The God Particle
Page 38
On the floor, shaking with her arms over her head, Cassidy slowly lifted her head as the silence continued, save for the water gushing up from the broken faucet. She jumped when DiMaggio returned, his shoes crunching on the broken glass.
“We’ve got to get you out of here. He was probably a sub-contractor; wasn’t in it for a fight.”
“How… How… do you know, know that?”
“A real professional would have made sure you were dead. C’mon we gotta go.”
“I need to change.”
“Look this ain’t no fashion show. We got about a minute before the place is swarming with cops.”
“I’ve never been shot at before and I need to change my pants. Okay? Feel better now Mr. Tough Guy stupid cop?”
DiMaggio finally caught a whiff. “Oh geez. Okay, but do it fast or whoever wants you dead will get a second chance.”
Grabbing a new pair of “7” jeans with the tags still on them from her bedroom closet, Cassidy waddled into her bathroom.
She was washed and dressed in two minutes and DiMaggio snuck her around toward his rental car parked out back. They saw a Chevy Suburban barrel through the front gates. Three men, armed to the teeth, jumped out of the back. The team leader exited the front, hand signaling to the three to take positions in a classic cross fire defense.
DiMaggio noticed one of them was using only his left hand, like his right arm was injured. The driver was gesturing with hand signals when suddenly three local police cars screeched to a halt in front of the house. The three men quickly scrambled back into the rear of the vehicle and the driver threw his Uzi onto the front seat.
“Come on, let’s get out of here,” DiMaggio said as he grabbed Cassidy’s hand.
She tugged away saying, “But the police, they’ll help us.”
“That crew is a mop up squad. If you or I show our faces, they will kill all of us, including the cops.” DiMaggio grabbed her hand again and firmly pulled her in the opposite direction.