Mack leaned up a little. So Brenda was holding back on him—but for good reason. Mack wasn't talented at acting shocked; Brenda needed a sincere reaction out of him.
“You're 'Jadedrosepedal1712', aren't you?”
Amy slid her eyes away from the grimy window and looked up into Brenda's hard face.
“Stupid cops. You're going to get me killed!” she screamed and then tried to jump to her feet and run.
Brenda used her right foot to kick Amy back down into the booth.
“Time to talk, girl,” she growled. “Tell me just what Curanto is up to and why he killed Alonzo.”
Chapter 5
“Hard to believe, isn't it?” Brenda asked as Mack stepped outside the diner into an icy wind that began clawing at his hard face.
“Amy dating the son of Curanto's nephew? Not really.”
“Not that,” Brenda said, walking back to Mack's car as her eyes darted around the street. “It's hard to believe a girl that young can harbor a soulless heart.”
Brenda paused and examined the snowy, decrepit buildings that surrounded her like dark eyes trapped in a cold corpse.
“Is that what New York does to people?”
“Not New York. The world,” Mack told Brenda, walking his eyes around as the heavy falling snow covered his hair and trench coat. “New York seems to be a magnet for these people, I will admit that.”
Brenda was about to reply when a 1984 gray Honda Accord came bursting around the corner at a dangerously high speed. The Honda skidded on the icy road, nearly sliding into a parked SUV, before straightening out and speeding toward them. Brenda spotted an Uzi poke out of the open passenger window and began spitting out hungry bullets.
“Down!” she yelled, diving behind Mack's car. Mack didn't need to be told twice. He dove down next to Brenda, yanked out his Glock 19, and waited as the Honda sped past his car without stopping.
Steaming bullets chewed Mack's car to pieces. Mack and Brenda kept low as glass shattered and tires exploded. As soon as the Honda was clear of the scene, Mack and Brenda both jumped to their feet and began firing into the snow. Two of Brenda's bullets struck the Honda's back windshield, while Mack succeeded in shooting out one of the back tires. The driver of the Honda kicked it into high gear, sped away, slipped around an icy corner, and vanished.
“I didn't see a license plate,” Brenda smelled the sourness of gunpowder lingering in the cold air.
“Junk car designed to hit and run,” Mack explained, eyeing the street angrily. “Curanto knew where we were.”
Mack checked his gun and then marched back to the diner just in time to see Amy run out the back door.
“Hold it,” Frank yelled at Mack, reaching his right hand under the front counter.
Mack fired off a warning shot that missed Frank's face by a single inch.
“Back off or I will shoot you, your choice!” Mack roared.
Frank froze. No cop had ever fired at him before. Mack was a different brand of cop—an honest cop. Honest cops were dangerous.
“Yeah, sure... okay.” Frank raised a pair of shaking hands into the air. “No harm, cop, just trying to protect the girl.”
Mack glanced behind him. No Brenda in sight. She's going for the girl.
“If you ever try to pull a gun on me again, I'll put a bullet in your head,” Mack warned Frank in a tone that sent the old man cowering back to the greasy kitchen on shaky legs.
While Mack handled Frank, Brenda ran around the side of the diner into a narrow alley just in time to see Amy burst out the back door. Brenda quickly ducked down behind a metal trash can, waited for Amy to run her way, then stuck out her right leg. Amy was running in blind fear to notice anything. She went flying forward, hands whipping out in front of her, and landed belly first on the alley floor so hard that it knocked the wind out of her.
“On your feet, girl,” Brenda barked, grabbing the back of the pink coat Amy was wearing. “Up!”
Amy felt Brenda begin yanking on her coat. She was too dazed and scared to fight.
“Please...” she begged, struggling to breathe. “Please...”