“I don’t know. It’s running around the neighborhood finding stray bitches to bang.”
“She’s girl dog,” the black shirt said.
Blue shrugged.
Gabriel walked over to the table, picked up a chair, and set it near Sommer. If nothing else, when he got the signal in his ear, he was close enough to effect plan B.
But it would be better if he could get her behind a closed door.
Gabriel made the slightest gesture with his head.
Sommer’s gaze slid toward the door he indicated. Sommer lifted her chin in that direction. “Is that your bathroom?” she asked him.
“Yes,” Gabriel said.
She turned to the gunman. “I have to go.”
“Pee in your pants,” the black shirt said.
“I don’t have to pee,” Sommer said, brave as hell. “I have to change my tampon.”
“No.”
“So here’s the thing about women’s bodies,” Sommer said in a practical, possibly nerdy tone. “If a woman leaves a tampon in for too long, she gets a thing called toxic shock. If I get toxic shock, I could just die. I’m a nurse. I’ve seen terrible things come through the emergency department.”
Blue shirt’s brows furrowed into deep ridges. “You can die from tampon?”
“From leaving a tampon in too long, yes,” she said.
“And women use tampon knowing this?” The guy’s face contracted in disgust.
“Well, it’s that or let menstrual blood soak through our clothes and run down our legs.”
She grossed the guy out. Well done.
The gunman waved her in, and as soon as the door shut and the water flowed in the sink, Gabriel heard the command in his ear.
On the first “Execute,” Gabriled dove for the floor near his center island, curled into a ball, and covered his ears as flashbang sailed through the windows.
The room filled with noise and smoke.
Ears ringing, disoriented, Gabriel tried to get up and get to Sommer, and completely and utterly failed. The dizziness made his stomach churn, and bile slicked up the back of his throat.
Lifted from under his arms, he stumbled outside into fresh air.
Sommer was there on the ground under a tree beside Striker, who was holding out a bottle of water to her.
As soon as she saw Gabriel stumbling toward her, Sommer stood and flung herself into his arms.
When Gabriel had her tucked against his heart, she said, “I believed in you the whole time.”
And Gabriel stroked his hand through her hair and thought, “I believe in you, too.”
Epilogue
Gabriel
Wednesday
