Kill Switch: A Vigilante Serial Killer Action Thriller (Angel of Darkness Suspense Thriller Series Book 1) Read Free Page B

the couple passed through the arch.
    At the other side of the archway, the Barbican lurked in the gloom. With seven turrets clawing the night sky, the circular structure had probably witnessed more bloodshed than any other part of the city, having showered invaders with arrows and molten tar.
    Tess’s heart pounded in anticipation and nervous energy surged through her body. She wiped her palms on her jeans, then balled her fists.
    As the couple strolled along the path through the trees, a figure loomed out of hiding.
    A stocky man in a motorcycle jacket shouted at them, “Hey, America.”
    The couple stopped. Turned.
    Two young Polish men strutted towards them.
    “America,” said Motorcycle Jacket, “why you come here for Polish woman?”
    His tall skinny friend shouted, “Because America women all hundred-kilo hamburger ass.”
    Motorcycle Jacket laughed and patted his friend on the back.
    “Sorry,” said the boyfriend, “but I’m not American; I’m English.”
    Motorcycle Jacket shrugged as if anything the boyfriend said wouldn’t make any difference.
    “England. America. All same – come to Poland, take our rich job, take our beautiful woman.” He thumped his chest. “But Poland our country. Our!”
    The girlfriend shouted something in Polish.
    Two other men stepped from the park’s tree line and blocked the path behind the couple. One of them, in a hoodie, shouted at her in Polish.
    The boyfriend looked around, his gaze flying in all directions. He was obviously searching for an escape route. There wasn’t one. He pulled his girlfriend behind him and backed away to the side of the path, bushes blocking any chance of them running.
    The boyfriend’s timid stare flashed from one threat to the next and back again. “Look, we don’t want any trouble. Leave us alone, please.”
    “You no want trouble?” Motorcycle Jacket sneered and shook his head. “Then fuck off home, fucking America.”
    As Motorcycle Jacket swaggered over, the boyfriend put his hands up submissively. “Please. Just leave us alone.”
    Motorcycle Jacket pushed the boyfriend’s arms aside and smacked him in the head with a haymaker.
    The boyfriend fell and sprawled on the asphalt. In the dirt, he threw his arms up and cowered. “Please. Please, don’t.”
    Motorcycle Jacket spat on him. “Fucking mommy boy.”
    He kicked the boyfriend in the gut.
    The boyfriend screamed and hunched over, clutching his midriff.
    Tess sprang from the darkness. She hammered a kick into the back of Motorcycle Jacket’s knee. As he slumped backwards, she ripped him back by his hair and slammed the side of her fist down onto his collarbone, eliciting a satisfying crunch.
    Motorcycle Jacket shrieked and clutched his broken bone with his left hand while his right arm hung useless at his side.
    Frozen, the tall guy who’d been standing next to him stared wide-eyed.
    Tess was never one to turn down a golden opportunity – she whipped out another kick. Her shin bit into his thigh, deadening the nerve, which took away his mobility to keep him an easy target.
    She crashed in a flurry of punches ending with a massive right hook.
    Two of the guy’s teeth hit the asphalt path a fraction of a second before he did.
    The guy in the hoodie ran at her, while his friend, a pudgy guy, hung back.
    Tess waited for Hoodie. There was little point expending energy going to him when he was coming to her.
    He heaved his right hand back and flung a giant of a haymaker at her.
    Hoodie telegraphed his attack so clearly, Tess could have dealt with it blindfolded.
    His fist thundered at her.
    Confronted by explosive violence, the average person backed away, threw their arms up, or cowered to hide. And that was why the average person got the crap beaten out of them on the street.
    Tess did not back away.
    Did not shield herself.
    Did not cower.
    Instead, she moved closer to the danger.
    She guided the punch harmlessly past with her left forearm while grabbing him around the back