Mace was up, Stel a flung over his shoulder and he was striding to the stairs, the band on his heels.
We hit the stairs as Mace made it to the bottom; he bent and put Stel a on her feet.
Stel a looked pale and shocked (but luckily alive and not covered in blood). Her wild eyes took a sweep of Mace as if searching for bul et holes. She looked up at him, opened her mouth to speak but Mace got there before her.
“Rendez-vous,” he barked at Hector and then without hesitation he turned in the direction of Tex, Luke and Wil ie.
“Mace!” Vance clipped, his tone urgent but Mace didn’t stop.
“Fuck,” Hector snarled then his head turned and he shouted, “Lee!”
I looked to where Hector’s eyes were aimed and saw Lee jump off the stage and push through the crowd on a trajectory that would take him to Mace.
“Let’s go,” Duke said, shoving us toward the back.
“What’s he gonna do?” Al y asked her eyes on Mace.
“Move! Now!” Duke shouted and started shoving harder.
We moved. We didn’t want to, but we moved.
We knew the dril and we’d wasted enough time.
They herded us into Explorers and we went to The Castle.
* * * * *
“Chiquita, get away from the window,” Eddie ordered. I turned away from watching Stel a and Mace drive away in an Explorer and looked at Eddie.
His feet were bare, his chest was bare, his belt was undone and so were two buttons of his faded jeans.
As usual, Eddie looked f**king hot (definitely worth the f-word).
And, also, Eddie was obviously ready to go to bed.
Even after our adventurous night including rock ‘n’ rol in the face of certain danger, that danger coming at one of us in the form of gunfire and the Rock Chicks’ fast getaway in bul etproof SUVs, Eddie was already wound down.
This was because Eddie was a cop. Eddie’s job was dangerous, not to mention he’d survived five Rock Chick/Hot Bunch Courtships, including our own. This was just another night for Eddie.
“Is Mace okay?” I asked, dropping the curtain I had pul ed back from the window.
I asked because Mace could be a little intense and we hadn’t had time to debrief downstairs. Eddie came in before Mace and took me directly upstairs. He looked exhausted so I didn’t argue even though I wanted to know what happened, as in, really wanted to know.
If Mace made it to the man who shot at Stel a before someone talked him down from going berserk, Stel a and the rest of us would be visiting Mace at the local penitentiary for as long as they put people away for manslaughter.
I was taking it as a good sign that he was driving off with Stel a in an Explorer.
Though, they could be driving to Mexico as fugitives from the law for al I knew.
“Yeah. Lee control ed it before we had to lock him down,” Eddie replied, finishing with the buttons on his jeans.
Wel , that was a relief.
I walked toward him, picked up the t-shirt he’d discarded, tossed it on the bed and started to undress.
“I can’t believe they opened fire in a crowded club,” I said, pul ing off my tee.
“Sid’s crazy,” Eddie replied, his voice like a verbal shrug but there was an edge to it.