Sizzle and Burn

reached the pair. She lost her balance and staggered wildly to one side, colliding with Niki.
    The impact sent them both down in a tangle of arms and legs. Raine lashed out, frantically trying to free herself.
    “Hold her still, damn it,” Cassidy ordered.
    Raine caught a glimpse of a silver, pen-like object aimed at her neck.
    But nervous Niki was in a full-blown panic now.
    “This is crazy,” she screamed. “The cops are on the way. Do whatever you want, I’m getting out of here.”
    She freed herself from Raine, lurched to her feet and streaked out through the front door.
    Raine rolled away from Cassidy and grabbed the feet of the nearest mannequin, the one used to display the ballerina costume. She yanked hard and managed to topple the figure. It fell between her and Cassidy, who was forced to jump back out of the way.
    “Damn you.” Cassidy’s face was a snarling mask of rage and frustration.
    Raine rolled again. This time she grabbed Marie Antoinette’s elegantly shod feet and pushed with all her might.
    “Eat cake and die,” she yelled at Cassidy.
    Cassidy barely avoided tripping over the elaborate skirts. She suddenly seemed to become aware of the commotion going on outside the shop. She hesitated a fraction of a second, then evidently arrived at the sensible conclusion that the situation was not going well.
    Whirling, she ran toward the red velvet curtain, whipped it aside and vanished into the back room.
    Raine lay on the floor, trying to catch her breath. She heard the back door of the shop open, followed by frantic, scuffling sounds.
    “No,” Cassidy shrieked. “Let me go, you fucking bastard .”
    “If you hurt her, you’re a dead woman,” Zack said. His tone was lethally cold.
    “Watch out for her pen,” Raine shouted.
    There was a dull thud.
    Zack appeared in the opening, an elegant black and gold fountain pen in one hand.
    “Got one of my own,” he said, slipping it back into the pocket of his leather jacket.
    Bradley slammed through the front door of the shop, gun in hand. Two uniformed officers followed him. One of them had Niki in handcuffs.
    Bradley looked at Raine. “You okay?”
    “Yes,” she said, sitting up cautiously. “I’m okay.” She decided to ignore the pain in her ankle for the moment.
    “Cutler’s in the back room.” Zack jerked a thumb in that direction.
    Bradley ran toward the other doorway, one of the officers on his heels.
    Zack’s hands closed around Raine’s shoulders, his face hard. “Did she inject you with anything?”
    “No.” Raine shook her head. “She used the smoke again, a lot of it, but she didn’t get a chance to shoot me up with anything.”
    He pulled her close and hugged her so tightly she had to struggle to breathe again.
    “There’s something very dangerous in that silver pen of hers,” she mumbled into his shirt. “She said two doses would kill Pandora.”
    “I’ve got her pen. Bradley will search her for other weapons.”
    “What about the smoke in the other room?”
    “You can still smell it but there wasn’t enough left to affect me when I came through.”
    “Calvin and the mayor?”
    “Unconscious but alive,” Bradley announced from the doorway. “So is Cassidy. What the hell did you do to her, Jones?”
    “Nothing permanent,” Zack said. He eased Raine slightly away from his chest, no more than an inch. “It’ll wear off in a few hours.”
    “Guess I won’t ask any more questions on that subject.” Bradley moved farther out into the front portion of the shop. “Which one of them tossed that damned smoke bomb?”
    “Probably Cassidy,” Zack said.
    Raine blinked, startled, and opened her mouth to correct him. His arm tightened a little around her. She closed her mouth.
    “How did you know we were in trouble here at the shop?” she said instead.
    “Don’t ask me.” Bradley smiled wryly. “It was Jones who realized something was going down. Must be psychic.” He paused and then added quietly, “Like you.”

Fifty-two
    M uch later Raine sat on the sofa, one leg curled under her, and sipped the tisane that Zack had brewed for her. She had showered and washed her hair as soon as they returned and now she was wrapped in her white spa robe. Robin was a warm, comfortable weight in her lap, Batman snuggled against her thigh. A medic had taped her ankle. Another package of frozen vegetables was wrapped around the badly abused joint.
    Zack and Calvin sat in the twin chairs, drinking coffee.
    Raine