Of all the crazy moves Vonya had pulled, nothing compared to the insanity of standing in the dark corridor outside Tyn Cathedral
How she wished Brody were standing here with herâif not holding her hand, at least close enough to hear her scream should someone jump out of the shadows.
She startled at a young man who looked about eighteen.
âDid Bishop send you?â
âWhatya have?â
She dug into her pocket, pulled out the computer.
A crack shocked the air, and she jumped back.
The kid collapsed, his body lying with eyes wide in the dim glow of a jewelry storeâs display.
She stood there, unable to move or breathe.
A second shot shattered the glass window beside her.
Her legs moved then, fast. She ducked down a road, turned into another alley and sprinted.
An arm snaked around her, clamping over her mouth. âI found you.â
She slammed a fist into her captorâs leg, landing her foot on his instep. He woofed out a breath, let her go and she whirled.
âRonie!â he said.
She gulped a breath. âBrody!â She launched herself into his arms.
And then, because thatâs what he did, he lifted her and carried her away.
Was it too much to ask for a little peace and quiet on his so-called R & R?
Apparently Brody Wickhamâex-Green Beret, current on-leave security operator for Stryker Internationalâhad turned into a magnet for trouble, and he knew inside his gut that someone was going to get hurt.
Preferably not him.
Brody could spot the ugly future the second that Vonyaâthe one-name, brazen rock ânâ roll diva and the leader of the crazies inside this D.C. nightclubâstepped up to the edge of the stage and, with a feral scream, sprang into the outstretched hands of her minions. Perhaps soared might be a better term, as she launched herself, arms flung out, like some sort of prehistoric animal in scaly black leather and a peacock mask, her garish pink wig a plume, into the undulating mosh pit.
Thankfully, anonymous hands caught Miss Crazy and floated her over the mass like a piece of bacon. It didnât mean this wouldnât end badly. With blood. Broken bones.
Death by stampede.
And Brody Wickham, off-duty bodyguard, simply couldnât let that happen, despite wanting to stay incognito in the shadows near the bar. He moved to the edge of the crowd, every muscle coiled. Heâd guess that in about ten seconds, heâd have to plow through this mob and save her.
He should be sitting on a lawn chair in the backyard of his parentsâ suburban ranch home, catching up on the news of his eight brothers and sistersâmost of whom he hadnât seen for nearly a decade. Or helping his parents decipher the foreclosure notice from the bank.
The music nearly shook the bricks from their mortar in the warehouse-turned-club, the perfect venue for Vonyaâs eccentric pulse, with its black Art Deco walls covered in skinny mirrors, disco lights dangling from the ceiling, and a round stage that thrust out into the audience.
Despite the cacophony of noise, he had to admit, Vonya had pipes. Brody wasnât so iron-eared as to not recognize the flash of talent in the tones that blew out of that petite body covered in leather and fishnet, even if he spent most of the night averting his eyes from her plunging minidress.
A random elbow connected with the soft tissue of his nose, stopping him cold at the fringes of the dancers.
Okay, what was he doing? This wasnât his gig, his battle. He didnât even know this impulsive woman, and nobody had asked him to be a hero today.
He was here forâ
Lucy! Sheâd jumped right into the mosh pit, moving to the middle, pushing, shoving, bouncing off dancers twice her size.
Everything inside him pinged, his adrenaline rushing. Oh, heâd known, just known, that his fifteen-year-old sister had no business at a Vonya concert, which was why heâd heard himself volunteering to take her when she appeared in a black-and-purple scoop-neck T-shirt, enough silver costume jewelry to sink a small ship, and skintight animal-print jeans.