The Network

(Prologue) Gumshoe... Of Sorts

Prologue

Gumshoe... Of Sorts

Anthony

"Ow," I say while holding my hand to my nose, "That hurt."

The guy across from me scowls, "There's worse things than a right hook."

I raise my eyebrows, "No shit?"

Anger flashes through his brown eyes and he stares at me like he thinks I'm retarded, "Are you trying to be funny?"

I flash a grin, "Depends, does your girl think I'm funny?"

I wink at the pretty little blonde sitting on the barstool and her cheeks burn pink. Right Hook looks at her than looks back at me, his face a mask of rage, "Are you hitting on my girl?"

"Wow, you're not very bright, are you?"

Right Hook tries, ironically, to land another right hook on my face but this time I sidestep and slam my palm into his back. He grunts as he stumbles forwards into a table. The beer bottles fall over and the guys around the table glare at us. I shrug as if to say, well he started it. Right Hook turns back around, his face flushed from anger. Now he has to finish it. And he has to be the one to beat me; he can't be seen as the loser. If only he knew how this night was going to end.

"Come on, buddy. We don't need to fight." I say while eyeing him. He's about six foot five with arms as thick as a tree trunk. A tattoo of a snake winds up his right arm, the face ending by his ear and despite having drunk at least ten bottles of beer, his eyes still seem alert.

"No," he snaps, "I think we do."

I shrug. "If you insist."

I motion for him to come at me. He lunges and I sidestep then jump up and plant a kick onto his back. Again, he stumbles forwards but this time he ends up on the floor. The people who have drunk too much are now standing around us, hooting and hollering. One of them is even telling me to bash his face in. Sometimes I worry about people.

Right Hook pushes himself up from the ground and looks at me, his eyes assessing me. He's probably wondering how I'm able to keep sending him sprawling, considering he's about twice my size. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a small guy by any means but this guy, well, he's a hulking behemoth.

Snorting, the guy comes at me again, his hands loose at his sides. I anticipate his moves and match his steps, which seems to annoy him. A slight growl escapes from his lips and he lunges to my right. I go to block him but he switches last second and slams into my left side. The air gets knocked out of me as we fall to the ground and pain explodes through my body. I can feel the bones in my nose shatter as his fist comes in contact with my face.

Anger burns through me and I throw my arm up and around, smashing him in the side of the head with my fist. He blinks once and I push him off of me then push myself up onto my feet. Blood is gushing from my nose and onto my shirt. The cute blonde, Right Hooks girl, passes me a napkin. I grin at her, "Thanks."

She smiles then disappears back into the crowd. I press the napkin to my nose but it doesn't do me much good. Nudging Right Hook with my boot, I bait him, "Oh come on. You going to give up already?" Right Hook groans something and I lean forward to hear it, "I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that."

"I said," he says while pushing up from the floor, "That you're an asshole."

I shrug, "Worse has been said."

He slowly rises back onto his feet, making sure to keep his eyes on me. I watch him, making sure he doesn't try any surprise attacks.

"Boys! Boys!" A voice yells from behind the counter. Both Right Hook and I glance over at the guy yelling at us. He has a apron on and a towel thrown over his shoulder. He motions for us to leave, "Take it outside."