Page 49 of Her Keeper
“Excuse me; can we save the discussions about karma for later?” I shouted. “I don’t think this is the time for it!”
I saw Sloane grin at that in the rear view, wondered again at my involvement with people who seemed to take pleasure in situations like this one, and then realized—for the millionth time—that this was my own fault.
I could have stopped being friends with them when I realized who they were, in high school.
Except that I’d already loved them so much that I couldn’t imagine life without them.
“More important subject: Where are we going?” I asked. “We need shelter, and we need it now.”
“Easy,” Brooks said. “We go to Joseph and Sloane’s house. That place is just as well-fortified as Michael’s and it’s the first place Michael and Joseph will look once they hear this house has been hit.”
“I like that plan,” Sloane said. “Especially since it puts me back in neighborhoods I know. Once we hit Brooklyn, those men won’t know up from down. They’re going to be crying for their moms by the time I’m done with them. Penny, get Michael on the phone and let him know what’s going on.”
She found a highway, shifted into sixth gear, and tore back toward the city, the black sedan still hot on our tail.
22
MICHAEL
Icouldn’t believe what I was hearing. Penny was on the phone, frantic but trying very hard to sound calm, and I could hear both screeching tires and gunshots in the background, as well as Brooks shouting directions at Sloane and Sloane shouting back that she knew what the fuck she was doing.
I didn’t give a damn if Sloane knew what she was doing. The fact that they were being chased by men with guns meant that they weren’t safe, and that didn’t sit right with me.
“Keep heading for Joseph’s,” I told Penny. “We’ll see if we can figure out where you are and stop those guys. And Penny?”
“Yes?” she squeaked, breathless and no doubt flushed with fear.
My heart skipped several beats at the thought, but I forced my voice to be strong and confident when I said, “Keep your head down. Don’t do anything stupid.”
“Yes sir,” she muttered.
Then she hung up like she didn’t need me on the phone with her anymore.
“What the fuck is going on?” Joseph asked tensely.
We were on our way back to the house from my father’s place and had only been driving half an hour when I got the call from Penny. We’d been discussing what we were going to do to figure out who was after us and had thought we were on to some ideas.
But this new wrench was going to gum up all the works.
“That was Penny,” I said quickly. “Someone came to the house with guns. The girls got away but whoever showed up is now chasing them. And shooting at them.”
“Shit,” Joseph hissed. “Do they have your car?”
“Yep.”
“Then they should be able to outrun anyone that’s following them. Is Sloane driving?”
“Of course she is. You think she’d let anyone else drive when they’re being chased?”
“She let me drive when we were being chased,” he observed sharply.
I barked a sound that could have been a laugh. “Something tells me she didn’t let you do that willingly.”
His scowl was enough to tell me I was right, and he put that thread to the side. “That doesn’t matter right now. Where are they? What’s the plan?”
I was already on my phone, finding the app I’d installed that tracked Penny’s phone. “As long as she has her phone with her, I’ll be able to find her. And as soon as I do that...”
I paused while I waited for the app to catch up to the real world. I had Penny as the first person on my list, but this damn app took ages to update, and every moment it took was a moment when those men might be pumping bullets into my girls.
