Chapter 80
I DIDN’T LIKE being forced into action I hadn’t prepared for. That’s how things went bad. But I couldn’t let this moron asphyxiate himself.
As I pulled the loose shackle from the lock and reached down to pull the door up, I felt the handle ripped from my hands as the door was pushed up from the inside. The smoke immediately stung my eyes.
I tried to scramble out of the way, but a giant body landed right on top of me. It was definitely Leonard Barr. He was strong. And he was pissed off.
I squirmed out from underneath the guy, then used an old wrestling move to try and get on his back. His arms were the size of my legs. I felt like I was trying to get a handle on a bull at a rodeo.
Once I was on his back, I wasn’t sure what I should do.
Maggie was holstering her pistol to come over and help when Barr rose to his feet with me still hanging on.
He slammed me backward into the concrete wall of the storage building.
It felt like he’d rattled my teeth out of my gums. Then he reached behind with his left hand and grabbed me, tossing me inside the storage unit and into a stack of boxes in the corner.
Next, Barr picked up a two-by-four that had been lying on the ground and held it like he was about to spear me in the head with the blunt end. I was in a weird position and couldn’t reach my pistol. Maggie was my only hope.
As soon as that thought flashed through my mind, Maggie came through. She barreled into Barr’s side, hitting him low in the ribs. The two-by-four dropped to the floor and Barr crashed to the ground. Before he could get back on his feet again, Maggie delivered a perfect round kick to his head.
Barr was stunned but struggled to his feet.
This time Maggie had the two-by-four in her hands and swung like a major-league hitter.
She caught him halfway between his knee and hip, a classic defensive-tactics strike we all learned at our respective law-enforcement academies.
It shut down some important nerves but didn’t really cause any damage.
Barr staggered and collapsed directly onto his small bed.
Maggie looked over at me and said, “You okay?”
All I could do was nod. I looked at the big man on his little bed and felt confident the fight was over.