Body Double by Vicki Hinze

put in the apartment, observing Beefy. His companion was gone. Beefy stayed put on the sidewalk, observing her. Three hours passed, and then four. Another man drove up in a blue Camry. He and Beefy exchanged a few words and then Beefy left in the car. The replacement guard turned toward her, and she recognized him. Her blood boiled.
    The driver of the black Lexus who’d winged her.
    Clenching her jaw and gritting her teeth, she debated killing him and decided against it, for now. She had more to lose by giving in to her temper than to gain by restraining it.
    Jeremy went back outside with his ball.
    Amanda didn’t hesitate. She hit the door and joined him. “Ready for a game?” she called out.
    Jeremy smiled, showing her every tooth in his head, which did not include either of his front teeth. Both were missing.
    The Lexus maggot straightened from his slump against the street lamp. Alert and obviously uneasy.
    Jeremy and Amanda kicked the ball back and forth a few times. Then Jeremy dived for a shot and kicked crosswise. The ball popped the guard right in the chin.
    “Damn it!” He cupped his face and stomped across the yard, heading for Jeremy.
    When he raised his hand to hit the boy, Amanda saw a cold gleam in his eye that she recognized too easily, and her stomach clutched with the same horror and dread she’d felt as a child. She grabbed Maggot’s arm, twisted, and spun him around to face her. “Don’t even think about hitting the kid.”
    He took a swing at her.
    She blocked it, followed with a right uppercut to his jaw. He stumbled backward and fell to the grass with a healthy “Oomph!”
    Jeremy stood statue still, his eyes wide with fear. His little chin began trembling.
    Amanda reached over and pulled Jeremy behind her, blocking his vision of the guard and planting herself between them, sending the guard a clear message. To get to the boy, he’d have to go through her. “Get the hell off our grass.”
    Jeremy gasped, burrowed his head against the backs of her legs.
    “Watch it, West. I know about you and I’m not running.”
    “You probably don’t run any better than you shoot or fight. Unless you want to go toe-to-toe, I recommend you get off our grass. You’re interrupting the game.” He didn’t move and her voice shook with outrage. “You can do that, right? Or are you only good at hitting kids? I’m sure Thomas Kunz is going to love hearing about this.”
    “Don’t try pushing me around.” Maggot straightened his jacket with a shoulder shrug. “Mr. Kunz doesn’t give a damn what you say.”
    “Are you misinformed or just stupid?” Amanda asked. “Kunz has his faults, but there’s no way he’d put up with a GRID member beating on a kid, especially without his say-so.”
    “How could you know that?” The guard pulled himself to his feet. Slapped at the blades of grass clinging to his slacks. “You can’t know that.”
    “He was abused, genius. He knows what it’s like to be on the receiving end of ham-fisted cowards, and there’s no wayhe’d tolerate a lack of discipline in his people.” She swiped her hair back from her face. She was certain Kunz had no such hesitations, but this guy didn’t have to know that. “Don’t these jerks give you any background on your own organization?”
    Insulted, but clearly unsure whether or not he should believe her, he ignored her and warned Jeremy. “Next time, you watch where you’re kicking that ball.”
    “It was an accident,” Amanda said from between her teeth, then issued him fair warning. “If this kid has an accident—any accident—I’m coming for you. So you’d better go out of your way to keep him safe.”
    Maggot grunted. “You’re not even armed.”
    She pulled her lips back from her teeth in a smile meant to freeze him in place. “You are stupid.” She grunted her disgust. “I’m always armed.”
    He swallowed hard, obviously uncertain what to make of that remark. He debated, but apparently decided he didn’t