Page 101 of Hendrix
“Nothing we couldn’t handle,”Gambit replied.“One of their crew’s dead, but he wasn’t anyone I know, and Rock’s sittin’ next to me. I’d put him on to say hello, but he’s a bit tied up at the moment.”
“Diablo’s gonna have a hell of a bruise tomorrow,”Fletcher said down comms.“Bet his vest’s fucked?—”
Diablo hauled himself up to a sitting position, his hands going to his chest, rasping, “Fuck me.”
“That vest saved your life, brother,” I lectured. “Next time you whine about wearing one, I’ll remind you of this moment.”
“Need the john,” he croaked, still short of breath from being winded so badly. “Think I might have shit myself a little.”
I snorted. “That’s what the stink is.”
“Just a turtle's head,” he panted. “Skidmark at most.”
“For fuck’s sake,”Gambit complained through comms.“How the fuck do you ever get laid?”
“Giant schlong,” Diablo shared.
Shaking my head at the idiot, I turned back to peer through the trees, trying to catch sight of Ace, muttering, “It’s no Coke can.”
Diablo scrambled up to join me. “Huh?”
I grinned to myself.
A piercing whistle went up, and my lip curled as Ace’s voice shouted, “Hendrix! You’re wasting time. You gotta get back to the hotel. Time is of the essence.”
“You would say that,” I shouted back. “You’re backed into a corner with nowhere to go, and your boys are outta commission. Seems the best place for me to be right now is right the fuck where I am.”
A brief pause followed, and then he called, “You sure about that,Jamie?”
I caught my breath as a sick feeling weaved through my gut.
Jamie?
“Why does that prick always gotta speak in fucking tongues?” Diablo asked quietly. “He did it when he was VP, too. It’s irritating as fuck.”
“Superiority complex,”Fletcher murmured through our earpieces.“Likes to think he’s smarter than everyone else. It’s a narcissistic trait.”
“Why did you lure us here?” I called out.
“Who saidIwanted you here?” he replied before barking a laugh. “Maybe someone else did, and I just came along for the ride. You know how I love seeing shit play out.”
Diablo’s face scrunched up. “Huh?”
“Time’s a ticking,Jamie,” Ace reiterated.
The sick feeling intensified, and my heart began to thud hard as the meaning behind Ace’s words dawned on me. “It’s a decoy. We need to get back. Anna’s in danger.”
A chorus of“fucks”came through comms.
“On my way,”Trick assured us.“Hang tight, I’ll come to pick you up.”
As he spoke, I caught the loud growl of an engine revving. Turning toward the direction of the deafening rumble, my head reared back as I watched Ace’s Explorer come hurtling over the knoll, heading toward the river.
“Jesus Christ,” Diablo breathed. “That fucker’s goneFast and Furiouson us.”
The car screeched to a halt on the edge of the tree line, and a door flew open to reveal Trick at the wheel, yelling, “Come on!”
Gunfire erupted, and a bullet pierced the windshield of the car.
