Read Hard Case V: Blood and Fear (A John Harding Novel Book 5) for Free Online

assistant coach, if you can believe it.”
    “Cruella Deville coaching.” Marla paused, shaking her head. “That girl-”
    “Hey! Can I get some service around here?” A big blustery asshole at the bar wearing jeans and a gray muscle shirt called out loud enough for people down the block to hear. “Quit stroking Coach Pervert, and bring me another round, Marla!”
    Before Tommy could reach out to corral me, I had Mr. Muscle up on his toes at the bar, my hand clamped around his chin in a tightening press leading to destruction. “What did you say about me, Pussy? I hope I heard you wrong, pal.”
    My close buddies from Oakland PD, Enrique Rodriguez and Earl Taylor rushed out of the gaming room. Earl wound around to grab my wrist. He’d been a Marine the same time I was. Now he’s an Oakland police officer, but he and I were still Marines. “Don’t kill him, John.”
    “He’s a newbie, Hard Case,” Marla added. “I’ll kick his butt to the street.”
    I stared into the newbie’s eyes, while blocking any action from his legs. His hands were busily trying to separate me from his neck. It wasn’t working well for him. “You’d best make an apology right now before I force my Oakland PD friends to arrest me for your killing. No one jokes or calls me a child predator unless they’re too stupid to live. Repeat what you said ass-wipe, and I crush your throat!”
    “I…I’m done! I’m sorry,” the turd said.
    Seeing in my face we were not done, Marla jumped me, clinging to me in an effort to thwart my base tendencies. I didn’t like this guy’s tone. He thought there would never come a time in his wasted life where someone with violent tendencies would erase him. Lesson coming up. I’d had enough of these tulips, bullying and conning ‘the young and the restless’. Then something appeared in behind those beady eyes – something strange. I let him go, patting Marla’s hands wrapped around me.
    I didn’t take my eyes off of the bastard in front of me. “It’s a setup. Thank you my friends for delaying me a moment so my brain would work. Yuri decided to test the waters with this punk. He’ll be here in a few minutes expecting a bar fight, which I was nearly on the verge of causing.”
    “Who you callin’ a punk, mother-”
    I had him this time by the throat with only his toes dangling trying to meet the floor. “Be careful, chump. There are no take backs. Answer one question, and I let you live. Play bad boy with me, and I rip your Adam’s Apple out. I’ll hold it in front of your eyes while you figure out what happened. Wanna’ play, bad boy?”
    His negative head shake was all he could muster, but it was enough. “Did a guy pay you to pop off like this, trying to cause trouble?”
    A minute, gasping head nod put him back on the floor, holding his neck with both hands, while the sparse crowd in the bar went about their business. This place was like ‘Cheers’ in the TV show. Everyone knew my name, and they didn’t care what the hell I did with the blueberry muffin at the bar. I patted his cheek.
    “Tell me what I suspect already, and walk out untouched.”
    “I…I got paid,” he admitted while massaging his neck. “Didn’t get any names. A nobody in a suit… you know… looking like he’s somebody’s enforcer, gets in my face and asks if I want to make some money. I told him hell yeah! This ain’t the way it was supposed to go.”
    As if illustrating the point, in walked Alexi, the guy I assumed was Yuri Kornev, but also ‘The Assassin’ himself, Marko Hristov. I shoved my bar buddy against the bar. “Stay here. Finish your drink, and then walk out.”
    He nodded, and I pushed against the bar before leaning with my arms folded. I knew the guy who paid him wouldn’t be in this fight deal group. I exchanged glances with Earl and ‘Rique while the new arrivals approached us. They smiled. Game on.
    “Marla… I’m mighty dry, and I’m buying my friends in the bar anything