Normally, she didn't obey anyone's orders, never mind a disembodied voice in her head, but given the oddness of this day, she decided not to argue or hesitate. No sooner was she down than more bullets sprayed her Toyota.
"This is ridiculous!" Infuriated over the damage done to her car, she put it in drive and gunned the engine as more shots were fired. The car lurched as it went tearing through her neighbor's yard, over their small white garden fence. "Jenna is going to kill me." But she'd deal with her neighbor later, provided she survived this and had a later.
Her heart pounding, she sat up so that she could actually see where she was going. Off in the distance, she heard the sound of sirens. The saner part of herself wanted to head toward them, but she thought better of it. Those had been cops at her door...
Jimmy had been terrified of his compadres in uniform. For argument's sake, what if that part of his psychosis had been real? She knew more about police corruption than any human had a right to, and though she'd always thought of the Seattle cops as much more honest than others, there could very well be more than one dirty apple in the barrel.
"I need to speak to Jimmy," she said under her breath. He was the one cop she could trust.
"Head toward Pioneer Square. " There it was again... that deep masculine voice in her head that she now recognized as Ravyn's.
"Why?" Oh good grief, she was now buying into the talking-cat thing. Great.
"Just trust me. Three-seventeen First Avenue South. "
Sure, why not? "And who's there, the Addams family?"
"Yes."
Of course. Who else would live there? "This is one hell of a delusion I'm having. All I can say is that I hope whatever put me into this coma doesn't leave any lasting damage."
"Since I'm the one with all the bullet wounds, I don't want to hear it from you. "
"Lay off me, Puss in Boots. I'm having a really bad day."
"Ditto."
Deciding to listen to the voice that sounded like her own, she headed back toward the clinic.
"This isn't the way to Pioneer Square. "
"Yes, voice in my head, I know. But I'm doing things my way, so sod off. "
At least that was the plan until she got to the animal shelter and saw it marked off with yellow warning tape. Her heart rose in her throat to choke her as she saw the coroner, newspeople, officers, and a gathered crowd.
What had happened?
Part of her wanted to check it out, but given the fact that her car was currently riddled with bullet holes, that might not be the prudent thing to do until she found out what was happening and why the police seemed to be after her. No, she needed to get the hell out of here. But where could she go?
Leo.
He was... "Oh, don't say it," she whispered. She couldn't believe that he, of all people, was her lifeline. Yet she couldn't think of anyone else who might know why the police were at the shelter. Pulling her phone off her belt, she pressed 3 and waited while it rang.
"Yo?"
Never in her life had she been more thrilled to hear that goofy little-boy voice of his. "Leo?"
"Susan? Is that you?"
"Yes, and I-"
"Listen," he said sharply, cutting her off. "Don't talk." His curt tone irritated her, but for once she didn't argue. "There's been some odd things happening this afternoon. Did you by any chance go see your friend Angie today?"
"Yes. Why?"
He was silent for a full second. "Where are you now?"
"I'm in the car."