Trust Me, I'm Trouble (33 page)

Spade is a relentless blur of black Lycra, the bottom half of her head shaved close, the other half sporting a braided knot at the apex of her skull.

If I could just get free of this last zip tie, I could snag the blue fairy and take off while they’re distracting each other. That was the original plan, anyway. The plan that is now blown to smithereens because I hadn’t counted on Lily.

“Lily!”

“I’m here!” she calls from behind my booth.

“Get over here, now!” I say.

The bench moves, opening a small gap wide enough for Lily to squeeze through and under the table.

“What are you doing here? How did she get you?”

“She caught me on the way to the bus stop. Julep, I didn’t get a chance to tell Mike.”

“Never mind that,” I say. “I need the zip tie on the floor over there. Can you reach it?”

Just then, Spade whirls a back kick into Aadila’s stomach, sending her flying through the air and crashing into the bar. The shelves along the wall behind the bar shiver for a split second and then break apart, sending a hundred or more bottles of booze crashing to the floor. The noise is deafening.

Joseph launches himself at Spade, but she’s ready for him. They grapple, both crashing to the ground again, though Spade is a hair quicker. Joseph is covered in cuts and is limping. Spade doesn’t have a mark on her.

“Now, Lily! Get me the tie, then get out,” I hiss.

She scrambles for the tie, fumbling it in her haste. I want to shriek at her to slow down, be careful, but I know if I do I’ll draw unwanted attention. So I swallow my backseat rescuing and wait for Lily to come through.

After what feels like an age, she hands me the broken zip tie. I shove it into the locking mechanism and pull. It won’t budge. I reposition the broken end and try again.

“Go!” I push her with my shoulder.

“Not without you,” she says.

“I don’t have time to argue with you. Go! Now!”

“No!”

I break the last zip tie just in time to see Spade scoop up her gun and point it at me. Aadila is unconscious on the floor in a pool of blood, and Joseph is lying facedown on a table, his neck bent at an unnatural angle.

I have time for only one move. I wrap my arms around Lily and roll to the right. Spade fires, the shot’s crack, earsplitting even with the silencer on.

Unfortunately, I don’t roll fast enough.

A white-hot bolt of pain rips through the muscle of my left shoulder. I scream but force myself to keep rolling. I haven’t got a prayer of disarming her. I’m not trained for hard-core combat the way Aadila and Joseph clearly were. Our only way out now is to run.

I push Lily to her feet and stumble to mine, bending to wrench the blue fairy necklace off Aadila with my good hand and scoop up her dropped knife with my bad hand as we pass. I pull Lily to the right once we round the booths. The front door is out, since that’s Spade’s territory. But there’s a back door, and I’m going for that. Spade doesn’t make a sound, and she doesn’t waste a shot. When she kills us, we won’t hear her coming.

I shove Lily through the back door, into the alley. One shot clips the doorframe next to me. But once I register the layout of the alley, I realize why Spade let us run. She was herding us here. It’s a blind alley—no outlet at the other end. If we keep running, she’ll pick us off for sure.

I slam the door behind me, wedging it closed along the hinge side with Aadila’s knife. It won’t hold Spade for long. Two, maybe three solid kicks to the door at most. We need to get up one of the walls and out of the alley. I’d kill for a Dumpster right now, but none presents itself.

“What are we going to do?” Lily says, crying.

“We’ve got to get on top of the building,” I say.

“Are you
crazy
?” she asks, looking up.

The shortest wall looks to be about twelve feet high. Been there, done that, but not without help. Which means only one of us is leaving this alley alive.

“Lily, I need you to listen to me,” I say as I drag her to the wall. I blink my eyes to clear my vision, which has started speckling. Numbness spreads through my left arm as I hand her the blue-fairy flash drive. “I’ve done this before. It is possible. Just do everything I say and you’ll make it. Do you understand?”

“You mean,
we’ll
make it,” she says fiercely.

“Of course,” I say. “Step into my hands.” I cup my hands at knee level, and she dutifully steps into them.

“Your shoulder,” she says.

The bar’s back door shudders in its hinges as Spade kicks it.

“I’m going to count to three, and you put your weight on me. Reach up as high as you can and
pull.
Got it?”

Lily nods. Tears are flowing down both our faces at this point. I wouldn’t mind a little cavalry right now.

“One, two, three.”

Lily leans her full weight into my hands and reaches up the wall as ordered. My shoulder is both excruciatingly painful and somehow covered with a strange, cold emptiness. I dig deep, and with all the adrenaline and drive and need coursing through my body, I muster the strength to lift my hands up to chest height. I shuffle-pivot and grab Lily’s other foot, then cheerleader-press her up over my head. My arms are unsteady at best, and I can’t straighten the left one. My knees wobble, and I fight desperately against the urge to sink to the ground.

“I can’t reach it!” Lily shouts, her voice despairing.

I’m about to give up when suddenly the weight is gone. Lifted off my shoulders as if it never was. I collapse to the ground, shaking.

I hear another kick, and the door breaks open. Spade is coming for me, and I hurt so much that I don’t care. I shiver and bleed and wrap thoughts of Dani around me like a blanket.

“Get up,
jang mi
! Get up and jump! I will catch you!”

Ralph. Ralph’s here.
Finally.
With superhuman effort, I push myself up to all fours. Shots ring out, and for a second, I think they’re aimed at me. But the sound is wrong. Ralph must be shooting at Spade, forcing her to take cover and buying me time.

I use the hope that I might actually make it to fuel what’s left of my ability to move. I back up to the opposite wall, gauging the distance through long, slow blinks. It’s laughable to think I’m ever in a million years going to make it over that wall. But I see shadows moving at the top. I have to trust my team. They’ll get me out.

I shut my eyes and take a deep breath—in through my nose, out through my mouth. And when I open my eyes again, I can see more clearly. I can feel desperation tensing my muscles. I will do this or I will die trying.

I run as fast as I can on trembling legs, pumping my arms and focusing on the task ahead. About two feet from the wall, I launch myself into the air with the last of my remaining strength, reaching up as far as I can with my right hand. I smack painfully into the bricks and scrabble desperately for a fingerhold. But just as I start to slide down the wall, a strong hand grips my wrist and pulls. My face scrapes against the bricks, but it’s the best thing I’ve ever felt.

“Give me your other hand!”

Sam’s voice. I swing my left hand as high as I can. It isn’t very high, though. I try again, but my arm feels even more noodly than my legs do. I bite my lip, fighting giggles. I inch my hand up instead of throwing it and finally, finally Sam manages to grab it. He pulls, and it feels like someone is forcing sticks of dynamite into my shoulder. I scream.

An eternity of seconds later, I collapse onto the roof with Lily, Sam, and Ralph. Ralph crouches next to me, examining my shoulder.

“You’re late,” I say, slurring.

“You’re shot,” he says back.

And then I black out.

T
he next time I wake up, I feel like I’ve been run over by a freight train hauling a herd of elephants. My eyes are gummed shut, and I can’t move either of my hands. Something about zip ties filters through my fuzzy brain. Something about…

“Dani,” I say, forcing my eyes open and trying to sit up.

“Don’t move,
milaya.
I’m here.”

The fluorescent lights are blinding. Medical equipment crowds my bed, looming over me like aliens. I recognize some of it from when I visited Dani, but that’s hardly comforting.

Dani’s holding my right hand, which is why I wasn’t able to move it. She’s sitting in a plastic chair next to my bed, dark circles under her eyes and a barely healing red gash across her jaw.

“You’re awake,” I say, relaxing into the concrete mattress. I smile, though even smiling hurts. “How long was I out?”

“Two days,” she says, a worried frown tightening her face.

“How long have you been awake?”

“Long enough to nearly have a heart attack when Sam told me you had been shot.” With a pained look, she drops her gaze to the scratchy white sheets. “I am sorry I was not there to keep you safe.”

I inch my butt back so I can sit up taller. There are lots of things I could say that would all be true, but only one thing that will irritate her out of her guilt. “I wouldn’t have let you come anyway.”

She scowls at me. I take the opportunity to pull her hand to my cheek. She doesn’t resist, but the pained look is back. I let our hands fall to the sheets, though I keep our fingers firmly entwined. We have all the time in the world for fixing us. I’ll chase every particle of her pain away if it takes every grift in the book, and she’ll keep me safe while I do it. But that’s a battle for another day. I can feel my energy ebbing, and there are things I need to know.

“Did we get them?” I ask.

“You almost got killed. You are lucky Spade is still on the run, or Ramirez would be here, grounding you to kingdom come.”

“I’m okay with being grounded. I can’t imagine wanting to leave the house anyway. I may develop a healthy case of agoraphobia.”

She smiles, but it’s guarded. There’s something she’s not telling me. Like a coward, I let it lie. For now, it’s enough that she’s awake. We all made it out alive this time. I just want to coast on that for a little while.

“How’s Lily? She didn’t go home, did she?”

“She is fine. Mrs. Ramirez is with her. You should stop worrying about everyone else and start worrying about yourself. You almost died.” Her expression twists when she says it. I try to squeeze her hand, but it’s a pathetic attempt. I’m still more noodle than bone.

“I had everything under control at first,” I say. “My plan just sort of…fizzled.”

“Fizzled?” Dani says, her eyebrows shooting up. “You had to be airlifted to the hospital.
Airlifted.
” She grips my hand with both of hers now. “I need you to stop putting yourself in these situations. Please.”

I want to promise her whatever she wants. I almost do, that’s how hopped up on narcotics I am. But I know that I can’t keep that promise. Certainly not with the deal I made with Sister Rasmussen, my grandmother, whatever. So I continue my questions as if she hadn’t spoken.

“What about Joseph and Aadila?”

“Both dead.”

I should probably feel bad about that, but I can’t say I really do. They were truly evil. More so than Spade, even. I won’t be crying at their funerals.

“I got out of zip ties,” I say, trying to lighten the mood. “Aren’t you proud of me?”

“I am always proud of you.” She strokes my hair. “Whether you are a grifter or a gardener. But I prefer gardener.”

“I’ll consider it,” I say, rolling my left shoulder experimentally. A sharp pressure stabs the muscle but no pain. I eye the IV bag with more respect this time. “What did the doctor say about my shoulder?”

“Three hours of surgery to get the bullet out and repair the damage. You owe Ramirez about a million dollars.”

Ugh. Fantastic. “And you? What did the doctor say about you?”

“Full recovery, for now. There’s a risk of infection, but if I stay on antibiotics and away from large bodies of water, I should be fine. Moderate concussion. Nothing serious enough to keep me here.”

I study Dani’s face, drinking in her features. She’s haggard and worn, but seems okay. I pull my hand free of hers to trace the cut along her jaw. She doesn’t pull away this time, which kind of surprises me, actually. She closes her eyes and shivers, tension sloughing off her to reveal the tired, relieved, damaged girl underneath.

“I love you.” It just sort of pops out of my mouth. I didn’t mean to say it. But now that I have, I feel so free. It almost doesn’t matter what she says back. Almost.

She leans forward, resting her forehead against mine.
“Ya tebe kohayu.”
Then she kisses me.
Finally
kisses me. And it’s different from any other kiss I’ve ever experienced. It’s softer and sweeter and at the same time there’s something aching in it.

I reach up to touch her face, to pull her closer, but she breaks the kiss. I start to protest, but the look in her eyes when she opens them instantly silences me. It’s unguarded, unwavering, overwhelming. I shiver with exhilaration under just her gaze. But I want more.

I kiss her again, cradling her face, taking care not to brush her cut. I don’t want anything disrupting this. I want the world to fall away. I’ve saved it twice now. It owes me this.