Alien Proliferation

not quite as popular here as Jerry Lewis, but apparently that Calvin Klein ad you loved so much and was so controversial back home is considered high modern art over here.”
    “That’s awesome, but how does it get the kids out safely?”
    “You know, it’s amazing how many humans one A-C can drag and still go fast.”
    “Not every single person in this room, I can guarantee that.”
    “Don’t need to get them out if things are handled properly.”
    “You don’t want to tell us anything, do you?”
    “I’m reveling in having something I’m in charge of actually work out right, yeah.”
    White chuckled. “James seems in his element.” He also seemed fluent in French—he was speaking now, fast and clear, like a native.
    “Is there anything James can’t do?”
    “Turn straight, thank God.” Jeff sighed. “Look, seriously, can I have my wife back?”
    White sighed. “Well, it was enjoyable while it lasted.”
    I started to move to Jeff when I saw something up in the higher level, where I thought the brochure had said the choir was. A figure, holding a rifle with a silencer on it. Aimed at us.
    Aimed at only one of us.

 
    CHAPTER 61
     
    I SHOVED JEFF AND WHITE, hard. We were near pillars, and I managed to get each of them behind one before the bullet left the gun. I did the splits. I’d never been able to do them before, but clearly they were part of my repertoire now. The bullet hit the wall above my head.
    Jeff grabbed me and pulled us to the same pillar as White. His hearts were pounding. “Are you okay, baby?”
    “Yeah. Is this part of the plan?”
    “Hilarious. Not quite. Richard, you okay?”
    “Yes. I really think we need to get her a catsuit.” White looked around the pillar. “The man with the rifle’s moved.”
    “Chuckie’s going to be his next target.”
    “How? He’s on the same side.” Jeff looked around. “Thank God for the silencer, no one noticed.”
    I looked around Jeff. “Chuckie noticed.” He was in the middle of the room, heading for us at a run. For whatever reason, there was a gap, and no others were close to him. I knew what this meant. I pulled away from Jeff and ran as well. Tackled Chuckie and brought him down. The next bullet hit the ground. I could tell it would have hit his head if he’d still been upright. “James, we have a sniper!”
    Reader shouted in French as he grabbed Al Dejahl. I was pretty sure he’d told everyone to hit the ground, because they did, with a lot of screaming.
    I was still on top of Chuckie. “Not that I don’t love this, but I think we need to move.” His eyes widened. “Or not.”
    I looked over my shoulder. Cooper was standing there, rifle pointed at us. “It won’t matter,” he snarled. “You’ll all be dead soon.”
    Chuckie shoved me one way and rolled the other. Next bullet hit the ground, pretty much where our hearts had been. I thought the next bullet would go into one of us, but Cooper jerked, flung the rifle up, and fired straight ahead.
    I looked, expecting to see Reader go down. What I saw instead was Al Dejahl throw himself in front of Reader and take the bullet. In his head.
    I heard the rifle clatter to the ground. Chuckie had spent his time tackling Cooper. They were fighting, but Chuckie was winning. Cooper managed to pull a smaller gun. I screamed, Chuckie grabbed Cooper’s wrist, and I heard bone snap.
    The gun fell to the ground. Then Chuckie twisted Cooper’s head in a way I knew meant we had another bad guy down. He let Cooper’s body fall to the floor as Michael and Brian ran up.
    The crowd stayed reasonably calm. I looked around—it was clear Jeff and Christopher were doing crowd control. Jerry and Hughes ran in with Paris police. Reporters were right behind them. I recognized one of them.
    “Chuckie, what are we going to do? In addition to everyone else, our buddy Mister Joel Oliver is somehow here, too.”
    He reached down and pulled me up and into his arms. “Leave Oliver to me and the rest of it to your husband,” he said quietly. “Don’t talk to anyone. Thanks for the save. All the saves.” I hugged him back. I managed not to shake, but only just. He rocked me, and I felt a little better.
    White ran over and pulled me out of Chuckie’s arms. “Kathy, you were so brave.”
    Freaked but not dumb. “You know, Rick, one of those once in a lifetime things.” I pulled his head down. “What’s going on?”
    “Pretty much what Jeffrey and Christopher had planned.”
    “You