Chapter 74

We woke up too late for breakfast with the Jenkins Saturday morning, but we had a nice breakfast anyway at nine when we finally strolled out of our room. Mrs. Jenkins offered to make us some pancakes, but we were happy with toast, oatmeal, a grapefruit and some coffee.

"So, what are you two doing this morning?" she asked. "More golf?"

"No golf this morning," Kelli answered. "We're playing this afternoon, but we haven't decided what to do with our morning yet."

Our hostess had a few suggestions, but the only decision we came to quickly was that we wanted to get in some tennis at some point today. We'd been here two days now and still hadn't stepped onto the nice court they had on the upper end of the property.

We decided to just go for a drive to start the day, and made that start by returning to the Dutch Brothers coffee stand we'd been to the day before, and then, headed towards Salmon Run, just wanting to see what the scenery was like along the Chetco river when we had some time to enjoy it. It was South Bank Chetco Road.

The road was nice, though it didn't follow the river all that closely in a lot of places. We drove for about an hour before we decided we should turn around and head back. By this time, I needed some relief from the coffee at breakfast and the large helping from the coffee place. I found a pullout alongside the road and stopped to relieve myself. Kelli was suffering from the same problem, so we walked a little ways into the woods and each found our own tree to duck behind. I was quicker to finish my business, since mine required merely a quick unzip.

I waited for her and we'd just begun to walk back to the car when I heard a familiar voice.

"Well howdy there Cooper," Fred Conway said, his two friends standing behind him. "Awful nice of you and that very pretty girl of yours to just walk off into the secluded woods like this for me."

"Stay behind me, and keep your eye out for an opening," I told Kelli, handing her the car keys.

"Mr. Conway," I began, making sure he and his friends knew that I knew exactly who he was. "You came close to making a big mistake last night, and you're set to make an even bigger one here. Why don't the three of you just turn around and head back the way you came. My girl and I will be on our way back home tomorrow and you're not likely to ever see us again."

"No, I don't think so," he laughed. "Vic Sloane and his crowd at the Pine Cone kept me from teaching you a lesson last night. That means today's lesson is going to be a little more serious, and that pretty thing there is going to have to play her part too."

"You know, you had a chance to walk out of here without any broken bones before you said that," I told him, throwing my sunglasses back to Kelli, who I was glad to see had done exactly what I'd asked her to. "Now, you don't walk away, these two are going to have to carry you out."

"What, you some sort of kung fu expert?" he laughed, looking at his friends.

"No," I took the ring off my finger and stuck it in a pocket. "The United States Marine Corp used to pay me to kill people for a living," I laughed back. "They liked how well I did my job they kept sending me off to learn more and better ways to do it. They even promoted me to Gunnery Sergeant for my efforts."

I was hoping my little spiel would work on these guys the way it had on the two yahoos up in Healdsburg, but I didn't think it was going to with Fred Conway. This guy definitely had some sort of short circuit in his mental wiring.

"Are we going to use our talent?" I heard Harley ask.

"Not unless I have to," I thought back to him. "Too many witnesses." I felt his silent agreement.

"Did you really follow me home last night, and then follow us again this morning?" I asked.

"Oh yeah," he practically giggled this time he was feeling so giddy. "You were not going to get away with what you did."

"I beat you at a game of pool, that's all," I looked at the two guys behind him. "You two, you have to be smarter than this. We're not in high school. If you guys beat me up, I will report it. If you touch my girlfriend, I will report it. You're looking at some sort of felony assault charges, maybe worse. Can this asshole's father get you out of those kind of charges?"

Neither guy looked like he was happy with the situation. They glanced at each other.

"We're just here to make sure that Fred get's his chance to kick your ass," the bigger of the two said.

"And what he said about my girlfriend?" I asked.

"We're not rapists, man." the other guy said.

"Is that right, Fred?" I asked, turning back to him. "You just want your chance to kick my ass and these guys aren't here to help you?"

"I guess so," he said, giving the two a look of scorn. "I don't need their help anyway,"

And with that, the idiot fucking asshole pulled a knife.

I didn't wait to see if he was willing to use it at that point. I stepped forward, stepping around his bringing the knife up in front of him, caught the arm at the wrist as he tried to bring it back towards where I'd stepped, and without a moment's hesitation, broke his wrist.

He dropped the knife as his face went white from the shock of it. I took the time then, still holding the wrist with one hand, to punch him in the face, twice. He dropped like a sack of potatoes, unconscious.

"You guys better get him out of here and to a hospital," I told them. "And watch his right wrist, its broken."

"Leave the knife where it is," I cautioned them as they stepped forward to grab their friend. "And don't touch it. Last thing you two want are your prints on that knife."

Fred would have to be grateful later that he was unconscious when they picked him up, because I saw them bump the wrist at least twice while they got him up between them into a more or less traditional two man carry. They were more likely to kill him getting him into his car than anything else, but they at least seemed familiar with the technique.

"My god, that was so sudden," Kelli said behind me.

"Are you okay?" I asked, not taking my eyes off the retreating twosome and their burden.

"Of course," She said coming up beside me. "I was never really in any danger, was I?"

"Of course you were in danger," I reprimanded her. "There's never any predicting what's going to happen in a situation like that. He could've pulled a gun instead of a knife."

We hugged then until we heard a the sound of tires scrabbling against the gravel of the pull off we'd stopped in.

"Lets get to the car," I said. "I need something to put that knife in so we don't lose any evidence."

"Are you going to report this?"

"Of course. I have to, they're headed for the hospital with him. I broke his wrist pretty badly, and the hospital will most likely report it."

Back at the car I found a zip lock bag in the glove box that held the owner's manual and other paperwork. After locking Kelli in the car I went back and got the knife, putting it in the glove box.

"Do you have cell service here?" I asked, checking mine and not finding any.