Page 47 of Red, White, and BearCat Blue

Cam let out a nervous chuckle but I ignored it, stepping hard on the gas.

Beth kept going, heading straight for Candy and Napoleon’s position about a hundred and fifty feet away. The Audi followed. I brought up the rear, wondering when these manky bastards were going to decide they’d had enough. I had to wonder whether they’d rung Sterling to ask him what they should do and been ordered to grab Mrs. Demarco no matter what. Still, I found it hard to believe that they could see what they were up against and just kept going.

When Beth finally braked, twenty feet from Candy and Napoleon, the Audi stopped as well, having dropped back only about fifteen feet from the Beemer. I pulled up, keeping an additional twenty feet between us. I didn’t envy the muppets sandwiched between us, still not understanding what their goal was. Clearly, they weren’t going to be able to grab Cam’s mum with all the firepower trained on them.

I glanced up; Patsy was still hovering, but he was now about a hundred feet off the ground to keep his rotors from kicking up clouds of debris and obscuring our quarry.

“Throw ya weapons out of the vehicle and get out with ya hands up!” Patsy said through the chopper’s loudspeaker.

I watched the two men in front turn to each other. They seemed to be having a hell of an argument, based on how close they were to each other’s faces. I could see them exchanging words, pushing and shoving, mouths moving. Neither man had thrown out his weapons, assuming both were armed.

When the driver turned away and his door began to open, the other lurched toward him. There was a momentary violent shoving match as the driver’s door swung wide open. Seconds later, a loud volley of gunshots propelled the driver backward out of the vehicle. He landed on his back on the ground, half in and half out of the car as a massive circle of blood bloomed in the center of his chest.

Two seconds later, the passenger shoved the rest of the driver out as he slid into the driver’s seat. The dead man’s body twisted as his legs and lower torso joined the rest of his limp form on the asphalt right before the door was yanked shut and the Audi’s engine started with a roar. The passenger—now driver—gunned the motor, propelling the car right at the Beemer. It slammed into the back of Beth’s vehicle and then backed up. I threw the Camaro into reverse.

But he stopped short, changed gears, planted boot, and swerved around Beth’s car, headed straight for Candy who was aiming at the front of the car. There was a loud volley of shots, and the windscreen shattered, but the car stayed on its trajectory.

Patsy dropped the chopper fifty feet, and Rex laid down automatic gunfire while Napoleon also unloaded his weapon, trying to stop the car as it barreled toward Candy. Fifty feet, forty feet, thirty feet…the bugger kept on going.

They kept firing and the car finally began to slow.

No brake lights, only the slumped body of the driver through the missing rear window. Obviously, he hadn’t made the conscious decision to stop. The car kept going anyway, rolling slowly toward Candy. The boss moved as the car finally came to a shuddering stop and a moment later, the horn started to blare.

Beth’s door opened, and I drove forward, stopping ten feet behind it as Candy and Napoleon approached the vehicle, still holding their weapons. The chopper flew about a hundred feet away and Patsy set it down on a bare patch of asphalt. I vaguely registered the wavy lines of heat rising from the barren car park. Mickey got out, and I twisted around, seeing Cam’s wide eyes as he cautiously watched from the backseat.

“Ya okay, Cam?”

He nodded, face flushed pink, eyes wide, and slightly panicked. “Yeah. My mom.”

I nodded. “Stay in the car.” I waited for his nod before getting out.

“Mrs. Demarco?” I called out to Beth.

“All good.” Beth raised an eyebrow and blew out a breath.

“I ‘ear ya.” I turned and gave Cam the sign for all okay; his eyes closed in what looked like relief.

I got to the Audi just as Candy opened the driver’s door. The driver lay slumped over the steering wheel, bleeding from numerous wounds. Candy reached out with a gloved hand and pushed the man’s body back in the seat, ending the obnoxious horn’s blare once and for all.

“What a bleedin’ cock up that was,” I said. Candy gave me a slight nod as I reached out my hand. “Thanks, boss. Ya timed your arrival just perfectly.”

Candy shook my hand, looking grim as he transferred his hand to my shoulder. “Glad we made it in time, Clifford.”

“True enough,” Patsy said, jogging up with Nash, Rex, and Alain. He grinned at me and held out his hand. “Nice to see ya, boyo. When ya do things, ya do ‘em in style, don’tcha?”

I grinned. “Glad to see you lot. ’Ow are ya, Pats?” I clapped my smaller friend on the shoulder. “Nice of ya to rock up… Eventually.”

He laughed.

“Wouldn’t miss it,” Napoleon said, holding out his hand.

I smiled at him. “’Ello, mate.” I clapped him on the back. “Thanks for your ‘elp, Snickers.”

“Where’s the young criminal?”

I glanced back at the Camaro. “’E’s in the car.”

“Beth, please get a hold of the local FBI office and let them know we have a situation,” Candy said. “I want to know where in the fuck their agents are but more importantly, I want to get our young friend and Mrs. Demarco back to the hotel before more of Sterling’s guys show up. Who knows what kind of resources he has here in Vegas. The last thing any of us need is a visit from more of these morons.”