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.

“Who’s up next?” Detective Marker asked Indy, sounding resigned but apparently deciding it was best to prepare for the next disaster.

“I’m thinkin’ Mace,” Indy replied.

“I got my money on Ally,” Shirleen put in.

Ally twisted to Shirleen. “Me?” Then swiftly (and weirdly), her eyes sliced to Ren before they went back to Shirleen when she kept talking.

“That blond boy’s headed to DC. You think you’ll escape this shit? You’re a Nightingale,” Shirleen replied.

“Darius needs a woman,” Daisy threw in.

“Huh,” Shirleen grunted. “Darius would put up with this shit for about a second.”

The doors flew open, the bell over them clattered and Smithie came in. “What’d I miss?” he yelled to no one in particular.

“Ava, held at gunpoint. Kidnapping. Car chase. Car crash. Car explosion. It’s over,” Jet explained. “I missed it too, I was working,” she sounded disappointed.

“Thank Christ for that,” Eddie muttered.

“Amen,” Hank added under his breath.

“Shee-it,” Smithie said.

I reached for a cookie, found the variety too complex and bit my lip in indecision.

“Ava, give it up with the cookies,” Riley told me.

My eyes moved to him, “But –”

He shook his head. I glared but sat back.

“What’ll it be?” Tex boomed at Smithie.

“Latte with some of that butterscotch syrup,” Smithie replied, walking in.

Detective Marker moved to leave when the doors flew open again, the bell over them clattered and three big guys I’d never seen before rushed into the store, guns raised and pointed at Dom.

The room went still.

Ho-ly shit.

What now?

“Nobody move, Vincetti, you’re comin’ with us,” one of them ordered.

No. This was not going to happen. I could take no more. I was going to put an end to this, right… fucking… now.

I stood. “Not so fast,” I snapped.

“Ava –” Ren started, eyes on me.

I stomped up to the men with guns. They stared at me as I did so, obviously taken aback by my bold behavior. I didn’t care. I walked right up to one and yanked the gun out of his hand.

“What the f**k?” he clipped, staring at me with his gun.

I twisted, tossed the gun five feet to Eddie who, at the last minute, came out of his frozen stupor, a stupor caused undoubtedly by my crazy-as-shit actions, and caught it.

“Do you know there are three policemen in this room?” I asked.

The men looked around.