Forgive Me(52)

He let out a howl unlike any she had ever heard and dropped next to Fedora, who was moaning incoherently on the ground. The strike had incapacitated Casper and gave Angie a chance to retrieve her pepper spray.

The canister was hot pink in color, but nothing about its contents was “girlie.” 1.4 percent concentration of capsaicinoids, the active ingredient in chili peppers, was enough to take down a bear. Not much wind, so she didn’t have to worry about blowback. She bent down and gave a blast to Casper’s face.

Pepper spray, an inflammatory agent, stings the eyes and makes the skin feel like it’s melting. The pain in Casper’s groin was probably a tickle compared to the burn he felt. His howls continued until Angie reached for the bottle near her feet and brought it down on his head. The bottle didn’t shatter, but the blow silenced the giant of a man.

She holstered her TASER, leapt over the two fallen men and dashed down the alley at a sprinter’s pace. She listened as best she could for footsteps coming up behind her. It was hard to hear anything above the blood pounding in her ears.

She spilled out of the alley, her body off-kilter, and motioned frantically for Mike to get out of there and fast. At least she hoped that was what her wild arm movements had conveyed. She didn’t dare glance over her shoulder in Mike’s direction, so had no way of knowing if he understood her gestures.

Angie had kept her car keys accessible and managed to fish them from her jacket pocket without breaking stride. She got the door open and the key inserted into the ignition in a matter of seconds.

Mike pulled out of his parking spot with a screech of tires and sped ahead. No wellness checks. He was learning that go means go. They would catch up later.

Angie started her car and jammed the steering wheel hard left. The 3.5 liter V-6 engine whined as if protesting her heavy foot on the gas pedal. She pulled out fast, no checks in her mirrors.

An approaching car slammed on its brakes and went into a skid just as Casper stumbled out of the alley.

Angie straightened the wheel and floored the accelerator once more. Her car picked up speed as she risked a check in her rearview mirror. Casper stood in the middle of the road, blocking the car that had swerved to avoid hitting her. He was in a horse stance. Hands out in front of him.

Angie heard a pop, followed by another. Gunfire, though his shots were off target because of the pepper spray. She ducked low and drove blindly for a few moments—anything more and she was sure to hit something. She poked her head back up in time to see a right turn coming up fast.

She hit the gas when another pop sounded. Nothing shattered, but a loud ding suggested the metal on her car had been punctured. Her tires skidded, but she made the turn, miraculously without colliding into anything.

Angie straightened the wheel and sped away.





CHAPTER 27



Angie and Mike didn’t stop driving until they were out of Baltimore. They weren’t taking any chances. Getting out of the city, and fast, was the sensible thing to do.

The question remained, was Nadine somewhere inside that apartment building? Communicating via cell phone, Angie and Mike pulled into a McDonald’s off I-695. The first thing Mike did was give Angie a big hug. The first thing Angie did was to check her car for bullet holes. She found one by the right rear fender. That pepper spray had probably saved her life.

Angie had briefed Mike about the two men she took down, but once seated at a table with coffees in front of them, she went over the terrifying encounter in more detail.

Mike’s mouth fell open as a reverent look spread across his face. “That’s like Black Widow stuff.”

Angie’s eyebrows arched. “A spider? I nearly got killed back there and you’re comparing me to a spider?”

“No, not a spider,” Mike said, almost in disgust. “More like Natasha Romanova, expert spy, deadly assassin, KGB trained, top agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.”

Angie looked a little annoyed . . . or exasperated. Either way, she had no time for his shenanigans. “Mike, is this some sort comic book thing?”

“Haven’t you seen an Avengers movie?”

“No. I haven’t.”

He shook his head in disbelief. “You work too much, Ange. You got to get out more often. Anyway, I just compared you to Scarlett Johansson, who plays Black Widow in the movies.”

Angie looked pleased. “Well, you should have just said that.”

“In all seriousness, how are you doing? That was pretty intense.”

Angie breathed deeply and let out a long exhale. “Yeah, I’d say. I’m going to try very hard to never have an experience like that again. But I’m okay. Really.”

“What’s your take on all this?”

“My take is Nadine could be there.” Angie gave Mike a rundown of her thinking. They had tailed Markovich—the last person to be seen with Nadine—to an apartment building with bars on the windows and two vicious men guarding the rear entrance. Other men had been on the scene, like the two Tweedles in business suits.

But most telling of all was the girl. Impossible for Angie to know if she was being sold to men like the Tweedles, but it was certainly a possibility. What wasn’t a question was the fear Angie had seen in the girl’s eyes. The guards could easily explain the girl’s nervousness, but what exactly were they watching over?

Mike mulled it over. “So what do we do?”