High-Caliber Concealer (36 page)

“Jackson,” she said, still holding out the
thumb drive in one hand. “Eight seconds.”

In the blink of an eye he had covered the
distance between himself and Pedro. Events were moving in slow
motion now. She saw the surprised expression on Pedro’s face as
Jackson upended him. She was dropping the thumb drive and pulling
out her gun as Milt turned around to look at Pedro. Jackson and
Donny were running. Milt was turning more, holding out his gun, and
the sheriff was running at her. Worry about the far target. Worry
about the far target. She squeezed the trigger and Milt went down,
but the sheriff was already too close. She shifted her weight,
preparing for the tackle, since she wasn’t going to get her gun
around in time. Embers were raining from the sky now. The RV was on
fire.

She hit the ground and time sped up again.
Everything was a mad scramble. Smalls had one hand out, trying to
control the gun, blocking her arms, the other arm reaching for her
throat. He was a large man, heavy, and quicker than he looked. But
he’d landed off-center on her chest, so her legs were loose. She
yanked one hand free and elbowed him in the ear. He pulled back
slightly, easing the weight on her, which allowed her to get her
hips out from under him. More elbows, repeat as necessary, until
the sheriff changed tactics. He pushed back onto his knees, rearing
back for a punch, and Nikki kicked downward into his knee, shoving
him flat. His punch went wild, landing in the dirt. He grunted in
anger and pain, then pulled back again, grinding all his weight
onto the grounded gun with her hand pinned underneath it, once
again reaching for her throat. She gave a sharp palm strike to his
chin, and heard his teeth click together.

She aimed a punch at his throat.

He blocked it, but each movement was a
backwards retreat that eased pressure on her gun hand, creating
more space. Just a little farther and she’d have enough space to
kick upward.

A little farther never happened.

The sheriff was lifted up into the air with
the suddenness of a tsunami. He smashed back down again like a wave
on rocks.

Nikki looked up at Z’ev. “Hey, babe.” She
looked at the sheriff, woozily attempting to sit up, gasping for
air. “I was handling that.”

“Well, I handled it for you.”

“Thanks.”

He reached out a hand to help her up as a
bullet winged by her head and landed in the dirt. There was the
chunka-chunka sound of the AK as Jenny responded. The sheriff
scuttled backwards, wheezing, trying to get out of firing
range.

“You gave Jenny the AK? You did remind her
that Bill Bartlby is going to want it back, right?”

“We really ought to go now,” he said
ignoring her commentary. As if to emphasize his point, something
exploded in the car section. A hubcap whizzed through the window of
the office. “The car section is on fire.”

“I gathered that,” said Nikki, standing up.
“What about them?” She gestured to the sheriff and his crew, all
hiding from Jenny behind their cars.

“Let them burn,” said Z’ev. “We’ve got the
evidence. We’ve got Donny. What are they going to do?”

“I’ll tell you what I’m going to do,” yelled
the sheriff, getting to his feet. His face was red, either from the
heat or rage, Nikki couldn’t tell. “I’m going to call my friends.
the ones who smuggle my drugs for me, and I’m going to have them go
up and pay your grandma a little visit. How fast do you think that
peach orchard of hers will burn?”

The wind shifted, blowing smoke and ash into
their faces.

“And if you’ve got evidence on me, then I’ve
got evidence on you,” he continued. “I’m sure the state police will
be interested to know what you were doing here. Pretty young things
running around with guns. That’s not normal. I don’t have to know
what you’re up to in LA, I just have to make enough people curious
that they start investigating. And Donny? I just have to say that
he was on my payroll and that we got into a dispute. Even if he
proves otherwise, he’ll still have a black mark on his record and
trust me, it will follow him everywhere.”

Nikki frowned. The sheriff read her
expression as uncertainty and smiled.

“The best part about being bad is that you
don’t have to be tied down by rules and playing fair. If I’m going
down in flames, you’re going down with me.”

Nikki could feel the fire at her back. Jenny
was gesturing to her to get in the car. Z’ev was saying something,
pointing at Jenny.

In the calm, cool part of her brain that was
reserved for these moments, she did the calculations. He was
absolutely right. He didn’t have to have any proof. But the
situation was weird enough that anything he said would get
investigated. Investigations that would ruin Donny’s career.
Investigations that would cause Carrie Mae nothing but trouble. And
then there was the threat against her grandmother.

“We can still all walk away from this,” said
the sheriff. “You got what you wanted. Let’s just stick to the
original agreement.”

Z’ev was reaching for her, still saying
something. But she couldn’t hear him above the roar of the fire and
the pounding in her ears.

He really shouldn’t have threatened her
grandmother.

“Come on,” Merv Smalls said, smiling the
smile that never touched his eyes, while his right hand reached for
his gun. “Let’s all just get out of here.”

Her left hand hurt from where it had been
ground into the dirt, but not so much that she couldn’t pull the
trigger. She felt Z’ev reaching for her, so she knew she didn’t
have a lot of time. Decisions had to be made.

She pulled the trigger. The Sheriff stumbled
forward one step, gun halfway out of his holster, then dropped to
the ground.

Z’ev picked her up like a football, tucking
her under one arm and running for the car. There was another
explosion from the car section and she could see the flames behind
them, a wall of orange engulfing the junkyard.

Jenny revved the engine, as Nikki and Z’ev
dove into the back seat, starting the car with the keys Nikki had
left in the ignition. Val’s Impala leapt forward throwing Nikki and
Z’ev back against the cushions as Jenny floored the gas pedal.

“Slow down!” Nikki yelled as they hit the
curve in the driveway. “We need to get Jane!”

Jenny slowed, but didn’t stop. Jane ran out
from behind a car and jumped in, throwing herself into the backseat
across Nikki’s lap.

“Hurry! We need to get out of here before
the fire hits the det cord!” screamed Jane.

Jenny shoved her foot to the floor and the
Impala streaked up the drive. The four-door sedan followed them.
They weren’t shooting. Instead, they looked equally as intent on
getting the hell out of the junkyard. As they hit the road, the
fire found the det cord buried under the dirt and the explosion
shook the ground under the car. As Nikki watched, the archway of
deer antlers and car parts began to topple down on itself.

“Jane, did you wire the Roadkill Memorial?”
asked Nikki.

“Of course I did,” snapped Jane, crawling
over Nikki and Z’ev and into the front seat. “That was the
creepiest fucking thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

“Ditto to that,” said Z’ev, gripping the
door frame as Jenny took a corner faster than the recommended speed
limit.

“It was in honor of the deerly departed. You
know, deer,” said Nikki, fully aware that she was focusing on the
trivial, but feeling a deep, uncontrollable need to explain the
pun.

“It was creepy as shit,” said Z’ev.

Jenny jerked the Impala to a stop at the
intersection to the main road. Ellen, Jackson and Donny were
already waiting for them. The four-door sedan shot by them without
stopping.

Donny was on the phone and they could hear
the distant sound of sirens.

“Donny’s calling the state cops,” said
Jackson. “But he wants to go back with the firefighters and try and
save his parents’ house.”

Nikki nodded.

“What the hell?” demanded Ellen. “So it’s OK
when you shoot dirty cops, but when I do it it’s an international
incident?”

“I knew that looked like Ellen,” muttered
Z’ev.

“He was a threat to us.”

“So was mine.”

“No, yours was a threat to women in general.
Mine was a threat to us. And I have someone who can work the cover
up.” She gestured to Donny. Ellen still looked unconvinced.

“You’re assuming he’ll cover it up,” said
Z’ev. “That’s a big assumption.”

“He owes us,” said Nikki with a shrug. “And
the fire should make it easier.”

“You’ve covered all the angles then, haven’t
you?” Z’ev sounded bitter.

“I try,” said Nikki. “Jenny, get out to the
road and flag down the first fire truck.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” said Donny walking back
toward them. “I know, there’s a lot more to cover, but come out
here and do it in person. Right now, I have to go try to stop a
wildfire.” There was a pause. “Yes, sir, I do think I’m freaking
Superman. I’m fairly certain it’s on my birth certificate.” Pause.
“No sir, I do not think this is funny.” Pause. “Yes, sir, I am
aware that the State Patrol does not have a sense of humor. See you
then.”

He hung up the phone and looked at all of
them. “OK, everyone. Thanks so much for helping, now you all need
to leave.”

“What about the fire?” asked Jenny.

“What are you going to do, carry buckets? I
turned on the sprinklers before we left. I’m going to direct the
firemen to skip Crazy Cooters and go straight to my parents’ house.
But, if my story that Jackson and Nikki are the only ones who came
to make the exchange is going to hold water, I need the firemen to
not see the lot of you. So, everybody climb back in Nikki’s
pimp-mobile and get the hell out of here.”

“I don’t want to leave you on your own,”
said Nikki, frowning. “Shouldn’t Jackson and I stay?”

“Agreed,” said Jackson. “I’m staying.
Besides, I’m part of the volunteer fire crew.”

“Then he can stay, but Nikki you need to
go.”

“I’m part of the cover story. I want to stay
and help.”

“And eventually the police will want to talk
to you. But right now it’s an emergency fire situation. Protocol
says get civilians out. Plus, no offense, but you attract
attention. And we want less attention, remember? You’ll be more
help if you leave.”

“He’s right,” said Jenny and Ellen
nodded.

“Fine,” said Nikki frowning. “But I’m not
happy about it.” She hugged Jackson and then Donny. “Take care of
each other. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“Although, it turns out that’s a pretty low
benchmark,” said Z’ev. “So really, you probably ought to stick with
using your own best judgment.”

“Call us if you need help,” said Jenny.

“Thanks,” said Donny. “And I really do mean
that. Without you guys, I’d be dead. Now vamoose before you cause
me even more of a headache than the sheriff.”

Fitting four women and Z’ev into the Impala
was a tight fit, but they managed, mostly due to the Impala’s bench
seating and Jane’s skinny butt. They pulled out onto the highway,
and Nikki rolled down the window. The post-mission crash was
imminent, but she wanted to stave it off for as long as
possible.

“INTERPOL sent out a B.O.L.O. on you,” said
Z’ev turning around in the front seat to look at Ellen. “What were
you thinking?”

“I was thinking, ‘Oh, look, someone should
really crush this serial killer to death with his own car.’
Although, really, that’s a better death than he deserved after what
he did to those women.”

“Serial killer? I thought he was a cop.”

“Turns out he was both,” said Jane.

“And do you really think that was the best
way to handle it?” asked Z’ev.

“Hey,” said Nikki. “We don’t second-guess
the operator. We weren’t there. Monday morning quarterbacking is
counter-productive and besides, it’s none of your business.”

“None of my business,” said Z’ev. “I’m in
the fucking CIA, Nikki! We’re supposed to assess threats from
foreign entities and protect the United States. Currently, you’re
the most foreign entity I know!”

“Yes,” said Jenny, soothingly, “But we’re
not actually a threat, so really there’s no problem.”

“You just killed the sheriff,” said Z’ev.
“Ellen apparently ran over a mountie. Your body count for police
personnel is looking suspiciously high.”

“They were bad people,” said Jane. “And
you’re not seeing all the bad guys we take down.”

“No, clearly I’m not,” said Z’ev. “But would
you please explain who made you the decision-makers on who lives
and who dies?”

Jane opened her mouth and Jenny poked her in
the ribs.

Z’ev looked at all of them. “I’m going to
stop talking now,” he said. “I’m going to wait until we’re not all
armed and we’re sitting in Peg’s kitchen eating pie and the guns
are all put away before we talk more. But when we do talk, I’m
going to have questions, and there better damn well be
answers.”

He turned around, eyes facing front, walls
up, ignoring all of them.

Nikki looked at the girls in the review
mirror. Jane made a face, Jenny shrugged, Ellen spread her hands,
palms up. Nikki nodded.

The drive was long, silent, and hot since
the Impala cooling system couldn’t push the air around fast enough
to keep any of them from melting. Nikki pulled up in front of the
house and saw a strange car in the driveway. Another rental car.
Someone had sprung for the upgrades. It was a convertible with
leather seats.

“Give me a second,” said Nikki. “Let me make
sure Mom and Grandma aren’t having the pastor over for tea before
we all go trooping in with our guns.”

“We do look a little Not Suitable For
Church,” said Jenny, unstrapping Peg’s six-shooter.

Nikki walked up to the front door and
paused. There was something off, she could feel it, but she
couldn’t quite place what it was. She had one hand on the door knob
and took a deep breath, then froze. Ever so slightly, there was the
faintest scent of Chanel.