Metro Girl (Alex Barnaby 1)

Hooker took the wheel. I took the seat next to Hooker. And Todd crammed himself into the backseat. No one spoke. We just hunkered down, teeth chattering, and rocketed out of there. We got onto Route 1 and crossed the bridge to Cow Key.

Todd was the first to talk. “I guess I’m out of a job,” he said.

“Holy fuck,” Hooker said. “Saved by a fire. What are the chances?”

“Pretty good, since I set it,” Todd said. “Judey called me back and filled me in. I was staying with a friend not far from Vana’s house, so I walked over to see if I could help with anything. I saw them load you into the car and take off. Another car immediately showed up and did a fast search of the house and the Mini. When they left I borrowed the Mini. Lucky the keys were still in the ignition. I parked at Wickers Beach and saw them ferrying you out to Flex. So, I ran and got a RIB. No one noticed me tie up to Flex. The only people left on the boat were Salzar’s people, and they were all in the main deck salon and in the pilothouse. I knew you were in trouble, so I thought I’d set the fire alarm off. I was down in the engine room, holding my lighter up to a sensor, and I don’t know what happened, but I heard someth

ing go pop and then there was fire everywhere. I ran out and got back into the RIB. I didn’t know what else to do. And then all of a sudden Barney came flying through the air!”

“Do you know anything about Bill?” Hooker asked Todd.

“No. What about Bill?”

Hooker took his cell phone out of his pocket. He shook the phone and water sloshed out. “Do you have a cell phone on you?” he asked Todd.

“Yep.”

“Salzar had a picture of Bill bleeding,” Hooker said. “It looked like he’d been shot. I know Bill was in Naples, so let’s start there. Call the hospital in Naples and see if Bill’s been brought in.”

Todd got connected to the hospital and asked about Bill. There was a lot of un hunh, un hunh, un hunh. And Todd disconnected.

“Okay,” Todd said when he got off the phone. “There’s good news and there’s bad news. The bad news is Bill has been shot. The good news is he’s in stable condition. They said he was in the recovery room. That he was out of surgery. And he was stable.”

I leaned back and closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “I don’t like when Bill’s hurt. I know he’s all grown up, well, sort of grown up…but he’s still my little brother.”

“Bill’s going to be okay,” Hooker said, his hand back at my wrist with a reassuring squeeze. “We’ll try calling in an hour. Maybe you can talk to him.”

We passed through the lower Keys and then we were on the Seven Mile Bridge. The water was choppy below us and the Mini was buffeted by wind, but she held the road. We came up to Marathon Plaza and Hooker slowed for two guys fixing a flat on the shoulder. The car was a white Ford Taurus. We got closer and Hooker shook his head. Disbelieving. It was Slick and Gimpy.

“I’d really like to run them over,” Hooker said, “but I don’t think I could get away with it this close to the Plaza.”

“Too bad we threw Gimpy’s gun away. We could shoot them.”

“God knows how many people that gun has killed,” Hooker said. “It wouldn’t have been smart to get caught in possession of that gun.”

Slick looked up just as we blew by them, and I saw the shock of recognition register.

“I think we got busted,” I said to Hooker.

He looked in the rearview mirror. “They still have to get the tire on. Maybe we can get off the Keys before they catch us. Once we pass Largo I have more road choices.”

A half hour later, just when I was beginning to feel comfortable, Todd saw the car behind us.

“Your friends have caught up to us,” Todd said. “This is turning into one of those days, isn’t it?”

It was midmorning, midweek and there weren’t a lot of cars on the road. Three rolled by going south. The road behind them was empty. No cars behind Slick and Gimpy.

“Here’s where they’ll make their move,” Hooker said. “This is going to be fun. Slick’s going to force us to pull over.”

The white Taurus swung out to pass, and Hooker smiled and watched his side-view mirror.

“Gimpy’s got a gun sighted on us,” I said. “I don’t think it’s a dart gun.”

“I see it,” Hooker said.

Todd ducked down below window level. “Criminy!”

They were directly abreast of us, and Gimpy was motioning with the gun to pull over. Hooker nodded acknowledgment and dropped the Mini back a couple inches.