They’d had a lovely breakfast together and Ben saw them all off. He went back to the room and spent a couple of hours working on his laptop on the balcony. Then he shut it down and looked out at the beautiful day. He decided he’d go for a walk along the beach but he brought his cell phone in case his financial advisor or Gabriella needed to reach him.
He walked along the beach for about an hour and passed a few different resorts along the way. There weren’t too many people out on the sand at this time but he did see quite a few people surfing. He stopped to watch a group of young surfers riding the waves and smiled at their enthusiasm if not their skill. Two young men in the group rode their surfboards right up to the shore and quickly pulled their boards up onto the dry sand. They turned in his direction and made their way over to him. One was hobbling a little and his friend with dreads kept pace with him so they arrived together. Ben looked at them and there was something familiar about them but he… couldn’t place it.
“Mr. Shepherd, sir! Dave and I just wanted to apologize for our behavior on the flight here.”
That’s when it connected for Ben. These were the two young men who triggered his shouting on the plane.
Dave, the one with the broken toe, nodded. “Yeah, we were seriously wasted when we boarded. Had some seriously bad Mex before we went to the airport and it took hours to get clear.”
“That’s ok. I’m sorry I yelled like that.”
“We didn’t know you traveled with personal security!” the young man with dreads exclaimed, gently touching the remnants of his black eye.
“Security?” Ben blinked.
“The hot redhead milf- lady!” he quickly corrected.
Ben nodded. “Oh, right. Yeah, she’s… pretty hardcore,” he said with a grin.
“Leo! Are you surfing or what?” yelled a young woman standing at the edge of the shore with her board under her arm. She also had her light brown hair in dreads and sported a number of piercings. Wide black plugs stretched out her earlobes. She tilted her head to look at them. Ben thought of Lucy and felt a little homesick.
“Oh man, would- would it be cool if we introduced you to our friends?” Leo pleaded.
Ben looked back up the beach and realized he had the day. “Sure.”
“Dana! Come here a minute!” Leo yelled. Dave grinned at his friend and waved to the others out in the surf to come in.
Ben looked out at the surf and counted about eight young people, five men and three women. They all had lean bodies and tans of diehard surfers and Ben saw a wide variety of tattoos and piercings. Ben thought they all looked like they needed a good meal or two.
“Who’s the old guy?” Dana asked as she got close.
Ben snorted in amusement as he saw the look of dismay on Dave and Leo’s faces.
“You came down here together?” Ben asked and Leo nodded.
“Yeah, it’s kinda our last blast before we all gotta go our own ways and grow up and stuff. One last surfing blowout!” He grinned at Ben who nodded with a smile.
“We rented a house and we’re living as cheaply as we can so we can stay down here for a month,” Dave continued.
The others began to arrive and Ben saw they were all as young as Dana. The ages of the group probably ranged from 18 to no more than 20. Compared to them he was a fossil.
“Oh shit! Dave, is this the guy you were talking about?” one of the other girls asked as she gawked at Ben. She wore her long blond hair pulled back in a tightly bound braid.
Dave grinned and nodded. “Yeah, may I introduce Ben Shepherd. The Bronze Man!”
Ben sighed. That damn statue.
Surprised eyes turned in his direction and he did his best to ignore the rude stares at his crotch.
“Don’t you think it’s a little weird to show off your junk to the whole world, man?” The speaker had a more muscular build than the others, with long black hair, a deep tan and tribal tattoos over his chest and arms. His expression was a little belligerent.
“You’re just jealous of what he’s packing!” joked another.
“No, he’s right. It is weird and if I’d known the artist’s intent was to display it so widely I would have refused to pose for it.” Ben growled. “I had no idea the damn thing was going to be so lifelike. I expected it to be abstract.”
That made them quiet down. Dana was looking at the others. “What are you guys talking about?”
Ben was relieved at least one of the group hadn’t seen it.
“He posed for a four foot tall bronze statue and he’s naked as the day he was born.” Dave blurted.
The girl looked at him in surprise.
“Aside from surfing what do you guys do down here?” Ben asked to change the subject.
“Eat, sleep, surf-” Leo began.
“Smoke weed!” Dave blurted and the group laughed.
Leo stared at Dave to get him to cool it in front of Ben.
“Just be careful you don’t get caught. I don’t think any of you want to spend time in the jails down here.”
“Oh fuck, speaking of weed, did someone forget to pay the dealer?” the muscular surfer said nervously as he looked inland.
“Dana, you little cunt! Where’s my fucking money!”
The group turned to see two men walking towards them from the grounds of a hotel. Some took a step back and realized it was too late to run. Ben watched them curiously then turned his face to the approaching and angry men.
The man in the lead, the one with the foul mouth, was around 5′ 6″, slim but hard and leathery. His long greying hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail and he had a dainty little gold ring through one flared nostril.
The man at his back was obviously his body guard / knee breaker. Heavy muscles and a mean look, hair buzzed short, and too much jewellery. His gold rings probably doubled as brass knuckles. Great, a drug dealer. Ben got a bad feeling in his stomach but he knew he had to stay out of it.
“Shit! It’s Michael and Devan!” Leo said quietly. “Do you have Michael’s money?” he asked Dana.
She shook her head with tears in her eyes. Her face was turning red. “I didn’t tell Dad where I was going so he cut me off.”
“Why the fuck didn’t you say something?” Leo hissed then stepped in front of the young woman. “Hey Michael, she had a little trouble getting the money but we’ll-”
The man back handed him across the face and Leo fell back onto the sand. Dana screamed and reached out to him but Michael grabbed her arm and pulled her to him roughly.
“Where’s my FUCKING MONEY?” he yelled in her face. She was crying in fear, mumbling she didn’t have it and he shook her, hard.
Ben’s eyes went cold and hard and he turned to face Michael completely.
“Let go of the girl.”
Michael looked over Dana’s head at Ben. Bloodshot blue eyes assessed him and slid away. “Fuck off! The cunt owes me money and if she can’t pay with cash she’s gonna pay with her gash!” he finished leering in the girl’s face. She began to shriek.
Leo lurched back to his feet to try and stop Michael but Devan hit him once and he didn’t get back up.
“Let go. Now.”
The man smirked and pinched Dana’s tit, hard. “Devan. Show this piece of shi-” he began then he was lying on the sand unconscious, blood splashed across his face from his destroyed nose. His sunglasses flew from his forehead to land a few yards away. The little gold ring was gone, lost somewhere in the sand. Probably with the missing teeth.
Dana was shaking with fear, staring down at the bloody mess that was Michael’s face. Ben gently moved her behind him and hands reached forward to pull her back to the rest of the group who’d all moved behind Ben. They moved further back to give him room.
Devan was looking down at his boss with his mouth open. He couldn’t believe how fast and hard the big guy had hit him. Doubt flashed behind his eyes. With his left hand he slid his blade free of its hidden belt sheath. The sun caught its edge.
“That was a mistake. Maybe your last,” Devan said menacingly.
Never taking his eyes off of the man before him Ben pulled off his shirt and handed it back. Someone came forward and plucked it from his fingers.
Devan looked at Ben’s chest and his unease grew. “You should walk away. The little bitch belongs to us now.”
Ben’s expression never changed and Devan was starting to sweat. He made a few feints with the blade but Ben didn’t react at all. He could have been a statue.
Nerve broken, Devan surged forward but stepped on Michael’s wrist with a crunch. The momentary distraction threw off the aim of his stab. Ben caught the wrist with his right hand and yanked him forward as he spun. He nailed Devan’s right temple with his left fist, snapping the thug’s head to the left.
Dazed badly, Devan tried to keep his footing but the sand shifted and he went down hard, landing on his own knife. He rolled onto his back and tried to scream but the knife had punctured a lung.
Ben saw the handle sticking up and the shock brought reality crashing back on him. He saw Devan reaching for the handle.
“STOP! Don’t pull it out!” he bellowed and dropped to his knees beside the man and grabbed his wrists. “You could bleed out! Don’t touch the knife!”
He turned his face to the frightened group. He caught the eye of the dark haired one he’d spoken with earlier. “You! Go to the hotel and get them to call for an ambulance!” He looked at Michael’s bloody and unconscious face. “Make it two. GO NOW!”
The young man ran to the hotel as fast as he could.
Devan was gasping for breath as he was down a lung. “Fuck! -hurts!” he whimpered.
“I know it does but you have to stay as still as you can. Don’t talk.” Ben looked at the wound and there didn’t seem to be much bleeding. He looked back at Devan. The man was on the edge of panic. “I’ve survived worse.” The man’s eyes went to the scars on Ben’s chest and he seemed to calm a little.