“Whew. That was close.”
“Too close,” Kenny said. “We got sloppy. We can’t let that happen again.”
“We won’t.”
“I hope not. Because if we get surprised by those two again… well, I would hate to have to kill them.”
12
“Luke. Luke.” Happ stood over Bridge’s lifeless body. He turned his friend over and Bridge started twitching his arms. Happ then looked over at Nicole, who was holding the back of her head, which slammed into the table on her way down.
“I think she’ll be OK,” another agent said.
By now, Bridge had started moving his head around. His eyes were fluttering. Almost simultaneously, Bridge and Nicole began sitting up at the same time, each holding the back of their heads.
“Hold it now,” Happ said. “Take it easy. Looks like you took one pretty good.” Happ helped position Bridge so his back was up against the wall. “Just relax.”
“Luke, you OK?” Nicole asked, crawling over to her boyfriend. Bridge put his arm around her.
Happ smiled and shook his head. “Now that’s true love. The couple that gets beaten up together, stays together.”
“If I felt better, you know I’d have a comment for that,” Bridge said.
“I know. I figure I should get my licks in now while you can’t think of anything.”
“Smart strategy.”
“So what happened here? Other than you two getting your asses beat.”
Bridge rolled his head around and grimaced. “They started leaving. So we had to try to keep them busy until you got here.”
“Looks like you did that. Partially. Would’ve preferred if you didn’t use yourself as human battering rams, though. Who was here? Other than Werther.”
“Kenny. And another guy. Don’t know his name.”
“Just the three of them? That all?”
“Isn’t that enough?”
“Turned out those three were plenty,” Nicole said.
“So it seems,” Happ replied. Bridge attempted to get up, but Happ used his muscle to keep his friend seated. “Just sit tight. We got paramedics on the way to check you guys out first.”
“I’m fine,” Bridge said.
“OK, well, as soon as the paramedics say that and clear you, then you can get out.”
“It’s not the first time I’ve had my bell rung.”
“Don’t I know it? Even still, you’re gonna sit and wait.”
Bridge looked over at his girlfriend. “How you feeling?”
“Now I know how you felt. Getting thrown through a table is no fun.”
“You guys can now compare injuries later,” Happ said. “War stories of getting thrown around and rag-dolled and tossed into objects and breaking them.” Bridge was going to reply, but the pain in his head prevented him from speaking. “So can you tell me what happened exactly?”
“Which part?”
“Well, I guess you can skip the part where you guys get the crap beaten out of you.” Happ faked a smile. “I already saw that part.”
“Well, like I said, we were just trying to keep them busy until you got here. They started putting bags in a car, so we figured they were about to rabbit.”
“We started to approach the house,” Nicole said. “Then they started shooting.”
“So I made my way to the back of it, and finally two of them, Kenny and Werther, came out the back. I got the jump on them. Then I heard a voice.” Bridge turned his head sharply toward Nicole. “Did you hear Chris’ voice?”
“Abbott?”
“Yeah.”
Nicole shook her head, though slowly. “No, I didn’t hear it. It was him?”
“Definitely. That’s a voice I wouldn’t mistake anywhere.”
“You’re sure it was Chris Abbott?” Happ asked.
“No question. Like I said, he’s got an unmistakable voice. I’d know it anywhere.”
“Haven’t had the pleasure of hearing it.”
“It’s a higher-pitched voice. You’d never mistake it for someone else.”
Nicole put her hand on Bridge’s arm. “Wait, if they have him…”
Happ turned to another of the agents there. “Hey, try to run down Chris Abbott. Might have a kidnapping.”
A few minutes later, the paramedics arrived, and they started working on Nicole and Bridge. After they were done, Happ asked for the damage report.
“What’s the verdict?”
The female paramedic spoke up. “They both took a good shot. It’s possible they have concussions, but I can’t be sure. They’d have to get checked out at the hospital to know for sure.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Bridge said.
“He probably has one. She might not. They both got walloped pretty good. They’re actually lucky it’s not worse. He’s got a slight cut on the back of his head, but it’s not too bad. Won’t need stitches or anything.”
Bridge opened his eyes wide. “I’m fine. I don’t have a concussion.”
“How do you know?” Happ asked.
Bridge flicked his eyes and looked at the light. “See? Light doesn’t bother me at all.” He put two fingers in front of his face. “Look, two fingers. No blurry vision, light doesn’t bother me, everything’s good.”
“You’re not gonna go, are you?”
“Nope.” Bridge slowly got back to his feet.
“Luke…”
“Eric…”
“Nicole…”
“Luke…”
Happ just looked at the two of them and shook his head. “It’s like a Three Stooges routine.”
“Well, there are three of us here,” Bridge said.
“Uh, yeah. Anyway…”
“Ain’t got time for the hospital. Abbott’s out there and who knows what they want him for. If we don’t find him soon, alive, we’ll be finding him dead.”
“Well, one thing’s for sure, they’re gonna be in the city somewhere.”
“What makes you so sure?” Nicole asked.
“Where else could they go? We’ll put alerts out on all the planes, trains, subways, buses, and boats. They’ll have to hole up somewhere again.”
“Don’t be so sure,” Bridge said.
“Why?”
“Because you’re dealing with Greg Kenny. He’s a master at disguising himself. He can blend into anything he wants to. That’s the life he’s used to. He doesn’t have to put himself out there in the open. He can become whatever he wants to be.”
“Still, we’ll have alerts out. He’s not going anywhere. Plus, he’s got the other two with him, right?”
“If I had to guess, I’d say they’re
