint gray hairs which were incongruous. He wasn’t that old. But then, he’d had a busy life the past seven years.
“Why don’t you ask Mr. Maitland?”
Then he smiled at me. And the smile was the same.
“Good to see you, Bill. I saw a few of the online stories but it’s not the same as seeing you in the flesh. You look – I hate to tell you – a hell of a lot better than you did the last time I saw you.”
“Anderson. Richard Anderson.”
The officer coming through the crowd was one I recognized. Dave Hammer was the beat sergeant who had replaced Bart Jenner on the night shift covering the downtown. He was in his early 40s and had been with the department 15 years. He walked straight to Anderson and held out his hand. Anderson shook it.
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