Thread: Blank Slate (Dane Stalling & Malicious Lullaby)

Pablo's headlights fell on the car, upside down, still rocking from flipping over. He parked so anybody coming over the rise too fast would his his car instead of him. He approached cautiously, gun drawn, following his flashlight. Penny didn't seem violent, but neither had Danny. Now he wasn't going to take chances. This family was bad news. She was crumpled against the roof of the car, her seatbelt holding her waist high. Penny had blood dripping into her hair from a cut on her forehead. Pablo could see both of her hands limp against the roof of the car. No gun. A tiny flash drive with a wrist loop was lying next to her hand. He picked it up and holstered his gun. He took out a tiny black folding knife and flipped it open with his thumb. With his right hand he cradled Penny's neck, trying to hold it steady as he cut the seat belt. She slid free and he pulled her as gently as he could out onto the street. Papa? she whispered. Pablo pulled his phone and dialled 911, but hesitated before sending. The shooter. If the shooter was FBI, she wouldn't survive the night in a hospital. She probably wouldn't get there at all. He hated to think that one of his colleagues had been shooting at him, but he couldn't afford to be wrong. Not tonight. She didn't seem to have broken bones, but he had to have someone check her neck. He picked her up, carefully. She didn't weigh much, even unconscious, and she looked small and vulnerable, her pale skin almost blue in the cold street lights. He slid her into the back seat of his car and he caught sight of the inside curve of one of her breasts. His dream came back to him. His hand on her breast. He pulled away from her, startled at his own thoughts. She was an enemy. A suspect. He wanted her. He wanted to put her behind bars. He drove slowly, trying to think. The guys at the agency tended to be hotshots, especially the ones that hung around the shooting range. Who was it that had tried to explain that two-one pattern? A short guy, slicked back hair? Or was he just standing there when someone else had explained it? Whoever wanted to kill Penny hadn't cared enough to send the very best. A professional would have killed him, especially after missing the first time. Then they would have killed Penny. That line of thinking didn't make sense. He couldn't figure out why the shooter had left with the job not done. He could only think of one place to take her to get a discreet x-ray. He sighed and dialed his phone. Hey babe, it's me. There was a pause on the line. Pablo could hear a woman's breathing on the other end. Hey asshole. Don't call me 'babe.' It was a condition in the settlement. Pablo bit his tongue. Victoria was always passionate, and her anger hadn't cooled in three years. It never would. I need an x-ray for a suspect that was just in a car accident. Take him to the fucking hospital. I'm a chiropractor, Pablo, not a trauma nurse. She will get killed by bad people if I take her to emergency. Something's wrong. There was gunfire where there shouldn't have been. Just check her neck and I'll be out of your hair. Fuck. Did you just get drunk and crash with some New Year bimbo in the car? I swear, Pablo. I'll check her, but I'll call the police on your ass if you're wasted. I was chasing her, Victoria. To arrest her. She's on the top ten list, but I have to keep her alive and preferably not paralyzed. There was a long pause. You sonofabitch. I was warm . Thank you, Victoria. I'll meet you at your office. The x-ray came out clean. No fractures in the skull or the vertebrae. Nothing broken. Victoria had made him put Penny on a trauma board and they wheeled her into the office on a gurney. The only words Victoria spoke the whole time were, She's fine and concussion. As soon as she had checked Penny's pulse, she dropped her stethoscope and walked out the door. Thank you, Pablo said to her retreating back. She flipped him off without even turning around, her black waves bouncing against her back. She didn't even bother to lock the place up. He carried Penny to the car and put her in the front seat and belted her in. Then he went back into the clinic, put the trauma board away, turned out the lights, and locked the door. For someone who hated him as much as Victoria did, she sure trusted him a lot. He got in his car and sat behind the wheel, staring at his hands. Penny was unconscious, leaning against his passenger side window. A cold fear ran through him. He was a target too and he had been about to take her to his apartment. He went to a 24-hour drive through pharmacy and got some gauze, tape, and disinfectant, then he got his daily limit of cash from an ATM machine at a gas station and picked a motel by the freeway at random. He got a room and pulled his car into the wrong space in case someone was looking for his car. He shut off the engine. The confusing desire for her tweaked at him. She was beautiful, even when she was unconscious. Her blouse was missing a button and was gaping dangerously. He reached over, intending to close it but he pulled it open instead. She was wearing black lace under the white blouse. He ran his finger along the edge of the fabric and was startled to see Penny's glassy eyes looking back at him, one green, one blue, and blood coming out of her nose.