Sizzling Sixteen

We assembled in front of the office to review the plan. Co

“I’ve been thinking about it,” I said. “Our best shot at this is to get the back door open.” I looked over at Lula. “If you can open the door for Co

“You can count on me,” Lula said. “What about cars?”

“We’ll take the Jeep,” I told her. “I’ll drop you off on Stark Street, and then I’ll park in the alley behind the building. After we escape with Vi

“Okeydokey,” Lula said. “I’ll be waiting for you.”

We all piled into the Jeep, and by the time we got to Stark Street, my stomach was sick and I had a grapefruit-size lump of panic sitting in the middle of my throat. Lula got out at the corner and walked half a block to the apartment building. There was still a guard out front, but it was a different guy. I circled around and parked in the alley as pla

“This is going to work, right?” I said to Co

“Do you have the bottle with you?”

“It’s in my purse.”

“So that should help,” Co

Oh jeez, it was going to come down to the bottle.

Co

I reached under my seat and grabbed the two-pound Maglite that was standard equipment on all Rangeman vehicles. It was also the weapon of choice for head-bashing.

There wasn’t a lot of light in the alley. There were streetlights in place, but the bulbs had been shot out. We walked to the back of the building and looked up. Shades were drawn on the fourth-floor windows. The black SUV was parked nose-in to the building. I tried the back door. Locked. We both took a step back and waited in the shadows for Lula to unlock the door.

I heard footsteps, the doorknob turned, and Lula looked out at us. “The coast is clear,” she said. “The door dummy went down the street to get something to smoke.”

“Show time,” Co

I followed close behind, thinking I’d done equally dangerous and stupid things as a bounty hunter, but this was right up there with primo bone-head operations. We reached the fourth floor and looked around. Three doors-4A, 4B, and nothing on the third door. I listened at the u

I stepped into the closet and pulled the door almost entirely closed. I heard Co

“And she’s naked,” Co

I heard the apartment door click closed and then footsteps on the stairs. I slipped out and went to 4B. The door was unlocked. I stepped inside and sca

I poked my head in and spotted Vi

“Holy shit,” Vi

Vi

“Where are your clothes?” I asked him.

“I haven’t got any. This is what I was wearing when they snatched me.”

There was a moment where I actually debating leaving him there.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Vi

“Okay,” I said, “but how am I supposed to rescue you when you’re chained to the toilet?”

“You don’t have a universal key? What kind of bounty hunter are you?”

“I didn’t think I was going to be uncuffing anyone.”

“You never know when you’ll come across someone,” Vi

“You’re on thin ice here,” I said to Vi

“I know,” he said. “I’m sorry. It was nice of you to try to rescue me. You should get out before Snake comes back.”

“Snake?”

“So sue me, that’s his name. And he moves like a snake. He’s creepy.”

“I’m not leaving without you,” I said. “Pull the chain tight.”

I took my gun out, aimed it at the chain at short range, and pulled the trigger. The chain jumped and a link broke off. I rammed the gun back into my jeans, we ran to the other room, and just as we reached the door, Snake stepped over the threshold, gun drawn. His eyes flicked to Vi

“Change in plans,” I said to Vi

Vi

“Fire escape,” I said.

“It’s rusted. It’s junk!”

The door rattled, and a body slammed into it, but the bolt held.

“Go!” I said to Vi

The metal creaked under our weight, and chunks of metal flaked off when we ran down the stairs. No time to think about it.

“This is falling apart underneath me!” Vi

“Keep going!” I yelled back. “Don’t stop.”

We were on the third floor. I grabbed a railing for support, and the railing gave way. The fire escape groaned and separated from the building.

“Holy crap,” Vi

The entire metal structure was disintegrating and collapsing into itself. We weren’t exactly plummeting to the ground but rather sliding toward it. And then the last bolt let go as we passed the second floor, and we were in a free fall. The framework crashed onto the black SUV, and Vi

One of the men leaned out the fourth floor window and fired off a shot. Two more shots were fired from the alley not far from me. I was on my back, on the ground, all air knocked out of me. I was lifted to my feet and yanked toward the Jeep. It was Ranger. He had his hand clamped around my wrist, and he was ru

“Vi

“Tank has him.”

“I need to get Co

Ranger turned the corner and cruised by the building. Co

“So I guess that went well,” Lula said.

Ranger slid a look at me. “Are you okay?”

I nodded. I was having a hard time finding words.