Search and Destroy Read Online Free Page A

“It’s no’ wha’ it looks like—this is Danny. We went to school together for a while.”
    “Why’s he got his arm ’round you?”
    Danny quickly takes his arm from Cindy’s shoulder. “Steve, we’re just friends, just larkin’ around. Cindy tol’ me she had a boyfriend, I wa’ just teasing her, that’s all.”
    “Well, she’s got a fuckin’ boyfriend!” Then Steve plants a head-butt full into Danny’s face, sending him tumbling to the ground. He’s on the verge of blacking out. When he manages to struggle to his feet, he sees Steve laughing, leading Cindy away.
    “You bastard.” He wipes blood from his face.
    “Want some more, eh?” Steve cocks a fist back level with his shoulder. He charges.
    Danny tries a kick to the groin but Steve’s fist crashes into his already bloody nose, knocking him down again. He plants kick after kick into Danny’s kidneys. Then his friends get in on the action. Within seconds, kicks are raining down from all sides.
    Danny has taken karate lessons for almost a year, but it’s no help once he’s down. He’s outnumbered and outclassed. The gang leave him in the street. He can’t open his right eye and every breath sends shards of pain lancing into his ribs.
    He lies curled in the foetal position for long minutes, then walks home. It usually takes ten minutes; tonight it takes over an hour. He hides his face in primitive boyish embarrassment. Being beaten is bad enough, but being pointed at is somehow even worse.
    He reaches home and sees Clay parking up his motorbike at the kerb. His older brother is swinging his leg free from his motorbike as he turns and sees Danny, sees Danny’s face covered in dried blood, his jacket torn.
    “What the hell happened to you?” His voice a Texan drawl.
    Danny just shakes his head and goes into his uncle’s house. Clay is staying there while on leave in the UK and Danny is there for a month, rather than following his parents to Germany again. One last attempt at reconciling their marriage would only be hampered by having Danny under their feet. Clay follows him in.
    “Danny, what happened?”
    Danny doesn’t want to look at him; tears well up in his eyes, shame plucking at him.
    “Hey, it’s all right, little brother. Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.”
    Danny lets himself be led to the bathroom. Clay washes the blood from his face.
    Clay is six years older and has been a US Army Ranger for two years. To Danny he seems like the toughest man in the world.
    “At least your nose isn’t broken. Mind you, it’s swollen pretty bad. You’ll feel like death tomorrow.”
    “Thanks for that.” Danny tries to smile but his teeth hurt too much.
    “Now, who did this?”
    “Steve Grayson, Cindy’s boyfriend.”
    Clay frowns. “He’s a big fucker for you to tackle. What happened?”
    Danny hangs his head. “He saw me trying it on with Cindy and put the head on me.” Danny’s pronunciation of “head” comes out “heed” in his broad Scottish accent.
    “And…?”
    “When I tried to go back at him, he put me down and then his friends joined in…” Danny sweeps his hands down his face and body to indicate the results.
    “So it wasn’t one on one.”
    “No’ for long,” Danny spits a glob of congealed blood into the sink. “Truth is, Steve had already fucked me over before they joined in.”
    “That makes it worse, not better, in my book. Anybody can get beaten in a straight fight. But spineless pricks who put the boot in afterwards, they’re the ones that really get me riled.”
    “I just want to go to bed.”
    “You can’t, not yet.” Clay stares deep into his brother’s eyes. “We’re going to go and sort these fuckers out.”
    “Clay, I feel like shite.”
    “You’ll feel ten times worse in the morning. Every muscle will be as tight as Uncle Adrian’s ass and your face will feel like it’s been run over by a truck.”
    “You’re not helping.”
    “If we don’t go tonight, you won’t want to