"Move!" he roared, and Jo moved, rushing out onto the balcony that serviced all three upper apartments. She heard the door slam behind them and glanced back to see that Nicholas had shifted Charlie under one arm like a football and was using the now-free hand to jam one of the wooden deck chairs under the door to slow the man chasing them. Once done, he whirled and pointed toward the backyard. "That way. The van!"
Jo turned in that direction, spotting the van parked on the grass in the backyard directly behind the garage. She led the way across the garage's flat roof at a run. The tarmac was tacky from the late summer sun heating it, which was why she and her neighbors rarely used it during daytime. The van's position was a lifesaver. There were no stairs off the balcony, but they could climb over the rail, drop to the van and then the ground, minimizing the chances of twisting an ankle, being slowed and caught.
Jo decided that was a very good thing when the door to the balcony suddenly burst open behind them as she reached the rail. The deck chair made a terrible scraping sound as it shot across the balcony under the impact.
"Go," Nicholas urged when she stopped at the rail. "I'm right behind you."
Jo didn't hesitate but practically threw herself over the rickety rail surrounding the balcony. She landed on the van with a thump and a gasp as her feet slid out from beneath her. She crashed hard onto her bottom facing the building. Nicholas immediately leaped the rail like an Olympic jumper and thumped onto the van roof beside her with Charlie cradled in his arms.
"Down," he barked, shifting Charlie again under his arm so he could push Jo toward the front edge of the van with his other hand. Unprepared, she slid down the front window on her bottom, and right off the front hood. Nicholas was there beside her, steadying her with his free hand so that she landed on her feet. Before she had even quite found her balance, he was hustling her around the van to the passenger door, half carrying her weight as well as her dog.
"The door."
Jo opened the door and climbed in without having to be told. The moment her butt hit the seat, she had a lapful of furry dog and the door was slamming shut. She instinctively reached for the seat belt, but her head shot around when the driver's door was opened before Nicholas could possibly have gotten around the van to it. Her jaw dropped in surprise when she saw that it was indeed he launching himself into the driver's seat.
"Seat belt," he barked, starting the engine.
Jo tugged the belt out, but that was as far as she got before the van shuddered as something heavy hit it. Nicholas shifted into reverse and hit the gas, sending the van racing backward. Jo clutched desperately at Charlie with one hand, the other had a death grip on the undone seat belt and was the only thing that kept them both from flying to the floor.
A thump from above brought her head up in time to see Bad-Breath Boy roll down the windshield and off the hood to crash to the ground as Nicholas backed away from him. They'd nearly reached the back of the yard, and Jo saw Bricker and Anders racing across the garage roof and Bad-Breath Boy getting to his feet. Then Nicholas suddenly spun the wheel, back ing them around across the grass. He barely brought the van to a halt before shifting to drive and hitting the gas again as he spun the wheel in the opposite direction, steering them toward the alley.
Slamming back against the seat, Jo saw first Bricker and then Anders leap the balcony railing as Nicholas had done, with no more effort than she would have exerted to leap a curb. As they landed behind Bad-Breath Boy, she also saw him charging forward, pulling a gun from his waistband. Apparently Nicholas saw it too.
"Down," he shouted. Nicholas grabbed her shoulder and forced her forward off her seat so that her bottom landed on the van floor with a bruising bump as the back window of the van shattered under a bullet's impact.
Jo merely gritted her teeth and did her best to keep from crushing Charlie as they were bounced and bumped around and gunshots continued to ring out. She was pretty sure it wasn't just Bad-Breath Boy shooting. The gunshots were coming too close together and then they suddenly stopped. Another minute passed, however, before Nicholas said, "You can get up now."
Jo hesitated, her gaze dropping to Charlie. The poor dog lay still in her arms, eyes open, but otherwise unmoving, and that was rather worrisome. He hated being on his back, probably an instinctive reaction from a dog. Their bellies were vulnerable to predators when they were on their backs and so they avoided being there.
"It's okay, baby," Jo whispered, but rather than try to get both herself and Charlie up into the seat, she lifted the dog and set him on it so she could take a look at him. Jo quickly ran her hands over the animal, but couldn't find any injuries. He didn't whimper or indicate her touch caused pain in any way except when she gently felt his head, and then he whined and tried to avoid her touch. Frowning, she peered into his eyes, noting that the pupils were slightly dilated.