Blink of an Eye (Kendra Michaels #8) - Roy Johansen Page 0,6
an amused glance. “And enjoying every minute of it.”
“I always have fun with you.” Dee’s gaze was fixed on the vehicles careening around the curb behind them. “That green jeep took that turn on two wheels. He definitely has potential.”
“Potential to kill himself, maybe. Or someone else on the road.”
“Can you lose ’em before that happens?”
Jessie pulled the wheel hard right and spun onto Oceanside Boulevard. “We’ll see. By the way, are you going to tell me where you left your security detail this morning?”
“Not sure. They’re probably still at Thunder Road recording studios, wondering where in the hell I went.”
“You slipped out on them?”
“Maybe.” She looked away from Jessie. “They would have tried to stop me. The recording company pays them.”
“And you wonder why I quit as your security director.”
Dee grinned as she leaned back in her seat. “I wouldn’t have tried to slip out on you. Admit it, you’ve never had a more fun job.”
“I had more fun dodging gunfire in Afghanistan.”
“You miss me.”
“How can I miss you when you’re always hanging out at my office?”
“Not when I’m on tour. Are you sure you don’t want to come back?”
“Positive. Buckle your seat belt. It’s about to get hairy.”
Dee’s smile deepened as she pulled the belt across her chest. “Now that’s what I like to hear.”
Jessie punched the accelerator and sped toward the I-5 entrance ramp. As the paparazzi’s vehicles fell in line behind them, Jessie slowed to a crawl.
“What are you doing?” Dee asked.
“Waiting for that eighteen-wheeler to catch up to us.”
“Why?”
Jessie was still looking in her side-view mirror. “Gotta time it just right…”
The cargo truck pulled alongside them and most of the other photographers’ cars. Just as the lane turned right onto the I-5 northbound entrance ramp, Jessie gunned the engine, jumped the median, and swerved left in front of the truck. She sped down Oceanside Boulevard and checked the rearview. The paparazzi caravan, still blocked from the left by the eighteen-wheeler, could only continue onto the freeway.
“Well done, my friend.” Dee initiated a fist bump that Jessie didn’t return.
“There’s still a couple stragglers back there.” Jessie’s hands tightened on the wheel as she sped up and turned right onto South Coast Highway. “And the others will get off at the next exit and try to intercept us.”
Dee’s eyes were glittering with excitement. “Then let’s change cars.”
“How do you propose we do that?”
“We find someone to loan us theirs.”
“That’s your plan?”
“Yes. We’ll find someone, and I’ll strike the Summer on the Beach album pose.” Dee flipped back her hair, cocked her head to the side, and smiled in a perfect re-creation of her multi-platinum debut album cover. “I’ll offer ’em ten backstage passes, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll volunteer to show up at their daughter’s next birthday party.”
“That actually works?”
“Yes.” She was beaming. “For almost everything.”
“I’m really glad I don’t work for you anymore.”
Dee was ignoring her. “Slow down, I think I see a housewife getting into a Suburban.”
“I have my own plan, Dee. And it doesn’t involve a meet-and-greet at a kid’s birthday party.”
She frowned. “I’m not naming a song after someone.”
“Also not on the table. Hang on.” Jessie spun hard left into a restaurant parking lot and raced down a narrow driveway to the building’s rear side, where a deck overlooked the narrow beach.
Dee looked around. “So we’re just gonna hide back here? l like my plan better.”
“No. We are switching vehicles, but not in the way you think.” Jessie put the SUV in park and killed the ignition. “Let’s go.”
“Go where? Is someone meeting us? Did you send for an Uber?”
Jessie climbed out and slammed the door closed.
Dee scrambled out and joined her on the blacktop parking lot. “Come on, what’s the plan?”
Jessie motioned ahead, where a black fourteen-foot bowrider boat was partially beached on the sand.
Dee’s eyes lit up. “The Moon Shadow! What’s it doing here?”
“Saving your sorry ass from the paparazzi.”
“You brought it down here for me?”
“I came prepared.” She sighed. “You know, it’s almost as hard being your friend as it was being your employee.” They approached the sleek craft, which Jessie occasionally used for surveillance and tracking along the coast. “Let’s push this back and get out of here.”
Within five minutes, they were on the boat and speeding north on the waters past Camp Pendleton.
“We got away from them!” Dee collapsed back in her seat, her face wreathed in smiles. “For a minute, I thought they had us. What a way to go, Jessie!”