So I put my foot in the other shoe and the feeling it gave me was overpowering. Tears came up my throat and I swallowed them back.
“Ally, girl,” I whispered.
Ally wasn’t done. “I’m not a badass cop or a badass…” she stared at Lee, “whatever-you-are but if I get the chance to do my bit, I’m gonna do it. I mean, that guy interrupted ‘No More Tears’. Burgundy and Indy were kicking ass up there. Something had to be done!”
“I think you made your point,” Lee said from behind me. His arm was still around me tight.
A car angled into the lot and Dad, Malcolm and Kitty Sue were there.
Malcolm charged out of the car, assessed that his loved ones were breathing and healthy and then roared at Ally, “Tell me you didn’t just participate in a high speed chase!”
“We’ve covered this ground,” Hank said.
Lee let me go and turned me into Dad’s arms. Dad held me and kissed my forehead.
“You okay?” Dad asked.
“Yeah,” I answered.
A squad car angled in and Jorge and Carl were there. Carl shot out of the car, his face angry.
“Have you lost your mind?” he shouted at Ally.
It obviously wasn’t going to be Ally’s night.
Though I had to admit I found it a tad interesting how upset Carl was.
Hmm.
Jorge came out slower, his face set and showing little emotion. He approached Lee, Dad and me.
“I don’t know what’s goin’ on, Nightingale, but you should consider putting Indy in a safe house until it’s over,” Jorge remarked.
Lee made no comment to this. Ally and Carl were shouting at each other and Dad was holding on tight. Lee and Hank started making phone calls, Jorge got out his notebook and we all made statements.
Lee put me in the Crossfire after a wrecker came in to tow Ally’s Mustang. Carl sat in the car, the radio microphone in his hand, calling in a report. Tex was going with Carl and Jorge who were taking him back to the hospital to get re-stitched up. Ally and Hank were catching a ride with Malcolm back to BJ’s to pick up Hank’s SUV.
I waved to everyone as Lee pulled away, heading north on Broadway.
“I don’t want to go into a safe house,” I told Lee.
“You’re in a safe house, the condo’s safe. You just keep leaving it.”
I didn’t like the way he said the second sentence.
“Are you thinking of cuffing me to the bed again?”
He didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”
Great.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
“Thinkin’ about it isn’t the same as doin’ it. You’re a security challenge. I have to keep you safe while not lowering my chances of gettin’ into your sexy underwear, or, more to the point, gettin’ you out of them.”
I thought it likely that Lee was up to that challenge. At least I hoped so.
“By the way, nice performance back there. I especially liked the part where you kicked the guy in the chest. Class.”