Disclaimer: I don't own Human Target and intend no copyright infringement.
"Ugh…" Chance let out a sharp gasp. Guerrero's blows somehow seemed to connect harder than usual, just this side of causing damage. The last two kicks would surely leave bruises on his ribcage.
After years and years of sparring with each other and numerous encounters with thugs that they mastered fighting side by side, Chance knew better than anyone else that Guerrero was a close combat expert. Nobody he knew was this much in control of his body, even in pain and/or under great stress.
There was only one possible explanation for his rough handling of Chance today: He was doing it deliberately.
A violent blow to the shoulder in combination with a fierce leg sweeper sent Chance crashing to the floor. Chance broke his fall at the last minute, rolled over, arched upwards, caught Guerrero around the hip with his legs in a scissor movement and imbalanced him enough that an abrupt shift of weight sent him down to the matted floor, too. His bare chest heaving from the impact, he ended up lying right next to Chance.
"Care to explain?", Chance asked.
"Your latest ex-girlfriend escapade."
"Still?" Chance rolled his eyes. Usually Winston was the one who couldn't let go. Guerrero being this persistent about an aspect of what was clearly his personal life was pretty uncharacteristic. "For such a firm supporter of privacy you're transgressing quite big time here…"
"You almost got Winston killed", Guerrero said, not a trace of humor in his voice. He was dead serious.
For a moment silent reigned between them. Then Chance sat up, clambered to his feet and walked over to one of the large warehouse windows.
"Was it really that bad?" He hadn't been with Winston when he had received the injury on his back. He had had his hands full with Margarita, his ex in need.
Yeah, Margarita… she wasn't carrying this name because her parents had liked a certain alcoholic beverage so much. It had more to do with the similarities of her personality and the effect three margaritas could have on a person…
"Yes." Guerrero got on his feet, too, but he remained standing in the center of the room.
One simple word, but it hit right where it hurt. Chance didn't want to imagine a world without Winston any more than a world without Guerrero.
Nevertheless….
"Look, I get what you mean. My exes are a problem, yeah. I'll work on it… You really don't need to get involved…" Chance kept staring out of the window.
"Dude… trap… moon…"
"Whom I date or not is none of your business. Remember when I told you to stay away from that girl in Osaka?"
This hit where it hurt, too.
"I learned from my mistake. You, dude, aren't even trying. Seriously not cool."
Chance was getting frustrated with the conversation. Guerrero was getting on his nerves big time. Not to mention that bringing up Winston's injury had been really low. At his age Winston could have a comfortable desk job by now, with a regular cop's salary and the prospect to a solid pension. Instead he was risking his life pretty much every time they went on a job… not to mention what the Old Man would be doing to him, should he ever locate his former employee.
And all because Winston had chosen to become friends with him, Chance, killer, thug, crook… Chance could feel Guerrero's eyes boring into his back. He wouldn't let him off the hook.
"Okay, just to get you two out of my hair – McGregory's, Friday evening, we'll hang out together, Winston can bring someone from his book club, I'll bring a normal girl. Does that count as "trying"?"
Guerrero decided it did.
… … …
A couple of hours later Chance found himself lurking in the vicinity of an unobtrusive apartment house, waiting for the dog expert to show her face so he could fake a coincidental encounter and lay the groundwork for dragging her off to the evening with Winston and Guerrero at the end of the week.
Why her?
Good question. Well, Chance's official explanation was that he and Jamie Prince (retrieving the dog expert's name from the speed dating organizer's database had been a piece of cake – Chance knew a thing or two about hacking, too) had already met and Chance could work on that.
Yeah. As if Chance had ever had any problem charming his way into a woman's good books.
Truth to be told, Jamie was so unsympathetically normal, not to say boring and annoying, after meeting her his friends would surely refrain from ever interfering in his love life again. He counted on the fact that as his friends they would want him to be happy and that a normal girl like Jamie would simply not be enough… he needed someone by his side as adventurous, action-loving, adrenaline hooked as himself.
The door of the apartment house opened and out stepped, finally, Jamie. She was carrying a plastic bag in her hand. To Chance's surprise she didn't head to a car. Apparently she was planning to take the plastic bag for a walk. Okay… made trailing her much easier.
Three blocks down the road he eventually bumped into her. "You again!", he exclaimed. "One more time and I suspect you're stalking me."
His joke fell flat. She just stared at him, deep frown on her face. "I was on the way to the pet shop", she finally said, shaking the plastic bag in her hand. "Maybe you want to join, they've got great diet food for larger dog breeds there."
Chance ignored the jab at Carmine's weight and his implied incompetence as a dog owner. The plastic bag in Jamie's hand had caught his attention.
"You realize those fish are dead?", he asked.
"Yes. That's exactly the point."
He shook his head in confusion. "You've just lost me."
"They died after a week. I want a refund on my money."
Now it was Chance who was staring at her, not open-mouthed, but pretty flabbergasted.
"I followed the instructions in the book they had recommended me meticulously. This shouldn't have happened."
"You regard fish as tools, too, don't you? The concept that living creatures don't work like machines is pretty alien to you, isn't it? Life is unpredictable."
Suddenly her face darkened with an angry shadow. "Fish are stupid", she hissed.
For a brief moment Chance wondered where this sudden hostility was coming from. Yes, she hadn't exactly been friendly before, but this was a different, far more sinister mood.
"No, they aren't. And I can prove it. What about it?" He looked at her with one of his trademark lopsided smiles.
Unlike most women, Jamie didn't smile back. But after a brief moment of hesitation she shrugged. "Care to explain that in more detail?"