Ball & Chain(111)

Kelly moved with shocking speed, wrapping Theo up and pinning his arm. Then he stepped between Theo’s legs, turned, and dropped to his knees, letting gravity hurl Theo over his shoulder and flatten him on the floor.

Theo lay gasping for breath, shocked into immobility. Livi screamed, and Stanton shouted a wordless protest, but no one else moved.

Zane stepped forward and pulled his gun, pointing it at Theo’s face. “How about you answer some questions the easy way, hmm?”

Theo nodded, still gasping for breath.

“If company secrets were sold, what would happen to the company?”

“We’d lose the DOD contracts. Shareholders would start selling off left and right. We’d be forced to liquidate everything in the following year. In eighteen months, we’d be bankrupt.”

Zane glanced over his shoulder at Stanton.

“He’s right.”

“If I were part of this, I would be digging my own financial grave. The company’s worth billions of dollars; no rival could offer me enough money to give that up, much less betray my family,” Theo said through gritted teeth.

Zane relaxed and stuffed the gun back into his pants. He and Kelly helped Theo up. “Next time just let him wipe your damn face,” Zane said. He gave Theo a shove toward his family and turned to the remaining suspects.

Hamish Boyd pushed to his feet, using his cane to make his way toward Zane. “If you are truly considering me or Mackie as suspects over these hired thugs, you must be a sad example of a Yank policeman.”

“No, that’s me,” Nick broke in. He’d drawn his weapon and had it pointed at Hamish’s head.

“Nick,” Zane whispered.

“His cane is a gun, Garrett.”

Zane’s eyes darted to Hamish’s cane.

“Are you serious right now?”

“I’ve seen them before,” Nick assured Zane. “It’s a gun.”

“That’s preposterous!” Hamish shouted. He raised the cane to wave it around, and Ty hit Zane from the side, tackling him to the ground and covering his body with his. There was a sound like someone opening a biscuit can, and then the room devolved into madness. Zane rolled to his feet, drawing his weapon.

Solomon Frost, the blond Snake Eater who seemed to have made friends with everyone, had tackled Nick to the ground, and they were now wrestling over the gun in their hands. It went off, punching a hole through the wood paneling near Deuce and Livi’s heads. Livi screamed and Deuce lunged in front of her, shielding her and forcing her low to the ground. He reached out for the woman next to him, Miyoko Mason, who was holding her bloody arm and screaming that she’d been shot. The bullet fired from Hamish’s cane gun had hit her instead of Zane.

Hamish was frantically groping for something on the handle of his cane, and just as Kelly was about to take a run at the old man, he found the switch and a short knife flipped out of the bottom of the cane. Kelly skidded to a halt and took a step back.

“What the fuck kind of butler are you?” he shouted.

Hamish grinned and pointed his cane at Kelly’s face. “A bitter one.”

Zane didn’t know which way to turn or who to help first. Ty hadn’t gotten off the round yet. He was curled on his side, holding his arm, but it wasn’t clear if he’d been shot or if he’d merely aggravated his already hurt shoulder.

Nick hadn’t yet gained the upper hand against Frost, but he had managed to land an elbow or two to the man’s face and wrap his legs around Frost’s waist so he couldn’t roll off and get away.

Kelly had his gun out, pointing it at Hamish and ordering him to stand down. But he didn’t seem like he wanted to pull the trigger, and the old butler could see that.

“You had your own wife murdered,” Kelly said to him.

“You’ve obviously never been married.”

Kelly pursed his lips thoughtfully, shrugging like he might understand that reasoning.

English and Park pounced on Frost, burying Nick under yet another dog pile of limbs. Zane turned his gun on Hamish, only to fire off to the right at the last second when he saw a man standing directly behind Hamish, shovel raised high.

Chester took a mighty swing and whacked Hamish in the back of the head. The butler collapsed to the ground, his cane falling harmlessly at his side. English managed to subdue Frost, holding him in a headlock as Nick scratched and clawed his way out from under their weight.

Zane still stood in the middle of the chaos, every sense alert to every movement, every fiber of his being telling him there was still danger.

“What the fuck just happened?” Deuce shouted.

Chester laid his shovel over his shoulder and grinned at Zane. English and Park finally got Frost on his face, holding him down with a knee to his back. Kelly was helping Ty off the ground, looking at his shoulder and nodding. Nick was still sprawled on the floor, staring at the ceiling.