Page 56 of The Wilder Widows

“It’s staring at me.” Doris locked eyes with a particularly fierce black bull.

“It’s not staring at you.” Alice laughed.

“No. It is. It’s staring right at me. He’s memorizing my face so he can find me in the pack.”

“Doris,” I laughed, “that bull isn’t singling you out. He’s just—”

Before I could finish, it launched forward. Head down, eyes locked, it charged straight at Doris.

“Holy shit!” I shouted, and we all jumped back while it skidded to a stop in front of the fence. A deep snort shook us to the core, and it pawed at the gate, its eyes fixated on Doris. I traced my eyes along the deep scar running down his face and ending between his huge white horns.

“El Diablo,” she whispered, holding its intense gaze.

“What?” I asked, stepping to her side and pulling her back. She stared at it as if she was in a trance.

“El Diablo.” She made the sign of the cross, and the bull snorted one last time before trotting back to its herd.

“That was intense!” Alice joined us from where she’d taken shelter behind a small building. “That thing is gunning for you, Doris! Stay the hell away from me when we run.”

“Can it, Alice.” I jabbed an elbow into her side. “No one is gunning for Doris. And we aren’t separating during the race. All for one, one for all.”

“All for one, one for all.” Sylvie placed her hand over mine. Doris and Alice followed suit, and together we did a cheer before turning back to look at the bulls one last time.

“You stay the hell away from her, El Diablo,” I whispered to him before we hopped on our scooters and headed toward the place the other runners gathered.

When we reached the area where the crowds were congregating, we wound our scooters through the bodies, trying to get a good spot. A policeman lifted his hand, stopping us as we tried to get past. At first, he said something in Spanish, but when I said I didn’t understand the language, he responded in English.

“You can’t ride those during the run,” he said, his dark brows pushing together while he stared down his nose to where we sat on our scooters.

“Says who?” I stood up, closing in on him. “I didn’t see a damn thing about no motorized vehicles in any of the literature.”

“You just can’t. You’ll get hurt. Turn back.” He shook his head, pointing over my shoulder.

“Are you discriminating against the disabled?” I sneered.

“No. Now turn back.” His mustache twitched as he snarled.

“Yes, you are.” I rose on my toes to get closer to eye level. “You’re discriminating against us!”

“Turn. Back,” he warned, and this time his tone meant business.

Just when I was ready to go to blows, briefly wondering what prison in Pamplona would be like, I remembered I had a much more effective technique to get us past that barrier. Spinning on my heel, I marched over to Alice.

“Handle it,” I said, and she answered with her signature smile.

“Consider it handled.”

Just like a switch turned on, Alice’s eyes narrowed into seductive slits. Stepping around me, she sauntered past the scooters, landing in front of the officer. Her height and her heels brought her to eye level, and she placed her hand against his chest. I wished I could hear what she whispered in his ear. As if transfixed under the weight of Alice’s allure, the stern expression on his face transformed into one of shock, and then a pink hue traveled across his bronze cheeks. This time when his mustache twitched, it was from the smile Alice’s words induced.

Sitting back on my scooter, I awaited the verdict. Even if they didn’t allow it, I knew I still had to run. I touched the dog tags beneath my shirt, remembering my vow. Alice brushed a soft kiss against his cheek and turned back toward us. The victorious smile tugging up her lips told me she’d been successful yet again. That woman could charm the pants off any man on the planet.

“Go,” she said, waving me forward.

I twisted the handle on my scooter and slowly accelerated, glaring up at the cop as I rolled past. His smitten expression turned into a scowl as he watched me go by.

“That was close,” Sylvie said, pulling her pink scooter up beside me.

“Thank you, Alice,” Doris said when Alice strutted up beside us. “I don’t even want to know what you said to him, but I’m glad he’s letting us ride our scooters. There’s no way I could make the run.”