Run to Ground(107)

Flinching, as if her words had been one of the bullets from the gun, Theo went silent.

“You’re going to pay now.” Smiling, a vacant, eerie look in her eyes, Sherry slowly unzipped her rain jacket. “They heard you were in danger, so everyone came running. Otto, Hugh, your lieutenant, all the cops who have your back. Your family.” She almost spit out the word. “Everyone’s going to die. And it’ll be your fault. Just like it was your fault my dad is dead.”

Her jacket flapped open, revealing an odd vest strapped around her middle, wires linking cylindrical objects, each tucked in its own pocket. It looked like some kind of twisted fanny pack, but Jules knew right away what it was.

Sherry was wearing a bomb.

“Like it?” Slipping the gun into a pocket of her open jacket, Sherry turned slightly from side to side, as if modeling the explosives. “It was almost impossible to get Gordon to make it for me. He’s developed a bit of a crush. Bailing him out of jail just made it worse. I finally convinced him by telling him it would be my plan B, just in case the other bomb failed. It is in a way. I meant for the first blast to bring everyone running to help, and then I would take all of your buddies out. This way is better, though. Now you know what your selfish actions have caused.”

Jules sent a frantic glance at Theo. His face was an expressionless mask, but she could almost see his mind working, coming up with possible ways to save her. The thought rang a discordant note. Why did he have to keep saving her? Maybe it was Jules’s turn to save him this time. Viggy gave a low whine as he sat, his attention locked on Sherry—and the bomb strapped to her body. The sound made Sherry’s gaze flicker from Theo to the dog for a fraction of a second, and Jules knew that was what she needed to do. She had to distract Sherry long enough for Theo to act. Jules tried to come up with a more specific plan, but her mind was racing, her thoughts bouncing around like her brain was a trampoline. Still, she had to do something.

“It seems like you’re the selfish one.” Jules forced out the shaky words. Despite her fear, she felt a tiny ripple of pleasure at Sherry’s startled expression.

“What?” she almost shrieked. “How can you say that? I lost my dad because of him!”

“So you’re going to kill all of these people, these good, innocent cops, these heroes, to get back at Theo? For something he couldn’t have prevented?” The more she talked, the less scared and more furious Jules got. “You’re going to take me away from my family, my brothers and sister who depend on me? I’m the only parent they’ve got!” By the time she finished, she was yelling.

“He needs to suffer!” There was no empathy, no guilt in Sherry’s expression. All that Jules could see was self-righteous rage. “He needs to feel what I did!”

There were shouts at the end of the alley where the entrance had been cordoned off. Otto and several officers Jules didn’t recognize were running toward them, until Sherry turned slightly toward the oncoming cops.

“Hold up!” Theo shouted, and the group skidded to a halt. “She’s wearing a bomb!”

“Everyone back!” Otto shouted. “Back!”

“Showtime.” Sherry smiled. It was her usual sweet and gentle smile, and that made it even more horrifying. Dramatically, she raised the hand holding the cell phone.

The rough—very rough—beginnings of a plan coalesced in Jules’s mind. Although she didn’t want to look away, she forced her gaze to focus over Sherry’s shoulder. “Too bad that vest isn’t going to work.”

“What?” Sherry’s smile faltered, her hand lowering slightly.

“Gordon gave you a dud.” Forcing a mocking smile, Jules met Sherry’s gaze. “The first bomb didn’t go off. Why would you think this one will? Besides”—Jules nodded at something behind Sherry—“if Gordon thought the bomb was going to explode, would he be here right now?”

Sherry’s entire body jerked in shock, and her hand holding the cell phone dropped to her side. She twisted around to look behind her. Jules started to launch herself forward. At that point, she wasn’t sure what her plan entailed—maybe something fuzzy about tackling Sherry and muffling the blast with her body, but Theo’s quiet command brought Jules to a stumbling halt.

“Viggy, hold.”

In a flash of fawn and black, Viggy shot forward, latching his jaws around Sherry’s right forearm. Yelping, she dropped the phone. As it skittered across the wet pavement, Theo rushed to grab it, and Viggy pulled Sherry to the ground.

“No!” Sherry yelled. “Viggy, stop! What are you doing? You’re our dog!”