Fort Morgan (18 page)

Looking at the man’s face, she saw a
momentary flash of a pink light. The man’s eyes registered the
light by blinking, but the man didn’t seem to notice the light.

“
You promise to leave my
family alone?” Yvonne asked.

“
I will treat you better,”
the financier said. “I have more money, more influence. You will
travel the world.”

“
But I will have to do
whatever you say, whenever you say, with whomever you say,” Yvonne
said.

“
Of course,” the financier
said. “I could always just take you from here. I wanted to give you
a chance to make a choice.”

Yvonne got up from the bed.

“
Yvie. . .”
Rodney pleaded.

The man hit him again. She couldn’t stand to
look at him. Instead, she started to slowly dress. The men looked
like statues around the room. She could hear Rodney crying for her.
Just before she turned on the bathroom light, she saw a flash of
tiny pink-and-blue light. One of the big men followed her into the
bathroom. She used the bathroom and put on her makeup.

“
You can leave your
belongings,” the financier said. “Our first stop will be a shopping
spree in Paris. You do like Paris, don’t you?”

Yvonne’s eyes instinctively flicked to
Rodney. His face was battered but his eyes seemed calmer. She
covered her surprise with a nod to the financier.

“
Come now,” the financier
said.

She gave Rodney one last sad smile. The
financier took her arm, and they walked out into the suite. They
had put a chair under the door to Bumpy and Dionne’s room.

“
No one to save you,” the
financier said. He took a deep breath. “You belong to me
now.”

The shot gun went off.

~~~~~~~~

Friday night — 9:25 p.m.

New York City, New York

They had stayed so long at dinner that they
had to race back to talk to Sandy. It was now clearly too late to
dance, but the ballerina, Sabrina, was still with them. Ivan and
Sabrina had shared a couple of warm sakes. They were relaxed and
happy. Noelle and Sissy shared a look as to exactly what kind of
dancing would happen when they got back.

The limousine pulled up to the apartment and
Ivan got out. He helped Sabrina out, and they started inside. Sissy
got out and turned to get her bag. The bag got wedged into the door
opening. Sissy tugged on it while Noelle pushed from the
inside.

“
You Sissy Delgado?” a
man’s voice came from a few feet away.

“
Yeah?” Sissy said without
looking. She wrenched her bag out of the limousine and started
across the sidewalk. Noelle got out after her, and MJ came
last.

Sissy took two steps when she saw something
hit the building and splatter stone shards in Ivan’s face. Ivan’s
hands went to his face at the same moment Sissy felt a sharp pain
in her ribs. She took another step and fell onto her bag.

She heard MJ yell. Noelle’s feet swung just
inches above her face when MJ picked up Noelle and swung her out of
view of the man. It took a moment before she heard someone
screaming and another moment before realizing it was Sabrina. Ms.
Behur’s door guards ran out of the apartment after the man.

“
Ivan?” Sissy tried to
yell, but it came out as a whisper.

His face appeared. There were tiny, bleeding
cuts on his beautiful face. He pulled off his eyewear, and she saw
for the first time that his eyes were charcoal-blue with flecks of
brown. He grabbed her hand and held on tight. She saw MJ’s face
before he started working on her side. She smiled at Ivan.

“
Thanks,” Sissy whispered,
“. . . for every. . . thing.”

And the world went black.

~~~~~~~~

Friday night — 7:25 p.m.

Aurora, Colorado

“
Okay, I give,” Fin
said.

He and Tanesha had been studying for
midterms in a library study room since they’d gotten out of
class.

“
I don’t think I can do
anymore,” Fin said.

“
Fairies are weak,”
Tanesha said.

“
Of course,” Fin said.
“That’s part of our charm.”

“
Yeah, right,” Tanesha
said.

“
What?” Fin acted
offended.

“
You have no charm,”
Tanesha said.

“
I’m a prince!” Fin said
with a laugh.

“
Oooh!” Tanesha said with
a grin.

Fin laughed.

“
Are you ready for this
test?” Tanesha asked. “You know we need to ace this
stuff.”

“
And we will,” Fin
said.

“
Without cheating?”
Tanesha asked.

“
Cheating?” Fin asked.
“Me? What do you take me for?”

“
Fine,” Tanesha said. “No
fairy magic?”

“
No magic,” Fin said. “All
brain power.”

“
Good,” Tanesha
said.

Tanesha smiled at him and began stuffing
things into her bag. She’d just put her textbook inside when the
door opened.

“
You Tanesha Smith?” a man
asked.

He was big and square looking, with slightly
crossed eyes. He clearly wasn’t a medical student.

“
Who wants to know?” Fin
asked.

The man revealed a handgun in his hand.

“
Wait!” Tanesha
yelled.

The man fired the weapon at her.

~~~~~~~~

Friday night — 7:25 p.m.

Denver, Colorado

“
That’s weird,” Tink
said.

She was holding Heather’s newborn while
Heather snuggled with Mack on the bed. The doctor had requested
that Heather spend another night in the hospital so that she could
rest.

“
What’s weird?” Heather
asked.

“
There’s a guy who keeps
walking past our room,” Tink said. “I’ve seen him do it three
times. He walks up to the door, and then someone comes down the
hallway. He walks off.”

“
Oh, yeah?” Heather sat up
and looked toward the window in the door.

She caught sight of a man with a beard in a
red cap.

“
You
think. . .?” Tink asked.

“
I do,” Heather
said.

She grabbed Mack and got out of bed. When
the man walked off, they slipped out of the room. They scooted
across the hall and into the nurses’ station. On Heather’s
instruction, Tink crawled under the desk with the new baby. She
gave Mack to Tink and pushed a chair in to cover them. Crouching
low, Heather grabbed the phone and dialed zero.

“
We need help,” Heather
whispered into the phone.

Just then, a man in a red knit cap appeared
above the counter. He pulled out a handgun and fired at
Heather.

~~~~~~~~

Friday night — 7:26 p.m.

Phoenix, Arizona

Yvonne let out a scream when the shotgun
went off.

“
You see,” the financier
smiled. “Your family is now quite safe.”

The financier grabbed her arm and marched
her out of the suite.

Pull
through without us

Friday night — 7:26 p.m.

Denver, Colorado

Jill and Ivy were clearing the dishes from
the dinner table when Delphie got up and went to the window. She
moved back the blinds to look out. Since Valerie was gone, the
paparazzi had given up their posts around the house. The street was
quiet. She watched for a moment, and shook her head. She picked up
the last bowl and went to the kitchen.

“
What is it?” Sam
asked.

“
Just a feeling,” Delphie
said.

“
What feeling?” Jacob
asked from the sink. He was rinsing dishes while Sandy loaded the
dishwasher. Rachel was tucked into a sling on Aden’s
back.

“
Feeling like someone is
trying to get in here,” Delphie said.

Her eyes flicked to Ivy.

“
Why would someone want to
get in here?” Honey asked.

With her baby, Maggie, resting in her lap,
Honey was making lunches at the kitchen table. Jill’s twins were
asleep in their car seats on the table, and Katy was spinning in
circles next to the table.

“
To kill us,” Ivy
said.

“
Oh —
that
,” Honey said. “Same shit,
different day.”

“
I guess,” Delphie said.
She looked at Jacob. “Did you ever. . .?”

She gestured toward the door to the coal
tunnels.

“
I did,” Jacob said
without turning around.

They heard a man’s startled scream from the
other side of the door and the sound of a handgun firing
repeatedly.

“
Armored door?” Honey
asked.

“
Electrified,” Jacob said.
“Had to be done. Why don’t we all retire downstairs until this
blows over?”

“
I have to call Sissy and
Noelle!” Sandy asked. “I can’t call from down there.”

“
There’s a computer down
there,” Jacob said. “You can call on that.”

“
What about Charlie?”
Sandy asked. “If they’re here . . .”

“
I saw Charlie this
afternoon,” Honey said. “They’ve moved to the basement. No one can
get in or out of there. He’s fine.”

Jill picked up Bladen, and Delphie grabbed
Tanner.

“
Come on, Sandy,” Aden
said. “Sissy will understand.”

Aden picked up Katy, and Sandy took Ivy’s
hand. They ran out of the kitchen. Jacob picked up Maggie and knelt
down so that Honey could hold on around his neck. He whistled for
the dogs. Sarah and Scooter barreled off the couches in the main
living room, and Buster flew down the stairs from Sandy and Aden’s
apartment. The dogs followed the people down the basement stairs.
When they were all downstairs, Jacob pressed a button. A metal door
rolled down over the entrance to the stairwell.

“
Movie?” Sam asked. “Jake
just finished the entertainment room.”

“
Sounds good,” Delphie
said.

She gave the stairwell one last worried
glance and followed the others to the entertainment room.

~~~~~~~~

Friday night —9:30 p.m.

New York City, New York

Sissy felt like she was under a red bubble.
When she opened her eyes, she saw only red. She coughed and sprayed
red wetness everywhere. It looked a little like Santa farts, and
she giggled, which made her cough again. She tried to move but felt
someone holding her down.

“
Stay there, Sis.” MJ’s
face appeared over her head. “I know it hurts like hell. You have
to be brave. I don’t have my kit. The paramedics are almost
here.”

He disappeared. She moved her hand to reach
out to him. Ivan grabbed her hand. She couldn’t see him because
somehow her eyes had magically glued shut. But she knew it was
him.

Her mind slipped to the first time he’d held
her hand. She was four, and he was old. They were working on
toughening up her feet by having her walk barefoot on the warm
summer concrete. The rough surface felt itchy on her soft feet.
She’d wobbled, and he’d grabbed her hand to keep her from
falling.

Her mind jumped to the first time she’d been
in the hospital for her eating disorder. She’d given all of her
money to Charlie that month, and Mom was on strike. There wasn’t
food in the house, so Sissy didn’t eat. She wound up in the
Emergency Room. Ivan had come in late one night when she was still
in Intensive Care. He’d held tight to her hand and spoken in
Russian. She wasn’t sure what he’d said, but he talked for a long
time. The nurse found him there and chased him out. That was right
before her first stint in eating-disorder rehab, which brought the
end of her dancing lessons with Ivan.

The hospital memory was pushed out of her
mind by a recent memory of them dancing together. He’d been
preparing her interviews with ballet companies. He’d stood at the
side of the Castle Ballroom and held his hand out to her. She had
lightly taken it, as he’d instructed. They held hands as they did
prancing ballet walks. It wasn’t the tight hand-holding of the
other times. It was light and mostly for show. She smiled.

They had danced beautifully. It was one of
the best moments of her life.

“
I’m losing her,” MJ
yelled to someone who was running down the sidewalk.

“
Hang on, Sissy,” Ivan
said. “You remember — ballerina’s never quit.”

“
Ivan?” Sissy
asked.

She felt herself flying through the air. In
her mind, she was dancing with Ivan. He had lifted her above his
head and she was flying. She beamed at the rarified air of being
held over Ivan’s head.

“
Any of you family?” the
paramedic asked.

“
I am her. . .,”
Ivan paused. MJ looked at him. “. . .
husband.”

MJ nodded in agreement.

“
Get in,” the paramedic
said.

Ivan hopped into the ambulance. He sat down
on the bench and grabbed on tight to Sissy’s hand. No matter what
the screaming machines said about her, he was sure Sissy had
squeezed his hand back.

~~~~~~~~

Friday night —7:30 p.m.

Aurora, Colorado

A bullet careened toward
Tanesha. Fin flicked his finger, and the bullet stopped in its
tracks. The man fired again and again at rapid speed until his clip
was empty. The bullets made a solid “
Clink!
” when they fell against each
other on the carpet.