He forced his thoughts away from that train wreck. What good were druthers, anyway? They just made you ache for things you couldn't have. And the one thing his childhood had taught him was not to dwell on what-ifs.
What was it Nietzsche had said? Hope was the worst of all evils, for it prolonged the torment of man?
Props to the philosopher. The man was definitely right in this case. Hoping for something better wouldn't make it manifest. It would only remind him of decisions he'd made that he couldn't undo.
He had a job to do, and it wasn't just to protect her. He had to save the rest of the world, too.
Steeling his own determination, he inclined his head to Abigail. "You ready for the next part?"
Apprehension lined her brow as she stared at her hands held clenched in her lap. "Like an adrenaline shot straight into my heart via my eyes." Her voice was faint and pain filled. "Weirdly, I think I dread meeting Andy more than fighting off Coyote."
He would laugh if she wasn't right. He had the same rock in his stomach at the thought of how the kid would react to seeing his car mangled in its current condition. Definitely not something he was looking forward to.
Time to face the music.
After turning the engine off, he opened the door and got out while Abigail followed suit. He'd barely shut the car door behind him before he heard the agonized scream coming from the house.
"What have you monsters done?"
Abigail's face blanched as she froze in place.
He quickly moved past her to intercept Andy on his way to the car. He tried to shield the car with his body, but Andy was having none of that. Andy dodged left. Jess went right. Andy pivoted right....
Jess held his arms out to stop him before he saw all the damage. Dang, the kid should have played ball. He'd seen less slippery piglets.
He offered his Squire a sympathetic nod. "You might want to order a new one."
Andy groaned in pain, then raked his hands through his hair in a way that would make James Dean proud. "I can't believe you tore up my car! My car! My precious baby. Sheez, Jess. What did you do?"
Well, there was one thing he definitely wasn't going to mention. That would only wig the kid out even more, and he would definitely never hear the end of that.
Not to mention Abigail would probably gut him if he told anyone what they'd done.
Jess dropped his arms and shrugged. "All I can say is, it got hairy for us."
"Hairy?" Andy covered his eyes with his fists and made the sound of ultimate suffering. Damn, the boy knew how to overreact. It was actually impressive. If the Squire gig failed, he could always get a job playing Oedipus. All he needed was to plunge two brooches into his eyes and stumble offstage. "My car looks like the stunt double for the Charger in Burn Notice. How could you? Jeez, Jess. Really?" He gestured toward the car. "Really?"
Abigail took a brave step forward. "I'm so sorry, Andy. It's all my fault."
He glared at her as if he was imagining her in little bloody pieces spread out through the house. He raised one hand as if about to lecture her, but honestly, he was so upset that all he could do was sputter indignantly.
Jess clapped him on the back. "You'll live. It's just a car, kid."
"And hell is just a sauna." Each word dripped with indignation and outrage.
Wincing, Andy sucked in a deep breath and appeared to get a hold of himself. "Fine," he said in a falsetto. "You're right. I'll live, even though right now it feels as if my guts have been yanked out through my nostrils and laid on the floor for your bitter amusement. You insensitive bastard! Just wait till I pick up your bike from the Ishtar. Let's see who laughs then."
"You hurt that bike, and I'll rip out your spine."
Andy paused. "Point taken." He looked at his car and sighed. "It could be worse. No one threw up in it...." He widened his eyes, as if even more disturbed. "Did they?"
"No," Jess reassured him. "No one tossed cookies."
"All right." He straightened up and seemed to be true to his promise to let it go. "I will be a man about this."
That lasted until he saw the scratches on the hood from the mountain lion and the front fender, where Abigail had dragged it off the driveway.
Wailing, he went to it and sank to his knees. He sprawled over the hood and laid his head on the damaged fender. "I'm so sorry, Bets. I should have hidden the keys. Booted your tires. Something. I had no idea anyone would abuse you so, baby. I swear I'll never let anyone hurt you again. Ayyy, how could they do this to you? How? Oh the humanity!"