Page 41 of Peace Under Fire

“All done.” He coughed to clear the roughness from his voice and handed her the icepack. “Here. The cold will reduce the swelling.”

Recapping the antibiotic gel tube, he stowed it back in the first aid kit tray and started collecting the wet cotton balls. It seemed to take forever for his fingers to stop trembling.

“Thank you.” Her voice was eerily polite.

“The shawl and shades.” Brick twisted in his seat to look back at them.

Right. Squish grimaced. No doubt the wrap would brighten her day. He picked the plastic bag up and pulled the shawl out, pushing it into her eager hands.

“Oh, my God, it’s so beautiful,” she breathed, stroking the damn thing like it was a favorite pet or something. “It’s perfect.”

Of course, it was. It was purple. With flowers. It was the most Mandy thing Brick could have gotten for her. Hell, she would have picked it out for herself, given the chance.

He refused to examine why that pissed him off so much.

The big smile spreading across her face was equally annoying. What a team he and Brick made. Squish brought on the frowns and Brick turned them into smiles.

Bully for the bastard.

“It will look even prettier, once it’s on you,” Brick said with a wink.

Squish rolled his eyes.

While Squish dug into the plastic bag for the sunglasses Brick had mentioned, Mandy draped the shawl over her head and wound it around her chin and neck before allowing the fringed tails to hang between the edges of her coat. The fabric did its job, obscuring her hair and the lower half of her face. Once she added the sunglasses—which were purple too, almost an exact match for the shawl’s primary color—she’d be unidentifiable.

He considered telling her to take off her coat, but decided it was unnecessary. Unless the men who’d attacked them could see through metal, they wouldn’t have gotten a look at what she was wearing. She’d been curled up on the seat out of view, after all.

The reminder brought a scowl. How had they known she was in the car with him? Something about that still bugged the shit out of him.

As Mandy eased the purple sunglasses into place, gingerly working the plastic arm past the gauze bandage until it hooked around her ear, Squish thrust open the passenger door and slid out of the back seat. He collected his coat from the front floor and dumped it in the back.

“I’m going to move the cooler to the cargo area and sit up front. You’ll have the entire back seat to stretch out and get some sleep. Use my coat as a pillow.”

“Do you want a sandwich from the cooler before he stashes it in the back?” Brick asked. “What sounds good to you? There’s turkey, ham, and egg salad.”

“Egg salad.” Mandy smiled at their escort. “Thank you for everything you’ve done.” Her smile widened as she fingered the edges of the shawl, petting it again, like it was alive or some shit.

The woman was in desperate need of a dog.

Squish shook his head in disgust at the half-hearted way Brick pretended to brush off her gratitude. The back cargo door was already up thanks to Brick and the power lift button he’d pushed. Once he’d deposited the ice chest there, he gathered the egg salad sandwich Mandy had requested. He added a container of yogurt and a bowl of mixed fruit to her order. Who knew how long it would be before they stopped again, and she needed to eat. She looked like a gentle breeze could blow her away. Before closing the cooler’s lid, he added three bottles of water to the growing collection in his arms.

He didn’t bother dragging down the cargo door. Brick could handle that from the driver’s seat. He deposited the food plus a bottle of water next to Mandy, who’d already cinched herself into her seatbelt. Then he closed the door and took the two remaining bottles up front, sticking them in the drink console behind the Sig and his sunglasses.

Brick already had the engine running and the cargo door down.

“There’s forks and spoons in that other plastic bag,” Brick said, with a quick smile at Mandy. And then he transferred his attention to Squish. “Quite the bedside manner you’ve got there,” he said with a dry look and a lift to his eyebrows.

Squish shot him the finger as he closed the passenger door. He didn’t remember the dude being such an asshole.

With a soft snort and a slow shake of his head, Brick’s voice turned serious. “No company back here since we arrived.” As soon as Squish had connected the two halves of his seatbelt, the RAV4 started moving. “Nor did I catch anyone following us from the strip mall.”

Squish nodded. Neither had he. Unless the bastards after Mandy had suddenly switched tactics and took to multiple vehicles, tag teaming them, they should be in the clear.

Now that Mandy had been taken care of, and they were safe—or as safe as possible under the circumstances—he needed to find out what had happened to her. She’d made it clear during their last telephone conversation that he wouldn’t be seeing her again. Yet here she sat. Plus, there was her appearance, her air of exhaustion, and that piece of shit car she’d been driving. She’d mentioned having to ditch her first car. Why?

He frowned, glancing out the window. The questions would have to wait for a while longer. At least until they were out of town and cruising the interstate. He needed to keep his attention on the road and the cars behind them for now. Be on the lookout for a possible tail.

Their trip through town was uneventful and surprisingly short, thanks to the streetlights magically turning green as soon as they approached. He sensed Tex’s hacking skills behind that run of good luck. The dude must have accessed the SUV’s GPS system and was clearing the route for them. No doubt he’d broken into the traffic camera feeds along the way.

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