Joyce scrambled to her feet and took off running toward DeChooch. “Get him!” Joyce yelled to Janice. “Don't let him get away.”
“Get him?” Janice asked, standing beside Lula. “What is she, crazy? How am I supposed to get him?”
“I don't want anything to happen to my car,” Mary Maggie shouted to Joyce and me. “That was my Uncle Ted's car.”
Lula was on all fours and drooling. “What?” she said. “Who?”
Janice and I got Lula to her feet. Mary Maggie was still yelling to DeChooch and DeChooch was still not seeing her.
I left Lula with Janice and ran for my Honda. I cranked the engine over and wheeled around behind DeChooch. I don't know how I expected to catch him, but it seemed like the thing to do.
Joyce jumped out in front of DeChooch, gun drawn, and shouted for him to stop. DeChooch stomped on the gas and plowed ahead. Joyce stumbled to safety and fired off a shot, missing DeChooch but hitting a back window.
DeChooch left-turned down a lane of parked cars. I followed after him, taking corners on two wheels as he raced in blind panic. We were doing a loop, DeChooch not able to find the exit.
Mary Maggie was still yelling. And Lula was on her feet waving her arms.
“Wait for me!” Lula yelled, looking like she wanted to run, not sure of the direction.
I did a lap past Lula, and she jumped into the car. The back door was wrenched open, and Janice catapulted herself into the backseat.
Joyce had gone back for her car and had positioned it partially across the exit. She had the driver door open and stood behind the open door with her gun steadied.
DeChooch finally found the right lane and headed for the exit. He drove straight at Joyce. She fired off a shot that missed entirely and then threw herself to the side as DeChooch roared past, ripping Joyce's car door off its hinges, the impact rocketing the door into the air.
I zipped out the exit, behind DeChooch. The Cadillac's right front quarter panel had suffered some damage, but clearly it wasn't anything that bothered Choochy. He turned onto Spring Street with me close on his bumper. He followed Spring to Broad and suddenly we were in stopped traffic.
“We got him,” Lula yelled. “Everybody out of the car!”
Lula and Janice and I bolted from the car and ran to apprehend DeChooch. DeChooch threw the Cadillac into reverse and rammed the CR-V, bouncing it back several feet into the car behind. He pulled the wheel around and angled himself out, grazing the bumper on the car in front of him.
Lula was yelling at him the whole time. “We got the thing,” she yelled. “And we want the money. We decided we want the money!”
DeChooch didn't look like he was hearing anything. He did a U-turn and took off, leaving us in his dust.
Lula and Janice and I watched him hurtle down the street and then we turned our attention to the CR-V. It was crumpled up like an accordion.
“Now this really makes me mad,” Lula said. “He made my shake get spilled, and I paid good money for that shake.”
“LET ME GET this straight,” Vinnie said. “You're telling me that DeChooch smashed up your car and broke Barnhardt's leg.”
“Actually it was the car door that broke Joyce's leg,” I said. “When it flew off her car it kind of did a flip in the air and came down on her leg.”
“We wouldn't have known about her except the ambulance had to squeeze past us on the way to the hospital. They were just getting ready to tow our car away when the ambulance came along, and there was Joyce all trussed up inside,” Lula said.
“So where is DeChooch now?” Vinnie wanted to know.
“We don't exactly got the answer to that question,” Lula said. “And being that we haven't got transportation we have no way of finding out.”
“What about your car?” Vinnie asked Lula.
“In the shop. I'm having it detailed, and then they're putting some custom paint on it. I won't get it back until next week.”
He turned to me. “What about the Buick? You always drive the Buick when you have car problems.”
“My sister's driving the Buick.”
Stephanie Plum 7 - Seven Up