“Let’s go,” Marcus said, opening the door to the bar and walking across the street.
The man in the vehicle looked surprised. He glanced over his shoulder at Blade, then back ahead at Caden. He started his car, then looked around, searching for a quick way to escape.
Marcus knocked on the driver’s side window. The man’s head snapped toward him.
“How about you turn off that engine and step out of the vehicle?”
The man stared up at him, eyes filled with panic and terror.
Marcus knocked again.
The man simply shook his head.
Marcus stepped back, giving Niko room to step forward. He tried the door, but it was locked.
Shaking his head, Niko pulled his brass knuckles out of his back pocket and slid them on over his fingers.
With one mighty punch, Niko shattered the driver’s side window. He reached into the car and unlocked the door.
The man tried to scurry over to the other side of the car, but Niko caught him by the jeans and yanked him back and out of the car.
“Hey! Let me go!” the man shouted as Niko held him close to his face.
“Who are you?” Niko asked, staring into the man’s angry eyes.
“Go fuck yourself, asshole,” the man spit out.
“Wrong answer, jackass,” Niko growled before throwing him up against his car with a thud.
Niko held him firmly in place as he patted the man down, pulling a gun from his jacket pocket and a cell from the other. He passed them both to Marcus.
The man continued to struggle, but he was no match for Nikolai’s size and strength. The man was just under six feet, attempting to fight against a man who was just over six-four. The math didn’t math.
Finally, he pulled the man’s wallet from the back of his jeans and tossed it over to Marcus.
“Check for any ID or federal badge. The last thing we want is to be assaulting a federal agent.” Niko was fairly certain that the shady guy he had pressed up against the car was not employed by Uncle Sam—perhaps Uncle Sam’s alcoholic cousin—but not by anyone working for a legitimate government agency.
“Says here, the man is Benson Gray, living out in Phoenix,” Marcus said, tucking the man’s driver’s license back into his wallet and then shoving the thing into the back of his jeans.
Pheonix? That was a strange coincidence, Niko thought to himself.
“What the fuck, asshole?” the man shouted, struggling against Niko as he cursed.
Niko slammed his head into the roof of the car.
“Ow!” the man cried out, stumbling back as he attempted to regain his balance.
“Let’s take this inside,” Marcus ordered. “We don’t need any more nosy neighbors.” He turned and headed back toward the bar.
Niko signaled Caden and Blade, then followed his boss back to the bar.
“Where do you want him?” Niko asked, wondering if there was any connection between this man and Reid’s case.
“Take him to the basement,” Marcus instructed, heading around to the back of the bar.
It was much easier to drag the man in through the back door than through the front, where people were apt to ask questions—questions they didn’t want to answer.
“Tie him to that cement pole and lay down plastic sheets on the floor. I have a feeling this is going to get messy,” Marcus growled as he walked over to the wall and unlocked the wooden cabinet.
