“Yes? Leo?”

 

“Where are you?”

 

“Spending the night with Preston. Where are you?”

 

“About to come up to the house. After that, I’m going to Mexico to drop off a young lady named Kari, who was kidnapped and wants to go home.”

 

“Oh. Um, speaking of the house, we had some visitors yesterday.”

 

“I heard, and last I heard they were all dead.”

 

Bev bit her lip. “Yes, all dead. But the house is, well … I had to use the hand grenade in the nightstand at the bottom of the stairs, so watch for the hole in the floor there, and I had to fire an Uzi through the bathroom wall into the stairwell. Also, the concussion grenades I took off the bad guys and set off on the patio broke just about every dish you own and most of the widows and — stop laughing, Preston, this is serious — anyway, Leo, it’s a mess. Oh, and all the guns laid out on the bed are mine. So is the cash and jewelry on the pool table.”

 

“So, to sum up,” Leo said, “you wrecked my house and spent the night with another man.”

 

“Ah, after having sex with a woman this morning, yes,” she added.

 

“I see. And how are you going to make this up to me?”

 

“I was thinking of the same thing you got Wednesday night, only with more enthusiasm on my part.”

 

“I’m on speakerphone dear,” Leo interrupted, and Bev heard the sound of girlish giggles. “But yes, that sounds very inviting, if all parties are willing.”

 

“I’m sure they are, but I’ll check and get back to you.”

 

They said goodbye. She broke the connection and then slapped Preston on the arm. “Shut up! Can we go yet?”

 

“You and Yvette are having sex?”

 

“Yes,” she sighed, “but if you tell anyone, I’ll poke your amazingly sexy ass with a pin and not even feel bad about it at all.”

 

“Mum’s the word,” Preston said. “And yes, I think we can sneak out of here now, or at least give it a try.”

 

He used the night vision goggles to head down the trail again, onto the main fire road, and then out to the highway, where he took them off and turned on the lights. Bev called Danny and told him they were almost there.

 

Danny and Austin were waiting. She gave them both a hug, and then loaded her new toys into the Hummer before getting in.

 

“Wow, twenty-four hours and I’ve gone from freelance editor to fucking Rambo,” she said to Austin as she jumped into the passenger seat. Danny had already chosen to sit in back with Preston.

 

“Any word from Leo?” Danny asked.

 

“Yes, and all good words,” Bev told him. “He made a date with me tonight at his house, so maybe it’s even better than we hoped for, since he doesn’t feel like he needs to bug out today.”

 

“That sounds very hopeful, yes,” Danny agreed. “Where is he now?”

 

“On his way to Mexico to drop off a girl who was kidnapped. I don’t know the whole story on that, but apparently it is highly important,” Bev told him.

 

“Well, with border crossing traffic, he probably won’t be back until noon, then, so tell him that we’ll get together tomorrow to debrief and figure out our next steps,” Danny told her.

 

“Will do,” Bev said. “Austin? Could you drop me off at Yvette’s place? I want to check in on her and relieve Kim.”

 

“Don’t see a problem with that,” Austin agreed. “Do you think she’ll want to go for a ride on Saturday?”

 

“Yes, Austin, I do. And I think you should take off the kid gloves with her. She’s a big girl,” Bev told him.

 

“Well, she’s been through a lot—”

 

“Yes, she has. Hence the big girl title. She can take it. I think you should take her for a ride straight to your place and carry her over the threshold and straight into your bedroom,” Bev told him.

 

“And from Rambo to Dr. Ruth,” Danny laughed.