California Schemin' - Kate George [71]
“MIB?” she asked.
“Don’t tell me you’ve never seen Men in Black. It’s a classic.”
“Oh. Yeah. I’ve seen it. Wasn’t thinking about movies, so when you said MIB it threw me for a loop. I doubt it’s space aliens.” She barked out a short laugh. “But a secret agency? I’d believe that.”
The sound of screaming engines came to us from up the road. We looked at each other for a moment.
“Go,” Madison said. “Get out of here now.”
I turned to the girls still huddled together on the road.
“Paris! Wendy!”
They turned to look at me, eyes wide. I hoped I had never looked that vulnerable.
“Get in the Jeep. Drive Beau to the hospital. Stay there until I get there. OK?”
“Are you nuts?” Madison asked. “You’re going, too.”
“It’s me they’re after. If I don’t go, these three have a better chance of making it to the hospital, and I’m not leaving you here alone.”
I turned back to the girls who were standing with their mouths hanging open.
“Now!” I hadn’t meant to shout, but damn it, they needed to move.
They moved. The Jeep was roaring out of sight when two snowmobiles and a four-wheeler zoomed into sight along the dirt road. I should have remembered the snowmobiles could run without snow. Madison had angled her car across the road so they couldn’t easily pursue the Jeep, and we stood on either side of it. They would have to go through us to catch the Jeep, but I didn’t think they’d try. It was me Wallace really wanted. They could have me packed up and out of there before Beau alerted the sheriff’s department.
Hambecker and Moose were riding the four-wheeler, and I couldn’t see faces under the helmets riding the ski machines. I doubted I would recognize them; there were a bunch of people at the cabin I hadn’t been introduced to. Hambecker headed straight for me, but I held my ground. Giving Beau time to get to the hospital was my highest priority.
The ATV skidded to a halt in front of me, and the two men were off it and on me in a heartbeat. Moose produced a set of metal cuffs and secured my hands together in front of my body while Hambecker held me. The other two guys were at a standoff with Madison as she was armed. One of them had produced a handgun but looked hesitant to use it. Madison, on the other hand, was planted gun in hand, feet wide, arms straight out, aiming at the thug. She had never looked less like a shape shifter than she did right now. She’d transformed into a pink-haired Olivia Benson, and I’d been standing right there.
My guess was that if shots were fired, Madison would hit her target, and the rent-a-thug would miss. He must have thought that, too, because he was looking at his partner with panic on his face.
“Bree.” Hambecker’s voice was quiet in my ear. “If I let you escape, it’ll blow my cover. So sit tight, OK? I promise to keep you safe.”
He handed me over to Moose and headed toward the others. I glanced at the four-wheeler and wondered if it was possible to drive it with my hands cuffed together. It took me about two seconds to figure out that I’d crash if I tried, so I switched my gaze to the rental car. I’d driven a car handcuffed before. That was do-able. Not the safest way to go, but definitely do-able.
Moose’s attention was on Hambecker, and his grasp on me was relaxed. He didn’t expect me to break away. I didn’t give a rat’s ass about anyone’s cover. He and Moose could rot in hell as far as I was concerned. I stepped away from Moose. He took a step toward Hambecker, who was talking quietly to Madison. Madison hadn’t even twitched. She stood exactly as she had from the beginning, her sights on the guy with the gun.
“Madison, you’re my hero,” I said, but not loud enough to distract her.
I took another step away from Moose toward the car. He didn’t notice. I turned and walked to the driver’s side door. I looked around. I could have been invisible for all the attention I was getting. Good.
Guy was still in the back seat, hands cuffed behind his back. Madison must have engaged the child locks on the rear doors, or he would have been long gone. Should I take