Page 33 of Fool’s Gold

Matt was pale and unconscious, but he roused quickly when Jack nudged him. “You okay?” He turned with a wince to look at Norah and Samaira.

Jack huffed out a little laugh. “Me? I’m used to this. You took a direct hit.”

Matt blinked. “I think my leg is trapped.” He coughed. “Is the car on fire?”

Jack shook his head. “Air bags smell smoky when they deploy. No one’s sure why.” He unbuckled his seat belt. “I’m going to deal with this. Can you get to your phone?”

Matt pushed a button on the dash and a computerized voice responded. “How can I help?”

“Right.” Jack coughed. “Call 9-1-1.”

“Calling 9-1-1.” The voice sounded far too cheerful after a wreck, but Jack didn’t have time to deal with it.

Everything hurt, but he slipped out of the passenger’s side and readied his gun. It wasn’t a moment too soon. The driver of the attacking vehicle, a tall white man dressed in black with a bandana over his mouth and nose, approached over the debris-laden highway with a submachine gun in his hands. His murder strut was worthy of a Marvel villain.

Jack was no untrained civilian, but there were plenty of them around. He aimed for the shoulder and pulled the trigger. The gunman fell, but he still had his weapon.

Sirens approached, but they came from far away. Jack took a few steps forward and aimed for the gunman’s other arm. He squeezed the trigger again, his bullet finding a home once again. The mother with Cheerios in her hair stared at him, mouth gaping at the sight of him cold-bloodedly shooting a man while he was down.

He didn’t care. He’d killed men on no more than a government hack’s say-so.Thisson of a—well, this bastard had tried to kill the man he loved. She could be as disgusted as she wanted.

He didn’t look away from his target, who was still breathing. “Are your kids okay?”

She clutched at her throat for a second. “Yeah. It’s the safest model of minivan I could get.”

“Good. You okay?”

“Yeah.”

“Awesome. Grab the first aid kit in your wheel well. This guy tried to kill my boyfriend. I’m not going to let him die until he tells the cops who put him up to it.” He jumped forward and kicked the gun back toward the wreckage of Matt’s SUV.

“Right.” Cheerio Hair scurried to obey, and then she returned.

Jack grabbed the woman from the Volkswagen, who had a crowbar in her left hand. “Is your kid okay?”

“She’s a little pissed off. What about you?” She looked him over. “You’re bleeding.”

“Boyfriend’s in the car. Trapped. Two more civilians in the back.”

“On it. First aid kit’s ready.” She turned around and gestured to her mini-me, who jumped out and got busy.

Jack and Cheerio Hair got to work stopping the gunman’s bleeding as best they could. The silence around them made Jack’s skin crawl, but he ignored it. He had to. He needed to keep this guy alive so they could get to the people trying to kill Matt. He had to trust the Volkswagen Clones to help his people; the SUV had been in tolerable shape.

A fleet of state police pulled up just as the older Volkswagen Clone got the door open and Jack finished bandaging the gunman. The scene turned noisy, chaotic.

Now Jack, with his bloody hands, could turn to Matt and check on his lover. A helicopter hovered overhead.

The gunman got airlifted to Atlanta, in the company of several armed troopers. That wasn’t in question, although the nurse on the flight complimented Jack and Cheerio Hair on their skills. Cheerio Hair turned out to have been a medic in the Army before becoming a soccer mom, so her skills weren’t surprising. Jack should have left her to it and checked on Matt and the others.

The ambulances arrived on the heels of the state troopers, thanks to the path-clearing powers of multiple emergency vehicles with loud sirens. Somehow, no one had died in the multi-car pileup. Samaira was pretty banged up, and the EMTs wanted Norah evaluated for a broken clavicle from the seat belt. Matt’s leg was broken, and there was no doubt about that. No one needed an X-ray to see it.

Matt grabbed Jack’s hand, still bloody from his work on the gunman. “Please, go with Norah. I have to know she’s safe, and I don’t trust anyone else.”

Jack swallowed hard. “Matt, she’s fine. No one’s out to get her and frankly she’s tougher than all of us put together.”

Matt closed his eyes and shook his head, sagging against Jack for just a moment as the EMTs splinted his leg before transport. “Jack, I can’t be comfortable until I know she’s safe and okay. Just—please. I have to know.”

Jack looked away. “Matt, I’d do anything for you. But my literal job is to keep you safe, not anyone else.”

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