Page 17 of The Burnt
He was tall and broad, but in the darkness between the street lights Charlie couldn’t clearly make out his facial features.
“Do we know each other?” Charlie asked.
“We must, ’cause someone who didn’t know me wouldn’t have gone to the trouble to ruin my fuckin’ life!”
The guy shoved Charlie backward and he fell to the ground. The man stepped toward him. He was now visible in the light. Charlie recognised him from his picture. It was Tyler Chipping.
“I heard from a couple of girls in my office you were asking a lot of questions about me. They said you were going to get me fired.”
He kicked at the sole of Charlie’s boot.
“You know, if you weren’t such a publicity slut, getting your picture out there so often with that muscle-bound himbo of yours, I wouldn’t have even known who you were.”
Charlie crab-walked backwards.
Chipping stepped closer, weaving a little as he moved in. He was drunk.
Charlie bounced up onto his feet.
Tyler leered. “Jeez, you sure move well. I’d have thought you’d have been a little stiffer. Being that Hunt-guy’s play toy must cause a lotta wear and tear on a little guy like you.”
Chipping grabbed Charlie by the shoulders and slammed him against the brick wall next to the office door.
“Now let’s see if Hunt’ll wanna keep you once I’ve smashed in that pretty face of yours.”
Tyler pulled back his fist. Charlie leaned in closer and quickly raised his knee, connecting with Chipping’s unprotected groin, then leapt away from the man’s crumpling body.
Tyler Chipping rolled on his side and groaned loudly before springing back to his feet. His fury was obviously overriding his pain.
“I’m gonna fuckin’ kill you!” he screamed as he threw himself toward Charlie. Without thinking, Charlie rotated his body so that he was sideways to the oncoming attack. He threw all of his weight onto his back foot and rapidly extended his leg, arcing it toward Tyler, striking him hard on the side of his torso. Chipping collapsed onto his knees like a sack of potatoes.
Charlie leaned over him. “Now get the fuck away from my door. And I swear, if I ever hear you talking about Declan like that again, I will tear your limbs off and shove them down your fucking throat!”
Just then another figure appeared from the darkness of the alley beside the building. Charlie wasn’t sure if he could handle a second attacker. He needn’t have worried. It was Declan.
“Are you all right?” Declan called out to Charlie.
“Never fuckin’ better!” Charlie replied. “Declan—this is Tyler Chipping. It seems like there’s been some kind of misunderstanding. But he’s leaving now. Isn’t that right, Tyler?”
Tyler stood up. He was shaking. It was hard to tell if it was from rage or fear.
“My partner asked you a question,” Declan said.
“Yeah, I’m leaving,” he muttered, then limped off like a whipped dog.
Declan took Charlie by the shoulders. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
Charlie smiled. “Absolutely.”
“Where did you learn to roundhouse kick like that?”
“I guess from my karate training when I was a kid. It just all came back to me. So you saw that?”
“As a matter of fact, I did.”
The adrenaline coursed through Charlie’s body and one thought raced through his brain—He didn’t have to save me. I did it on my own.
Declan put his arm around Charlie and led him through the door. “Come on, Bruce Lee. I think you deserve a stiff drink.”
