“Do you want me to pull over and wait it out?” Creed asked.
“It’s too late. Mom’s expecting us now and will have already lit the bombs—or tried to. We’re going to have to just do this, guys,” Alik said ominously.
They looked at one another and nodded in agreement.
“Let me cover Meg,” Creed said seriously.
“We’re all going to cover her as we push her gurney and run like heck. Leave all the medical equipment on the bus. Just worry about…” Alik was talking a mile a minute.
“That’s not what I mean. I’m saying, I’ll be her shield. I’ll cover her with my body so any bullets will hit me and not her.” Creed’s eyes didn’t leave the road as he struggled to see through the flapping windshield wipers.
“Are you serious?” Alik asked.
“Absolutely.”
“You’ll have to be careful not to crush her with your weight, and the gurney’s going to be really heavy with you on it, too.”
“You’d do that for her?” Alik asked, ignoring his brother’s logistics.
“It makes sense, doesn’t it? I am completely healthy. I put her in this position to begin with. I can turn off pain, so you guys don’t have to worry about me whining like a baby if I’m hit…and besides, I don’t want anything else to hurt her. Ever.”
“I think it’s a good idea. Evan, what do you think?” Alik asked his brother while staring at Creed’s profile.
“He’s going to have to help us unload her first. I don’t think the gurney could sustain his weight and release its legs and wheels correctly. We don’t want to end up on the ground out there.”
“Okay, so as soon as we get the gurney on the ground, release the legs, I climb on, crouch on top of her and cover her as much as possible without hurting her. You guys both run along the safer side of the gurney—the side that is furthest away from the hills and greenery where Farrow will be hiding—and roll us all into the house. Sound like a plan?”
“Sounds like one hell of a plan,” Alik nodded.
“I’m going to start getting Meg ready to unload. Try to park as close to the house as possible,” Evan said as he crawled toward the back of the bus.
“Heck, if I could, I’d drive us right to the front door,” Creed said.
“Too bad there are all those giant palm trees in the way.” Alik was already unfastening his seatbelt and climbing to the back to help Evan.
“Well, maybe they’ll help supply some cover,” Evan said hopefully.
“You guys ready? We’re home.”
54 Welcome Home
Of all the times for it to rain! And not just a regular rain shower, oh, no! That would be too simple! Margo peered anxiously through the closed window blinds, talking to herself. It had to be a torrential downpour that exploded right above their heads with no warning!
Sure enough, the smoke bombs were useless in the downpour. They wouldn’t even stay lit, so Margo gave up after throwing five and watching each of them fizzle pathetically.
She had been praying the boys had come up with another plan, because if Farrow were standing nearby with her handguns loaded, as Margo suspected she was, she could do some serious damage despite the rain and darkened skies.
Margo was so mad at the whole situation she had half a mind to gear up and go after her own assassin, but there was no time. Right now, she had to be focused on helping her children safely in the house. After that, she wasn’t making any promises that she wouldn’t go take care of the wretched female meta herself!
“Okay, Margo. It’s going to be okay. The boys are incredibly resourceful. They’ll figure something out.” Theo was standing beside her trying to calm her down.
Just then, as if on cue, the ambulance rounded the bend and came to a skidding stop at the end of the front walkway. Margo watched in amazement as the back doors to the bus flew open and out jumped Alik. He yanked the gurney out of the vehicle and anticipated Evan to catch the other side smoothly. For half a second, the boys were holding their sister stretcher-style before the legs popped down and locked into place. Then, amazingly, Creed jumped carefully on top of Meg and laid his body down on her.
“Oh my, God!” Theo was yelling as he watched amazed at what he was seeing.
And then came the loud bangs of shots being fired.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
Handgun shots, Margo thought to herself, just as I suspected. She ran to the other side of the room and yanked the window open just enough. From the back of her waist band she pulled out her own gun. She aimed into the dense thickage, right where she would be hiding if she were Farrow, and pulled her trigger smoothly again and again.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
She was shooting in the dark, literally, but she knew the gunfire would force the shooter into a defensive position, ducking, cowering and hiding between shots.
Theo stood with his hands covering his ears watching the whole scene take place as though it were an old black-and-white western.