Ryker hog-marched Axe to the table he, Ken, Liam, and Terri were sitting at.
“Who do you think is the surprise contestant?” Terri asked. “Axe, your sunglasses are busted.”
Axe shrugged off his friend’s hands and took a seat.
“Folks, we have Vamanos Veronica!”
“What does vamanos mean?” Terri asked Nick’s brother, Sam Wolff, a police officer who was bilingual.
“Handcuffs,” Sam grunted. “This ought to be interesting.”
Axe craned his neck to get a glimpse of Joshua Cano’s latest squeeze. She wore mirrored sunglasses and carried a silver-colored billy club in one hand and swung handcuffs with her other hand. Her lips were colored blood red, and her cheeks were so red, they looked like they’d been slapped.
The dress, if you could call it that, she was wearing looked like transparent plastic. Handcuffs dangled from beneath the plastic and barely covered her nipples, and another set was coiled at her crotch.
She strutted toward the stripper pole, but before she could touch it, gunfire peppered the entire pool area.
Screams, shouts, and confused panic ensued. People dove into the pool while others stampeded for the exits. Axe drew his gun and ran toward the direction of the gunfire. He was hit by stinging pain that radiated, pummeling him, but didn’t drop him.
Maybe the adrenaline kept him going, but he didn’t stop to worry about it. He aimed his gun, swinging it around, but there were too many people in the way. He didn’t know who was shooting, and he didn’t want anyone to get hurt.
“Soledad!” he shouted, whirling toward the chaise lounge she was sitting at with Carmelita.
The shooting had stopped, and a female’s laughter shrieked through the PA system. “Don’t get shot. Vote for me, Vamanos Veronica! For all you chicken wutzs out there, those were rubber bullets. Ha, ha, ha. Pick up your app and put it where it counts. Vamanos for Vatos is my gig—teaching inner city youth how to become police officers.”
Rex Carter grabbed the mic from Veronica. “That wasn’t funny. People could have gotten hurt. Even with rubber bullets.”
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, except for Axe. He still hadn’t found Soledad or Carmelita, although Leanna was huddled with her friends and guarded by Nick, Ken, Gage, and Liam.
“Dad, Dad!” A high-pitched scream caught Axe’s attention. He turned toward it, toppling tables and chairs, and found his daughter cringing on the floor.
“What is it? What happened?”
“Carmelita’s missing.” Soledad couldn’t catch her breath. “Right before the shooting started, she got a text message.”
“From who?” Axe cradled his shuddering daughter in his arms.
“Some guy she likes. Leanna won’t let her sneak out to meet any boys. I should have said something.”
“Who is the guy?” Axe asked. “How old is he?”
“I don’t know, but he has blue skull tattoos.”
