Page 97 of The Very Virile Viking

"No!"

"You did not even let me finish," Kirsten complained.

"It doesn't matter. No piercings anywhere except the ears without your father's written permission."

" Faðir said I could buy a bow and arrow," the sly little Hamr said. It was such a bold lie that Angela had to laugh.

"Good. Show me his written permission."

"He does not write so well. 'Twas a message he gave me in person."

"Any witnesses to that exchange?"

"Nay, just the two of us." The little snot was beaming. He actually thought she was buying his story.

"Good try, Hamr, but the answer is no."

"I'm thinking that we should get Rollerblades for everyone," Njal suggested. "I saw them on some young people when we were driving into town. They look like great fun."

Rollerblading sounded harmless enough, but then Angela got a clear picture in her mind of all these kids Rollerblading around her apartment, or down the condo halls. "Maybe sometime later… when we're back at the Blue Dragon."

"You are no fun," the usually quiet Kolbein commented.

Luckily she was spared any more requests by the ringing of the phone. She was laughing when she picked it up. "Magnus?"

"No, Miss Angela, it is me, Miguel."

The fine hairs stood up on the back of her neck. "Miguel? What's wrong? Oh, God! Are those sirens I hear in the background?"

" Sí, but you are not to worry. Mr. Magnus told me to call and tell you it is all over. Gunther has been arrested, and the police have taken him to jail."

She exhaled loudly, not even realizing that she had been holding her breath.

"There are six police cars here. My Juanita is making coffee for the men now… and sweet buns.

Ay-yi-yi! What a scene it was here tonight, but it is all over now. Will you be coming back tonight or tomorrow? Juanita wants to know."

"Tonight," she replied without hesitation. "Where is Magnus? Can I speak with him?"

"That is the thiiiiiiing," Miguel drawled out ominously. "He cannot come to the phone."

"Why?"

"Because they have taken him to the hospital."

Chapter Fifteen

Falling for a fallen hero…

By onea.m. Angela had dropped Grandma and the children off at the house and was on her way to the hospital.

She knew from frequent cell-phone calls she had made to Miguel and Torolf during her return trip that Magnus had sustained a gunshot wound to the shoulder. Although not a deadly wound, it could have been if the bullet had entered only a few inches lower.

She also knew from her phone conversations that doctors were still holding Magnus in the hospital emergency room, where he was resisting being admitted… even for overnight observation. Torolf said they finally had to knock him out with a tranquilizer just to settle him down for the examination.

When she walked through the hydraulic doors leading into the emergency room, Torolf was waiting near the entrance for her. Standing next to him was a physically fit older man with a GI haircut, whom she assumed was Harry Winslow.

"May Odin be praised, you have arrived," Torolf said, after giving her a quick hug. "Father is acting like a bear in a hunter's trap."