Part 6 (2/2)
”Go,” Nicholas urged when she stopped at the rail. ”I'm right behind you.”
Jo didn't hesitate but practically threw herself over the rickety rail surrounding the balcony.
She landed on the van with a thump and a gasp as her feet slid out from beneath her. She crashed hard onto her bottom facing the building. Nicholas immediately leaped the rail like an Olympic jumper and thumped onto the van roof beside her with Charlie cradled in his arms.
”Down,” he barked, s.h.i.+fting Charlie again under his arm so he could push Jo toward the front edge of the van with his other hand. Unprepared, she slid down the front window on her bottom, and right off the front hood. Nicholas was there beside her, steadying her with his free hand so that she landed on her feet. Before she had even quite found her balance, he was hustling her around the van to the pa.s.senger door, half carrying her weight as well as her dog.
”The door.”
Jo opened the door and climbed in without having to be told. The moment her b.u.t.t hit the seat, she had a lapful of furry dog and the door was slamming shut. She instinctively reached for the seat belt, but her head shot around when the driver's door was opened before Nicholas could possibly have gotten around the van to it. Her jaw dropped in surprise when she saw that it was indeed he launching himself into the driver's seat.
”Seat belt,” he barked, starting the engine.
Jo tugged the belt out, but that was as far as she got before the van shuddered as something heavy hit it. Nicholas s.h.i.+fted into reverse and hit the gas, sending the van racing backward. Jo clutched desperately at Charlie with one hand, the other had a death grip on the undone seat belt and was the only thing that kept them both from flying to the floor.
A thump from above brought her head up in time to see Bad-Breath Boy roll down the winds.h.i.+eld and off the hood to crash to the ground as Nicholas backed away from him.
They'd nearly reached the back of the yard, and Jo saw Bricker and Anders racing across the garage roof and Bad-Breath Boy getting to his feet. Then Nicholas suddenly spun the wheel, back ing them around across the gra.s.s. He barely brought the van to a halt before s.h.i.+fting to drive and hitting the gas again as he spun the wheel in the opposite direction, steering them toward the alley.
Slamming back against the seat, Jo saw first Bricker and then Anders leap the balcony railing as Nicholas had done, with no more effort than she would have exerted to leap a curb. As they landed behind Bad-Breath Boy, she also saw him charging forward, pulling a gun from his waistband. Apparently Nicholas saw it too.
”Down,” he shouted. Nicholas grabbed her shoulder and forced her forward off her seat so that her bottom landed on the van floor with a bruising b.u.mp as the back window of the van shattered under a bullet's impact.
Jo merely gritted her teeth and did her best to keep from crus.h.i.+ng Charlie as they were bounced and b.u.mped around and gunshots continued to ring out. She was pretty sure it wasn't just Bad-Breath Boy shooting. The gunshots were coming too close together and then they suddenly stopped. Another minute pa.s.sed, however, before Nicholas said, ”You can get up now.”
Jo hesitated, her gaze dropping to Charlie. The poor dog lay still in her arms, eyes open, but otherwise unmoving, and that was rather worrisome. He hated being on his back, probably an instinctive reaction from a dog. Their bellies were vulnerable to predators when they were on their backs and so they avoided being there.
”It's okay, baby,” Jo whispered, but rather than try to get both herself and Charlie up into the seat, she lifted the dog and set him on it so she could take a look at him. Jo quickly ran her hands over the animal, but couldn't find any injuries. He didn' t whimpe r or indicate her touch caused pain in any way except when she gently felt his head, and then he whined and tried to avoid her touch. Frowning, she peered into his eyes, noting that the pupils were slightly dilated.
”Nicholas,” Jo said worriedly. ”I think we need a vet.”
Chapter Seven.
Nicholas tore his gaze away from the road to glance to the German shepherd lying silent and still on the pa.s.senger seat. The dog's eyes were open, but he looked rather dazed. ”What happened to him?”
”Bad-Breath Boy threw him a good ten or fifteen feet into a wall. At least I think he hit the wall, I'm not sure. All I know is he landed on a table with enough impact to smash it.” Jo frowned and reached out to pat the dog rea.s.suringly. ”Charlie seemed unconscious when I first got to him, but then he opened his eyes. He couldn' t stand up when he tried though.”
”By Bad-Breath Boy I presume you mean Ernie?” Nicholas asked. ”The blond who was shooting at us and whom Bricker and Anders were shooting at?”
”Is that his name?” she asked with disgust. ”He has the name of a geek but is an utter jerk. I guess Shakespeare was right, a jerk by any name is still a jerk.”
Nicholas smiled faintly at her mangling of Shakespeare, but then said, ”Charlie could have a concussion.”
Jo appeared surprised. ”You think? I didn't know dogs could get concussions too?”
Nicholas shrugged. ”They have brains, don' t they?”
”Right,” she muttered, and Nicholas glanced over again to see her peering worriedly at the dog. The German shepherd's eyes were closed and he appeared to be sleep ing now. He wasn't surprised when she asked, ”Should I let him sleep? It seems to me I remember hearing somewhere you aren' t supposed to sleep with a head wound.”
Nicholas hesitated, his eyes on the road ahead. He wasn't sure if that was true or not. Jo be gan to s.h.i.+ft out of the cubbyhole in front of the seat, and Nicholas glanced over to see her scooping the dog into her arms and resettling herself in the pa.s.senger seat with him on her lap. He suspected she'd done it as an excuse to rouse the dog rather than for her own comfort.
She was peering down at the beast like he was a baby who was deathly ill. She obviously loved the mutt.
Sighing, Nicholas cleared his throat and asked, ”Where can we find a vet?”
Jo took a moment to glance at their surroundings. They weren't really far from her apartment, and relief filled her face as she took in that fact and said, ”Charlie's vet is two blocks up and one block right.”
Nicholas merely nodded. He'd take her and the dog to the vet, but this was a perfect example of why he couldn't claim her. Stops like this were dangerous, especially so close to the apartment. Ernie and the others would be looking for them now, cruising the neighborhood and watching for the van. He hoped there was somewhere to park that would make it less noticeable.
”Thank you,” Jo murmured the minute he took the turn onto the street the clinic was on.
”For what?” he asked with surprise. ”Everything,” she said dryly. ”You got us out of there and now you're taking us to the vet's.
Thank you.”
Nicholas didn' t say anything, but suspected Jo wouldn't have needed saving if it weren' t for him. He should never have kissed her with a rogue lying nearby. He should have at least made sure the man was down for the count first... and admitting that he couldn't read her had been a stupid slip that Ernie had no doubt heard. It was probably the only reason the rogue was now after Jo.
Aside from that, Nicholas had been foolish enough to count on Bricker and Anders to keep her safe when he'd first seen Ernie leave his vehicle and creep up on the house. It wasn't until the rogue had climbed through the building's ground floor window and disappeared while the two enforcers had stayed in their SUV talking that he'd realized they hadn' t noticed the man.
Nicholas had wanted to race his van right up to the front door and charge in after the rogue, but had feared it might bring the two enforcers running... after him. He'd worried that by the time he'd convinced them that Jo was in peril, it would be too late. So he'd wasted time driving around to the back of the building and climbing up onto the flat garage roof that doubled as a balcony to get inside. Then he'd had to be sure they saw him in case he wasn't enough to keep Jo out of Ernie's clutches and had run to the front of the garage balcony to be sure he was spotted. That was how he'd ended up going to the right apartment, he'd heard the banging coming from inside her apartment as he'd run across the garage roof.
”You shouldn't have come,” Jo said suddenly, drawing his startled gaze.
”Why?”
”Because Bricker and Anders were sitting outside,” she said quietly. ”Lucian said you wouldn't be able to stay away and they were sent to watch for you.”
”I figured,” he admitted on a sigh. ”But I was following Ernie and he followed you guys from the house.”
”So much for you not being able to stay away from me,” Jo muttered, and then added, ”I don't know what took them so long. I expected them to come running the minute Gina ran outside screaming.”
Nicholas glanced at her uncertainly. ”Gina?”
Her eyebrows rose at his confusion, and she prompted, ”Blond... half naked... no doubt screaming her head off?”
Nicholas shook his head. ”There was nothing like that. I knew Ernie was in there because I saw him go in, and the only reason Bricker and Anders came running was because I made sure they saw me climb up onto the garage roof to get to your door.”
Jo frowned. ”I wonder where the h.e.l.l Gina went then.” ”If she was half naked, she probably went to one of the other apartments rather than outside,”
he suggested quietly. ”Her first instinct would be to get somewhere safe and probably call the police.”
”Probably,” Jo agreed with a sigh. ”It should have been my first suggestion to her too.”
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