Chapter 65

CHAPTER 65

M y shot hit Serena in the shoulder and she gasped, as much from surprise as the bullet hitting. And then Luke's minivan came crashing into the front door behind me.

I yelled, " Run!" to Poppy.

She looked at the hallway and then at me, and then Serena lifted the gun toward me once more.

Poppy grabbed the Maltese Falcon off the shelf behind her and threw it hard at Serena, catching her on the back of the head as Max came charging in through the broken front of the shop.

Serena staggered and fell to the floor, balanced on one hand and her knees, and Max leveled his gun at her.

But she wasn't paying attention, she was crawling toward the Falcon that had broken into three pieces because there, in the middle of all the pieces, was a small black film canister.

I swooped down and picked it up, the film that had caused all the hell of the past week, and put it in my apron pocket.

Serena still crawled toward me, like some freak out of a Japanese horror film, so I stepped back. Her eyes flared with anger, but Max stomped down on her gun hand and disarmed her.

I scooped up her gun and put it and my gun in my right apron pocket (yes, I put on the safety), feeling the weight of them there as I went straight to my kid.

"Are you okay?" I wanted to put my arms around her but wasn't sure that was a good idea. "Why didn't you run?"

"My feet are tied," she said, her voice too high, so I took my scissors out of my apron pocket and bent down and cut the ties on her ankles, and when I stood up, she put her arms around me and clung to me, so I got to hold her after all.

"Did they kill Darius?" she said, her voice breaking.

"No, baby," I said. "He's going to be fine. He's on his way with Coral. We'll see him in a minute." She nodded then, still shaky, so I added, "Norman is dead. Max shot him." She nodded again, still those shuddering breaths, and I said, "It's all over, baby, I swear."

At least, I thought it was all over.

I looked back at Max, who'd zip-tied Serena's hands behind her back. He looked like he was still in battle mode, grim and determined.

Whatever. I had my kid back. Nothing else mattered.