Broken Highway: A Thomas Highway Story Read Online Free

your
wings.”
    The smell of curry and hot sauce overwhelmed
my nose, nearly causing me to cough from the potency. “Do these
taste as hot as they smell?” I said.
    “I know I do,” Amber said with a wicked
grin. She leaned over and set her pinkie on Tori’s exposed midriff
and moved it slowly around her belly button. “Although I can’t
speak for the other girls . . . well, maybe just a few of
them.”
    Tori laughed and skated off. Willis just sat
there smiling. I didn’t say anything, I couldn’t have even if I’d
wanted to.
    Amber giggled and stood up slowly, staring
intently at me all the while. “I’m looking forward to seeing you
tonight.” She gave me a wink and turned around, leaving me to stare
at her perfectly proportioned backside as she walked away.
    “There you go, man,” Willis said. “You’re
going to come tonight, right?”
    “Twice, I hope.”
    Willis exploded with laughter. “That’s the
Highway I remember,” he said as dove into the wings with both
hands.
    Twenty minutes later the scattered remnants
of all thirty Buffalo Wings were strewn about the table in a mess
of bone and gristle. Both Willis and I were finishing off our
second pitcher.
    “Damn those wings were hot,” I said, wiping
the sweat off my face with a wet nap.
    Willis was sitting back in his chair looking
content and showing absolutely no ill-effects from the wings.
    “How can you not be feeling anything?” I
said.

    “Oh, I’m feeling it,” Willis said. “I’m just
not showing it.”
    “Playing the tough guy, huh?”
    “No need for me to play,” Willis said. “It
just comes natural.” He flexed one of his massive biceps. “Like
these.”
    “Shit, ain’t nothing natural about those,” I
said. “How long do you spend in the gym every day to keep them
looking like that?”
    Willis shrugged. “An hour or two.”
    “All for show muscles,” I said. “Doesn’t
seem worth the effort.”
    “Come on over here and I’ll show you what
these muscles can do,” Willis said.
    “I would if I wasn’t so full,” I said, both
of us knowing full well I wouldn’t dare. We’d gotten into it once
back in college after too many beers. It hadn’t gone well for me.
And it wouldn’t if I tried it again. I could handle my own against
almost anyone but Willis was a freak of nature. Ridiculously
strong, and with the attitude to boot. It was a scary combination
when he lost his cool. Luckily it didn’t happen often.
    “So are you going to tell me about this job
or what?” I said.
    “Listen to you, always thinking about
work.”
    “Hardy-fucking-har.”
    Willis smiled and leaned forward, elbows on
the table. “It’s an easy job, really. Well, maybe not easy, but
simple. Uncomplicated.”
    “Consisting of what?”
    “An extraction,” Willis said. “Although I
guess it’s more of an exfiltration, if you really want to get
technical. Maybe even just simple kidnapping, depending on
how—”
    “Quit rambling and just tell me what I need
to do.”
    “Help me grab someone off the street.”
    “Who?”
    “Some scumbag named Pedroza.”
    “What for?”
    “To make sure he shows up for his
trial.”
    I glared at him. “Are you serious?”
    Willis nodded sheepishly, which was
completely unlike him. I don’t think I’d ever seen him do anything
sheepishly.
    “That doesn’t sound like your kind of
thing,” I said. Willis came from a family of police officers and
generally stayed away from crossing the line to helping
criminals.
    “It usually isn’t,” Willis admitted. “But
this is a special case.”
    “Why? Do you know this Pedroza or
something?”
    “Nope, not at all.”
    “Then why are you doing this?”
    “Because his lawyer asked me to,” Willis
said, averting his eyes.
    “You’re working for a defense lawyer?”
    “Pretty crazy, huh?”
    “I’ll say. How the hell did you get involved
with a defense lawyer?”
    “She’s a friend of a friend,” Willis
said.
    Ahh, so there was the rub.