I blinked as I looked around after Luke got me out of the car, not hesitating as he carried me away. I heard sirens, I saw Hector and Vance on Noah’s side of the car and heard Lee say from somewhere, “Do your best to stabilize him but get him loose.”
Daisy, Ally, Mom, Marilyn, Sofia, Olivia and Shirleen were all rushing forward. Riley was running up after them.
“Back to your cars. Get outta here. Go!” Luke roared and the women started walked slowly backwards then turned and hoofed it to their cars. Riley stopped, eyes on me. He must have been assured at what he saw because he turned and hoofed it too.
Suddenly I was jostled. One second I was in Luke’s arms, the next I was in Ren’s.
“Take care of her,” Luke ordered.
Without hesitation, Ren moved, taking me to his Jag.
“I think I should –” I started but Ren interrupted me.
“Quiet, honey,” he said softly. “Can you stand?”
I nodded. He put me on my feet and opened the passenger side door. I got in and he shut the door. Dom slid in the back, Ren rounded the front and angled behind the wheel. He just started the car when it happened.
Boom!
I jumped and let out a little scream as the car Noah and I had been in exploded.
In a flash, Ren’s hand tagged the back of my neck and he pulled me down toward his lap, his torso landing on top of me. I heard rather than saw pieces of car landing everywhere with sickening thuds, some of it hitting Ren’s Jag, making it bounce.
“Oh my God,” I whispered to Ren’s hard thigh.
After the thuds stopped, Ren came up, I came up and my hand went directly to the door handle as my eyes scanned the landscape. I stopped my attempt to exit the car and find Luke when what I saw penetrated my stunned brain.
There were pieces of burning car everywhere. There were also members of the Hot Bunch and uniformed officers all recovering from whatever safety positions they’d assumed.
From what I could see, all were fine, no one injured. Hector and Vance had been shielded behind the wrecked Explorer, an unconscious Noah lying on the ground at their feet. Matt was coming out of a crouch behind a squad car. Lee, apparently protected by an invisible Badass Shield, was simply standing in the middle of the mayhem, staring at the burning remains of the car.
Luke, much like Lee, was standing smack in the chaos, pieces of car on fire all around him and his eyes were on me.
I gave him what I hoped was a jaunty wink and a stupid half-wave.
He shook his head and half-grinned.
I dropped my hand and turned to Ren.
Then I said, “I need cookies.”
*
“Miss Barlow, I’m gonna have to repeat, next time you get kidnapped or your house gets broken into or you get beaten up and violated, it’s a real good idea to call the police,” Detective Jimmy Marker told me, sounding slightly aggrieved.
I pulled the Oreo out I was dunking into milk Tex had given me, popped it’s soggy goodness into my mouth and munched.
“Okay,” I said, mouth full, hoping that I would not be experiencing any of those things anytime soon (read: ever again).
I was in Fortnum’s and so was most everyone else.
Duke, Tex and Indy were manning the espresso counter. Shirleen was standing guard beside the couch I was sitting on. Uncle Vito was sitting across from me. Sissy was on one side of me, Mom on the other (Sissy, by the way, had missed the car chase, staying behind with Uncle Vito at the hotel). Marilyn and Sofia were at a table across the room. Sofia had been crying like, a lot. Apparently her little sister having a near-death experience bounced the bitch right out of her (good to know, not that I’d ever do that again). Marilyn was having trouble taking her eyes off me as if, at any second, another bad guy was going to come in and spirit me away. Riley was sitting at the table with them, elbows on knees, jaw in his hands, eyes on me. Daisy was sitting on the arm of the couch, Ally sitting on the other one. Roxie and Jet were sitting on the book counter, Hank standing next to Roxie, Eddie standing next to Jet. Jules was sitting in the armchair next to Uncle Vito. Olivia was standing at the espresso counter, enjoying a cappuccino and an Archway peanut butter cookie. Ren and Dom were standing just inside the door, talking in low voices, Santo and Lucky a few feet away.
Ren had ordered Santo and Lucky to bring me cookies and they obviously obeyed orders well. There were Oreos, Chips Ahoy, four different types of Milanos and a plethora of other Pepperidge Farms choices, Nutter Butters, Pecan Sandies and a variety of Archway and Entenmanns on the coffee table in front of me.
Tod and Stevie would have been there but they were flight attendants and they were both flying. However, Indy was watching their chow dog, Chowleena, and Chowleena was sitting on the couch between me and Sissy, panting. So I figured Tod and Stevie were there in spirit.
Detective Marker rose from the armchair at the side of the couch. “I got what I need,” he announced.
I nodded as Indy came forward and handed me a fresh, skinny vanilla latte. I set down my milk and took the latte. Then I sipped.
Heaven.