Moonlight Warriors: A Tale of Two Hit Men Read Free

and went into a bakery.
    Marcus approached the small store and then stopped outside the open doorway.  He leaned casually against the brick wall and listened to the conversation taking place within.
    “We need that money today!” declared one of the men.
    “Today’s cash has already been deposited in the bank,” explained an older woman.  She and her husband were the co-owners of the bakery.
    “You owe us two thousand dollars for our protective services,” the other man told her.  “You need our protection.  Bad things happen to good people.”
    “Then you two don’t have to worry about something bad happening to you,” the husband said as he came out of the back room and approached the counter.
    “Hey, old man, don’t disrespect me!”
    “Respect has to be earned.”
    The first young man looked at the husband intently.  “We might teach you to respect us by burning this bakery to the ground.”
    “Yeah,” laughed the other man. “Lew’s Laundry over on the next block burned down last week.  We taught him to respect us.”
    “You think so?” the wife said, shaking her head in disdain.
    “I don’t like the attitude that you two have!” the first man shouted at them. “You need an attitude adjustment!”
    The second man approached the couple menacingly.  “Unless you give us that two thousand dollars now, you are going to be hurt bad.”  He grabbed the older man’s shirt and pulled the owner toward him.
    This situation is starting to get out of control, Marcus thought.  I’d better intervene now.  He stepped through the doorway.
    All four persons inside glanced toward him.
    “Good afternoon,” Marcus said, taking several steps forward.  “I would like to purchase a half-dozen doughnuts.”
    “Come back later,” the first man said.
    “I’m going to need those doughnuts now.  My schedule is very busy today.”
    “The bakery is closed for the day,” the second man told Marcus.  “There was a death in the family.”
    “And there might soon be another one,” the first man chuckled.
    Marcus ignored them and approached the counter where a wide variety of cakes, cookies, doughnuts, and other pastries were on display.
    “Everything looks so good,” Marcus said.  “I think that I’ll get a Danish roll along with the doughnuts.”
    “Are you deaf?” the second man shouted at him.  “This place is closed!”
    “It looks open to me.”
    “If you don’t leave right now, I’m going to hurt you bad.”  The man moved toward Marcus, intending to grab him.
    Instead, Marcus grabbed the man’s arm and broke his wrist.  As the man screamed in pain, his partner flipped open a butterfly knife and lunged at Marcus.
    Marcus deftly avoided the blade, kicked the man in the groin, and hit him in the head with a backfist strike.  He restrained the dazed man, took away his knife, and removed the handgun from the man’s jacket.
    Marcus shoved both men out the doorway.   They stumbled onto the sidewalk, and after a few seconds, went staggering away, muttering curses and threats.
    The bakery owners looked at Marcus with amazement.
    “Thank you!” the husband said.
    “Who are you?” the wife asked.
    “A couple of days ago, I was hired by your neighborhood association to protect your businesses from the gang that has been terrorizing them.”
    “Oh!” the husband explained.  A look of understanding appeared on his face.  “Yes.  We contributed to the fund that was raised to pay your fee.  That gang has killed four persons in this neighborhood.  They even murdered a teenage girl to keep her from testifying against them.  Last week they burned down Lew’s Laundry, and Lew was badly burned trying to save his business.  We realized that extreme action needed to be taken.”
    “Yes.  You did the right thing to hire me.  I will take care of the problem.”
    “But those gangsters will be back!”  The wife declared with wide eyes.  “They will be furious about what happened