Summer in Eclipse Bay

you."
    "Let's go," Nick said to Jeremy.
    "Fine by me." Jeremy started around the table.
    "Something me and Dwayne, here, been wondering about, Harte." Eugene came to a halt, blocking the path to the door. He leered. "Is she a
natural
redhead? She as red
down there
as she is up on top?"
    Nick moved around the comer of the table.
    "Take it easy," Jeremy said out of the side of his mouth. "The plan is to get out of here, remember?"
    "The plan," Nick said, coming to a halt directly in front of the pool table, "is to tell everyone here a little story about Eugene and Dwayne's excellent adventure in Seattle a while back."
    "Shut your mouth, Harte," Eugene roared. "Just shut your damned mouth. Say one more word and I'll rip your head off your shoulders and use it for a cue ball."
    "Think so?"
    "Hey, nobody cares if you're screwin' the redhead. Nobody gives a shit about your sex life, Harte."
    "Except you, apparently, Eugene," one of the other players offered helpfully. "But maybe that's because Harte's sex life is a lot more interesting than yours."
    Eugene turned purple, drew his head into his shoulders in the manner of a large turtle, and lumbered forward. He was surprisingly fast for a man of his size and bulk. The old football training, Nick figured.
    "Hell," Jeremy muttered. "So much for a quick exit."
    Nick did not move until the last instant. Then he sidestepped the ferocious charge. Eugene still had speed, but his maneuverability was shot. He blundered straight on, past the point where Nick had stood a second earlier, and crashed into the table. He folded over and went facedown on the green felt.
    "Okay," Jeremy said. "Now we leave, right?"
    Nick ignored him. He grabbed hold of one beefy shoulder. There was no need to try to haul Eugene erect. The big man came up off the table, one massive fist already arcing through the air.
    Nick ducked the blow and slammed both clenched hands into Eugene's midsection. It was like hitting a very solid pillow. The impact felt good, but it didn't do much damage. Nick stepped back hurriedly, shaking his numbed hand.
    Okay, maybe that had been a mistake.
    Fortunately Eugene was off balance, thanks to too many beers and the collision with the table. When he charged a second time, flailing wildly, Nick stuck out a foot. Eugene obligingly tripped and went down with a crashing thud that shook the floor.
    Dwayne squealed, grabbed the nearest pool cue, and launched himself at Nick. Jeremy snatched the stick out of his hands as he went past.
    "You know," Jeremy said, "if you'd ever bothered to read one of Nick's books, you'd know he never gets into a fight without his trusty sidekick, Bonner."
    Robbed of his ersatz rapier, Dwayne scrambled to a halt and turned to throw a short punch at Jeremy. He caught one of the other pool players on the shoulder, instead.
    "Hey, watch it, you little creep." The player took a swipe at Dwayne and sent him tumbling into one of the men who had come from the bar area to see what all the excitement was about.
    A man standing behind Nick chuckled. "Man, the little redhead must be one hot number, huh? So what's the deal? Is she, or isn't she a natural-"
    Nick swung around and punched the commentator in the chest. The man fell back against a table. His cue stick went sailing and struck someone else.
    The poolroom exploded in a firestorm of shouts and flying fists.
    Nick turned back, searching for Eugene amid the swarm of sweating, heaving bodies.
    "Son of a bitch, Harte." Eugene had managed to get up off the floor. He threw himself at Nick.
    Nick moved out of the way and came up against Sandy Hickson, who had wandered into the poolroom. The two went down together and rolled under a table.
    Jeremy bent over to look at the pair beneath the table. "Everyone okay down here?"
    Someone hauled him up and swung at him. Jeremy took the blow on the side of his jaw and reeled back against a table.
    Nick untangled himself from Sandy and came out from under the table in a low rush. He tackled the man who had just hit Jeremy and they both went down, rolling in a small river of spilled beer.
    Fred picked up the phone. Sean Valentine and two other officers arrived ten minutes later.

Chapter 19
    Shortly before midnight Nick and Jeremy stood with Rafe in the parking lot that fronted the Eclipse Bay Police Department.
    "I gotta say, this is a real red-letter occasion for me." Rafe tossed his keys into the air and caught them. "Never thought I'd see the day when a Madison had to