Midnight Hero - By Diana Duncan Page 0,72
Syrone. “Syrone says you can’t beat that woman-power.” Grinning, Con hurried out front.
Bailey plumped pillows behind Nan’s back and tucked hand-warmer heating pads around mother and baby. She covered them with a purple knitted afghan she’d found draped over the sofa and the Polarshield blanket. “Warm and cozy. Anything else I can do?”
“I’m super thirsty. And starving.” Her face radiant, Nan grinned. “Having a baby is hard work!”
“Especially without anesthesia. Yikes!”
“I’ve already forgotten the pain.”
“If you say so.” Brows arched in disbelief, Bailey raided a small refrigerator. “You’re in luck. Bottled water, and a fast-food salad one of the stylists must have left behind.”
Once Nan had sustenance, Bailey scrounged hand towels and hair clips to function as makeshift diapers. Who knew how long the siege would drag on, and Constance needed to be kept warm and dry. Thank heaven they didn’t have to worry about feeding her.
Bailey also gave Nan a squirt bottle of bleach, a straight razor and big, sharp scissors. “I hope you won’t need weapons, but just in case…” She added scissors and a razor to her own backpack, and tallied the recent acquisitions in her notebook.
Nan’s expression grew lethal. “Anybody who tries to lay a finger on my daughter will lose it.”
“After your attack on the robber with the office chair, I have no doubts.” She and Nan exchanged silent communication, friend to friend. “Thank you.”
Nan’s dark eyes conveyed her empathy over Bailey’s close escape from a woman’s ultimate horror. “Anytime, girlfriend.” She shuddered. “For a while, I was beginning to wonder if I would escape from that bank alive. To make an awful situation worse, the robbers are fighting amongst themselves.”
“About stuff going wrong. Yes, you mentioned that before.”
“Well, they’re also arguing because one of the guys accused Tony of working in cahoots with you to get rid of them.”
Bailey’s jaw dropped. “Why on earth would they think that?”
“Letty’s egging them on. She’s the one who brought it up.” Nan’s grin bounced back. “She said, ‘Interesting how every time he sends someone out, they don’t come back. How nice for Tony. Less ways to divide the money.’ Tony was gnashing his teeth.”
“Hmm.” Bailey tapped her chin with a forefinger. “Wonder if there’s a way to use that against him?”
“Oh, and maybe this will help, too. Tony’s men have orders to bring you in alive, if possible. He’s boiling mad over the accusations. He wants to prove that he’s not in league with you.” Her eyes widened. “And exact his revenge in person.”
More of Tony’s brutal brand of satisfaction? Shivers crawled up Bailey’s spine. “I’m glad you told me. I’ll fill Con in. If there’s a way to turn it around on the robbers, he’ll know.”
“Be careful, girlfriend. Tony is dangerous, and you’ve been messing with his head.” Nan’s brows creased in worry. “They’re all dangerous. The one who attacked you…he won’t care if Tony wants you alive. In fact, most of them probably won’t. You’ve kept them from taking the money and splitting.”
“Don’t worry. Just take care of yourself and Constance.”
Con returned. “Time for ‘Auld Lang Syne.’” He and Bailey said reluctant farewells to Nan and Constance, and headed out.
Outside the beauty shop, Con jumped up and grabbed the security gate. With the computerized system out of commission, only brute force could budge it. Hanging from the edge, he dragged the gate partially down.
Bailey added her weight. Gears grinding, the cage lowered slowly to the floor. He smashed the control panel and upper tracks with the baseball bat, and then wedged the bat in the lower track. “Should do the trick. Anyone on the hunt will assume the cage descended on its own like some of the others. Even if they suspect someone is inside, they’d have to expend a buttload of time and energy to wrestle it back up.”
“Which will warn Nan and give her the opportunity to fight.”
“That’s the plan.” He grabbed her hand and they strode down the mall.
She hid inside an electronics store while he headed downstairs to find the pistol and restrain the man who had assaulted her. They planned to contact Tony afterward and use Con’s latest brainstorm to stall him about the chopper.
Shivering in the dark, she waited between shoulder-high shelves lined with computers. The hair rose on the back of her neck with the creepy feeling that someone was watching her. She whirled. The blank-eyed monitors stared menacingly. Put a lid on that wild and crazy imagination, girlfriend. Her imagination had been a comfort during her lonely