Part 43 (2/2)
”No woman give me orders.”
At this, another five men got up and approached Landis from behind. One grabbed his bottle of wine by the neck and held it upside down, ready to use as a weapon.
”I don't tell you anything, gouine,” the barman said.
Though Heather had seen Landis work her way out of a similar scary situation in Chinatown, she had faced only two men then, neither drunk or armed. These guys were aggressive and, from the sound of it, had their own plans for Heather. No wonder they were ready to team up to get Landis out of there.
* 325 *
The bartender pushed Landis away and grabbed a crowbar from behind the bar. He held it up with both hands. ”You ask for trouble, you get trouble. She not going anywhere with you.” Heather wanted to summon the police and cursed herself for not knowing what number to call. She'd never seen anyone look as angry as Landis. It was almost scary to see her like this.
Landis grappled for the crowbar and the two of them struggled over the weapon, knocking gla.s.ses off the bar between them. As she released one hand and punched the bartender hard in the face, the other men jumped her, two grabbing her from behind to pull her back. Landis fought to get away and had almost succeeded when the other three started to punch her.
As she tried to duck their blows, Landis struggled free of the two men holding her-getting one in the ribs with her elbow and head-b.u.t.ting the other. The latter guy screamed in pain as he grasped his nose, but quickly rejoined the melee, as did the bartender, who'd come around from behind the bar with his own broken nose. Now it was six against one, and no matter how hard Landis fought them off, they punched and kicked her back just as fiercely.
Heather couldn't watch any more. She had to do something.
Stripping off her jacket, she pulled at the neck of her top until her shoulders were exposed, quickly applied lipstick, and entered the arena. ”Hey, what's going on, guys?” she asked sweetly.
The fighting stopped abruptly and all went quiet as the men turned to look at her. One guy froze with his arm pulled back, about to throw a punch. They'd formed a circle around Landis, so Heather couldn't see her.
”Guys, it's not polite to fight in front of a lady,” she said as she slowly strutted over to them. ”Someone promised me a drink.” She looked at the barman seductively. ”I'm ready for it now, so stop this nonsense and get me one.”
”I will when we are done with this...woman.”
”Woman?” She pushed him aside and came face to face with Landis. Her nose was bleeding and her lip was bruised. Her eyes were aflame with aggression.
* 326 *
”Oh, my G.o.d, sweetie, what are you doing here?” She caressed Landis's cheek, then turned to the guy restraining her from behind.
”Remove your hands from my friend.”
He reluctantly pulled away and she put her arm around Landis's waist. ”You have to stop these jealousy scenes, honey. I told you I was going out for a drink.”
Landis stared at her, clearly spellbound. ”I can't help it,” she finally said. ”I'm crazy about you...baby,” she added behind gritted teeth.”Let's get you back to the hotel,” Heather said. ”You're a mess.”
”Yes...let's.”
”But first, you have to offer your apologies to these sweet men.
They were nothing but polite and generous to me, and you beat them up for no good reason.”
Landis's eyes narrowed and flashed with renewed fury. ”Are you kidd-”
”Sweetie...what did your anger-management counselor teach you?” She turned to the men with an apologetic smile. ”Sorry guys, but she has a condition.”
They stared first at Landis and then at her, with befuddled expressions.
She caressed Landis's hair. ”Go ahead.”
”I'm sorry,” Landis mumbled. ”I should have never hit you,” she told the barman.
After taking Landis's hand, she started for the door. ”We're sorry,” she called over her shoulder. ”Thank you for being so understanding.” They left with all six men still staring after them, as were the four guys who'd been too drunk or self-absorbed to partic.i.p.ate in the fracas.
Neither spoke until they were well away from the bar and certain no one had followed. Landis let her take the lead, though she had no idea where she was heading.
”Thank you,” Landis said.
”Now we're even,” Heather said, referring to the time in the Cave when Landis had played the part of her girlfriend to get the annoying jerk away from her.
* 327 *
”I wasn't keeping score.”
She fished in her purse for a Kleenex. ”Your nose is bleeding.” Landis took the tissue and dabbed at her nose. ”Why did you run?”She had been so upset, afraid, and busy scheming her getaway that she had forgotten just how angry she was at Landis for lying.
She stopped walking. ”I don't even know where to start.”
”What did Dario say to you?”
”Nothing I hadn't already concluded. I can't believe I was so naive.” She knew she should probably quit while she was ahead.
Who knew what Landis was capable of if she got her angry or admitted she knew what Landis was up to. But her own anger got the best of her. ”I let you convince me you were after Rozsa to save someone...an innocent woman, like Gigi. You did a bang-up job, by the way, of convincing me Dario had her killed.”
”He did.”
”And you just conveniently happened to find her phone.”
”I told you how we found it.”
Heather rolled her eyes. ”And I stupidly believed that implausible scenario.”
”Can we go back to the hotel and talk about this?” Landis took her elbow and tried to gently steer her toward a street branching off to their left.
She pulled away and kept walking. ”I'm not going anywhere with you,” she shouted. ”I'm getting on the first plane back to the States.”
”It's not safe for you there. Not yet.”
”And it is here?” She laughed without humor. ”Between you and Dario, I'm in much greater danger here.”
”What do you think I'm going to do to you? Have I harmed a hair on your head?”
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