He rolled with the big guy, who seemed to have figured out shit was going down.
“Dad, Ben, get behind the car,” Kenzie called out. “Stay down.”
Thank fuck Kenzie drove a solid SUV.
She would be out of the line of fire if she stayed on the driver’s side. She would huddle down while he found a way to deal with the situation.
Taggart managed to get behind the car. “She wanted one of those clown cars. Like a two-seater that wouldn’t fit most of the guys she’s dated. Hey, sweetie, you’re liking the Bronco now, aren’t you?”
She was silent and Sosa was suddenly with them, and she was smiling like this was the best day. He hadn’t actually seen her smile before. It was a bit creepy. “They think that I am dead. They would never send other girl if I am not dead.”
She wasn’t thinking straight. “Or they sent the other girl to clean up your mess, including killing you.”
Where was Kenzie? She should have crawled back here by now.
Sosa’s jaw dropped. “That is…”
She launched into a litany of what had to be Russian curses.
Taggart sighed and had his cell phone in hand. “Baby, we did not make it out. Yeah, they’re making house calls now. She’s in the trees. I might have mentioned the trees were a bad idea. But don’t worry. Kenz is taking care of it. The last thing we need is you strapping our grandchild on your chest and climbing on the roof to snipe her.” There was the sound of a bullet tearing through metal and then a hiss. “Damn it. There goes the tire. I swear to god I will take Manny Huisman’s heart out and crap on it before I stuff it down his throat.”
“You should take crap in his mouth before you take heart. He will be dead if you take heart and will not to be caring. Then all you get out of this is clean bowels,” Sosa said like that was a fucking normal thing to say.
Also, what had Taggart said? Kenzie was doing what?
“Yeah, the kid’s right. I need to up my fiber intake, baby,” Taggart was saying.
He had been transported to Planet Surreal.
So yeah, Kenz had been raised in privilege, but she also had to put up with this. No wonder she ended up at the Agency.
Where the hell was Kenzie? Ben pulled the SIG from its place under his jacket and started to ease from behind the SUV. “Kenz?”
Sosa leaned back against the bumper. “She goes after other girl. She is fast in those boots. It’s surprising.”
She went after the sniper who had the higher ground? His heartrate ticked up. He was cold as ice. They literally called him the Ice Man, and here he was freaking out because his girl was trying to take down an assassin dressed in stripper boots and a mini skirt that barely covered her pretty ass.
“I’m going after her, but you should understand that we’re going to have a long talk, Mr. Taggart,” Ben said as he eased around Sosa. “You let her run wild, and that is not going to happen on my watch.”
Taggart nodded, leaning back against the SUV. That was when Ben realized there was blood on Taggart’s lower leg. “Yeah, buddy, you go for it. I have a couple of liability waivers I’d like you to sign. You should also know that I’m willing to send her in with ten goats and a couple of chickens and her gassy dog as her dowry.”
“How bad is it?” Ben asked quietly since it seemed like everything had gone silent. He had to tamp down his panic because he had wounded.
“I mean you haven’t been around that dog when he gets in the trash. Bud Two can clear a… Ah, you mean my leg. It grazed my calf. I’ll survive, but I’ll need help walking until I stabilize it,” Taggart admitted.
“I will put pressure on.” Sosa pulled the sweatshirt over her head, revealing a white T-shirt she wore. It had a logo on it. Top. The restaurant Kenzie had met him at. After her twin had sent him there.
Should he leave his maybe, probably future father-in-law with the chick who’d tried to blow up his car yesterday? Damn it. Kenzie was getting her ass smacked.
Could he spank her for essentially doing her job?
“It’s fine,” Ian assured him. “She’s not a bad kid, and she knows I’m going to be more helpful to her personally alive than dead.”
“I will not be hurting anyone,” Sosa assured him. And then sat up straight. “Mr. Ian, do you still have cell phone?”
“Yours?” Kenzie’s father pulled it out of his pocket. “You know I think it’s a bad idea to call base. Right now they can’t be sure you’re not dead, although your friend in the trees will tell them.”
She shook her head. “No base. I think I know who they will send, and she will not tell them. I am not supposed to know this number she uses, but I do. I have small group of friends. We try to make things not so bad for each other.”
