Firestone (27 page)

“
Yes, sir,” Sandy
said.

She took a step, and then another. They
started walking down the dark alley.

~~~~~~~~

Friday night — 8:11 p.m.

“
Ok, I found the alley
next to Sandy’s salon,” Heather said to Blane. She pulled into the
alley. “Wow, it’s really dark.”

She’d used masking tape to secure her cell
phone to the dashboard so that Blane could see what she was seeing.
She drove at a snail’s pace up the alley.

“
Someone must have turned
out the lights,” Heather said.

“
It looks like they shot
them out,” Blane said.

“
Wouldn’t someone hear
that and call the police?” Heather asked.

“
Not if he did it
earlier,” Blane said.

“
Oh, you mean he planned
this all along.” Heather shivered. “Yuck.”

“
Yuck,” Blane
agreed.

“
I’m just passing the
garage next to her studio parking lot,” Heather said.

“
Can you see into her back
parking lot?” Blane asked.

“
Yeah,” Heather said.
“There’s an SUV. It looks like one of those big guys who work for
Alex is driving. You know, they were helping Jeraine?”

“
The really white one?”
Blane asked. “Or Teddy’s guardian?”

“
The white one,” Heather
said.

“
His name is Chris,” Blane
said. “Does he see you?”

“
No,” Heather said. “He’s
looking at the back door to Sandy’s studio.”

Heather pulled into a
parking spot behind the store across the alley from the salon. On
the way over, she and Blane had strategized that this was the best
place to park. By parking here, she would be right there to help
Sandy,
if
Sandy
needed her. If Sandy didn’t need her, she could just drive away.
From where she’d parked, she could see the entire parking lot
behind Sandy’s salon.

“
There’s Raz,” Heather
said. “Gosh, I feel pretty stupid. Raz looks so serious and
professional. I mean, he’s a federal agent and everything. What
could I do?”

“
You were pretty sure that
Sandy might need you,” Blane said. “Let’s just wait and see. If
you’re wrong, you can pick up ice cream.”

“
Hey, that’s a good idea,”
Heather said. “Maybe I’ll get some anyway.”

“
Ok, there’s Sandy and
Colin,” Heather said. “I think Seth’s there too. Can you
see?”

“
No,” Blane
said.

Heather pulled the cell phone from the dash.
She scooted down so just her eyes peeked out over the door. She
held the phone so just the camera was in the window.

“
Looks like Seth has
Rachel,” Blane said. “That makes sense.”

There was a noise, and suddenly a man got
into the front seat of Heather’s car. Heather screamed.

“
What! What’s happening?
Heather!” Blane yelled.

“
Sorry,” Aden said. “I
didn’t mean to scare you.”

“
Aden!” Heather slapped at
him. “You nearly gave me a heart attack!”

“
Sorry,” Aden said. “I’m
not supposed to be here. Probation and all. But I just
couldn’t . . . I saw your car
and . . .”

“
Oh shit!” Blane
said.

“
What?” Heather turned
back to look into at the parking lot.

“
I knew it!” Aden
said.

Colin and Raz were crumpled on the ground.
The horrible Detective Red Bear had a gun to Sandy’s back. The
detective didn’t see them. He was focused on Chris in the SUV.

The back door opened, and someone got into
the back seat of her car. Heather squelched a scream. Aden swung
around. Seth was pushing Blane’s hockey stuff over so he and Rachel
could get in the car.

“
What happened?” Blane
asked.

“
It’s Seth and Rachel,”
Aden said. “Is that Blane?”

“
He’s in the hospital,”
Heather said. “Scoot down!”

They slid down in their seats.

“
Hi Seth,” Heather said.
“How did you . . .?”

“
I heard him. I figured if
I didn’t get moving, I’d get stuck . . .” Seth
started. “See, she’s locking the door.”

“
How did you get out?”
Aden asked.

“
I heard the gunshots and
went out the front,” Seth said. “It’s not the first silenced gun
I’ve heard.”

“
Shh!” Heather said.
“Scoot down! He’s going to see you.”

They scooted down further.

“
Ok, it looks like he
gotten Chris to get rid of his gun,” Blane said. “And keys. He’s
shooting at the SUV.”

“
Did he hit him?” Heather
asked.

“
No,” Blane said. “It
looks like Colin and Raz are okay. Colin’s eyes are open. He’s just
waiting to see what the detective will do.”

“
They wear body armor,”
Seth said. “All the time.”

Sandy screamed. Hearing her mother’s
distressed voice, Rachel woke up and squealed. Seth tried to calm
the baby. Aden reached into the back and took his daughter. Rachel
giggled at the sight of her father.

“
He saw me,” Heather
said.

Heather sagged her eyelids. She held her
hands to her lips like she was smoking marijuana. She opened the
window of the car a little bit as if to let the smoke out. Reaching
into the ashtray, she found a nub of moxa stick that Blane used in
Chinese medicine. Moxa smelled enough like marijuana to fool almost
anyone. Seth leaned forward to hold a lighter. They lit the moxa
stick. She held it to the window so the smoke would go out.

“
Good thinking,” Seth
said. “You should be a detective.”

“
No thank you,” Heather
said. “I don’t have the nerves for it.”

“
Ok. I think he bought
it,” Blane said. “What’s Sandy doing?

“
Taking Colin and Raz’s
weapons,” Seth said.

“
Shit,” Aden
said.

With just their eyes at the window, they
watched in tense silence. The detective and Sandy started walking
toward them.

“
She sees the car,”
Heather said in a whisper.

Sandy eyes blinked and blinked.

“
Is she saying something?”
Aden whispered.

“
Morse code,” Seth
whispered. “Mitch taught her when she was a kid. She’s
saying . . . Stay there. No move. He’ll
k . . .i . . .”

Sandy and the detective turned down the dark
alley. Heather turned around to watch her go.

Every step took Sandy away from Heather.

Every step took Sandy further into harm’s
way.

Heather’s mind repeated
what Abi had said,
You wield the most
powerful force in the universe.

“
Heather . . .” Blane said. “Don’t do
it . . . Call Alex. You promised to call
Alex.”

Heather looked at the phone and set it on
the driver’s side floor. As if she’d practiced it all her life, she
reached behind her for Blane’s hockey stick and a puck. Seth ducked
to avoid Heather hitting him in the head with the stick. She hopped
out of the car.

“
I love you, hockey puck,”
Heather said under her breath. “Now, go brain the guy.”

She’d done this move a million and one times
with Blane. It was something she was naturally really good at. A
lot better than Blane. No matter how much he practiced — which was
the point of them playing with the puck and stick — she was still a
lot better than him. She hadn’t missed her target in the last year.
Not even one time.

She dropped the puck and pulled back. She
wacked the puck with all her might.

The puck flew straight and true. Heather bit
her lip and tried to will the puck to hit the detective.

Thwack!

The puck hit the detective in the back of
the head.

He fell forward onto his face.

Sandy screamed at the top of her lungs.

Heather heard Seth and Aden get out of the
car behind her, but she ran as fast as she could toward Sandy.
Colin and Raz passed her in the alley. The men got there before
Heather. When she got to Sandy, the men were talking a million
miles a minute. Raz was handcuffing the detective.

Sandy saw Heather and ran to her. Sandy held
her tight. Heather’s shoulder was wet with Sandy’s tears.

“
You’re okay now. It’s
okay,” Heather said.

Heather looked up to see Aden.

“
It’s Aden and Rachel,”
Heather said. “Seth too. They were with me.”

Sandy started crying in earnest. She let go
of Heather and grabbed Aden. Seth hugged her too. Heather stepped
back for a moment to watch.

When she heard a police siren coming in
their direction, Heather walked back to the car. She picked up her
phone from the floor of the driver’s side. She got into her
Subaru.

“
Sorry,” Heather said to
Blane. “I just had to.”

“
I know,” Blane
said.

“
I creamed
him.”

“
Back of the head with the
puck?” Blane asked.

“
Damn straight,” Heather
said. “Ice cream?”

“
Chocolate,” Blane
said.

“
How ’bout Chocolate
Brownie Cream?” Heather asked.

“
From Liks?”

“
Is there any other?”
Heather said.

“
Not a chance,” Blane
laughed.

“
I’ll be right there,”
Heather said, and hung up the phone.

She looked in the rearview mirror, trying to
calm her beating heart. A police cruiser flew by her, and then
another. She saw a ladder roll down off the one-story garage behind
Sandy’s parking lot. A couple of tall, thin people dressed in all
black slipped down the ladder. They had compound bows and looked
scary-dangerous.

One of them saluted Heather, and the other
clapped. Embarrassed, Heather waved. She started the car and drove
to get ice cream. By the time she reached the hospital, television
and newspaper reporters were waiting outside the hospital for news
from the ER about Sandy.

“
Rescued by a hockey
puck,” one television news reporter said as Heather walked past.
“If the police know who hit the hockey puck, they aren’t saying.
It’s a puzzling who dun it that created this wonderful ending. Both
the mother and child are safe.”

Heather grinned to herself and went
upstairs, where she knew Blane was waiting.

~~~~~~~~

Friday night — 9:17 p.m.

“
Are you Tannie?” the
nurse whispered.

Jeraine and Tanesha were standing at a
nurses’ desk at Children’s Hospital.

“
Tanesha,” she
said.

“
Jabari’s been asking for
you for hours,” the nurse said.

“
They just called!”
Tanesha’s heart sank. She had no idea Jabari had wanted to see her.
“We rushed right over.”

“
Well, it took us a while
to figure out what he was saying,” the nurse chuckled. “Then we had
to get permission from the social worker and . . .
Well. You of all people know what a mess this is.”

Tanesha nodded.

“
Anyway, you have fifteen
minutes,” the nurse said.

She turned to look at Jeraine. Her eyes
squinted while she tried to figure out where she’d seen him before.
The nurse pointed to him.

“
You’re Jeraine.” The
nurse’s finger bounced up and down. “Jabari is your
son?”

“
Yes, ma’am,” Jeraine
said.

“
I sure hope you sort out
this mess,” the nurse said.

“
We’re doing what we can,”
Jeraine said.

“
Are you Miss T?” the
nurse asked Tanesha.

Tanesha nodded.

“
That makes a lot of
sense,” the nurse laughed. “Jabari kept alternating between Tannie
and Miss T.”

The nurse shook her head.

“
We were completely lost,”
the nurse said. She came out from behind the desk. “I’ll take you
to him.”

They walked down the hallway. The nurse
stopped at an open door.

“
He is a very sick little
boy,” the nurse said in a low voice.

“
I thought he was better!”
Jeraine said.

“
We were hoping to take
him home tomorrow,” Tanesha said.

“
He
is
better,” the nurse said. “He’s
still very sick. He’ll need to stay with his guardians
until . . .”

The nurse made a gesture with her hand to
indicate the custody situation.

“
My parents.” Tanesha
said.

“
Your parents.” The nurse
nodded. “You look just like Yvonne.”

When the nurse turned into the room, Tanesha
made a face to indicate that the nurse was insane. Jeraine smiled.
They followed her into the room. Little Jabari was tucked in the
center of the big hospital bed with a pile of stuffed animals on
either side.

“
Jabari?” the nurse
asked.

She leaned down to his bed. Jabari opened
his eyes and looked at the nurse. He had an oxygen cannula in his
nose. His eyes had dark slashes underneath them. He looked
sick.

“
We brought Tannie,” the
nurse said.

The nurse stepped aside and gestured for
Tanesha to come to the bed. Jabari looked at her.