Lula and I took off, and Tank ran behind us. I went down twice, and Tank dragged me to my feet. Lula never once went down. Lula was haulin’ ass. We had the SUV in sight when there was a sound like whoosh, and BANG— the SUV was toast.
“Rocket,” Tank said. “Ranger’s gonna hate this.”
We turned and ran through the woods, keeping the dirt road in sight, heading for the paved road. A pickup barreled down the dirt road. The back of the pickup was filled with guys in the khaki uniforms. We crouched low until they were past, and then we ran some more. We were almost to the road when lightning cut across the sky, and it started to rain. A mist at first, and then, within minutes, we were in the middle of a torrential downpour.
“I’m gonna drown,” Lula said. “I’ve never been in a rain like this. This is unnatural.”
Headlights appeared on the dirt road, an SUV going slow in the rain, sliding on the road that was fast turning to mud. Tank recognized it first. It was Hal in Ranger’s Jeep Cherokee.
We stumbled out of the woods and climbed into the Jeep.
“Get us out of here,” Tank said to Hal. “Fast.”
Hal threw the Jeep into reverse and ground his way through the mud to the pavement. It probably only took him five minutes, but it was the longest five minutes I could remember. My heart was pounding in my chest, and I couldn’t breathe. I was in the backseat with Lula, and I had a death grip on the sleeve of her soaking-?wet, fake fur jacket. Lula was rigid alongside me, breathing like a freight train.
The instant we were on pavement, the rain stopped. We looked back into the pine forest, and it was still raining, the rain dampening the thick, black smoke rising from the fuel depot and Ranger’s Cherokee.
“I swear,” Hal said, “this place is like the Bermuda Triangle. It’s friggin’ spooky. I went out to feed the monkeys last night, and I saw the Easter Bunny walking down the road with Sasquatch. And now there are rockets shooting into the sky from nowhere.”
“Don’t think you’ll be seeing any more rockets anytime soon,” Lula said.
“What were you doing on that road?” Tank asked Hal.
“The control room followed your blip to the Barrens and saw you parked. They told me to take a look and make sure everything was okay. I’m a couple miles away babysitting monkeys.”
“I knew I smelled monkey” Lula said. “Now I recognize this car.”
Stephanie Plum 14.5 - Plum Spooky
TWENTY
I STOOD IN front of my door and said a prayer. Please, God, don’t let Diesel be home yet. I held my breath, opened the door, and looked up at Diesel. Darn.
Diesel grabbed the front of my wet jacket, hauled me inside, and held me three inches off the floor in front of him.
“I told you not to go out,” he said, giving me a shake for emphasis. “I told you to keep the door locked.”
“You were worried about me,” I said.
“Yes. And I’m not used to worrying at that level. I had to take some of your Pepto-?Bismol. I was feeling like the fire farter.”
He set me down and looked at me. “You’re wet again. And you smell like campfire.”
I sniffed at my jacket. “I think it’s rocket fuel. Lula accidentally blew up Wulf’s fuel depot. At least, I’m pretty sure that’s what it was. And then it rained on us, which was a good thing because it probably put out the fire. Otherwise, the whole Barrens would have gone up in smoke.” I dropped my jacket on the floor and kicked my shoes off. “Did you find Cuddles?”
“Yes. And Wulf hasn’t completed the deal with him yet. I’m waiting for Cuddles to call me back and let me know when the meeting will take place.”
“Bad news. Being that we blew up all Wulf’s rockets, he might not be needing barium anytime soon. Although, it’s possible the rockets we blew up weren’t the barium carriers.”
“Anything else I should know?”
“Munch has his transmitter. And he absolutely can’t drive a truck.”
“Have you eaten dinner?” Diesel asked me. “Do you want a grilled-?cheese sandwich?”
“Yes.”
“Make one for me, too,” he said. “Do you have bacon? I want bacon on mine.”