“I stopped them just in time.” I answered his unasked question, but the anger was still brimming. I was a little ticked that Randy stole my thunder. Given, he probably needed it more than I did.

I really wanted to be the one to kill that guy, though.

“Good.” Bruno kicked Neil’s side. “Guys like this give both Russians and mafia a bad name. I know a few Russians, like them just fine even. But these guys…” He huffed. Then cursed in Italian and spit on them. 

He left without another word. I lifted Fiona up into my arms, not bothering to ask her first, and carried her out. BoBo followed right behind us. 

We loaded into the SUVs, Fiona still on my lap, safely tucked in my arms. We waited a few more minutes, then three men came running out, laughing. A minute later, an orange glow illuminated the insides. As we pulled away, the flames began to eat the exterior of the building.

“How is that cleaning up?” Fiona asked softly.

“They covered all the bodies with gasoline and circled the building. By the time the fire department gets out here, all the evidence of our presence will be gone.” Bruno explained calmly from the front seat. 

“Oh, that makes sense.” We all chuckled softly at her blase attitude. 

The car stopped half an hour later, letting us out where we left our own car. I expected to see Jorge waiting anxiously, exactly the way we left him when I insisted he stay behind. But he wasn’t there. 

Someone else was.

“Hey. Everything alright?” I stepped out of the car awkwardly, still holding the clinging woman in my arms.

The longer she had to dwell on what happened, the tighter she held onto me. I needed to get her home. Where she felt safe enough to let it all out.

Keith stepped forward, like he might offer to help, but stopped when Fiona’s grip on my shirt visibly tightened.

“You tell me.” He answered, looking at her. They’d only met a few times, but each time she had been completely different than this.

“Yeah. Everything is good. The villain is dead, and the damsel rescued.”

BoBo snorted. “Damsel.” He repeated it like it was a joke.

He got another middle finger from my girl. Which made me feel a little better.

Bruno rolled his window down behind me and I turned to look at him. “I will take the brother to the hospital for you, we shouldn’t keep moving him. I will tell them I found him on the side of the street like that. His best bet would be to say he was mugged.”

“Thank you. I’d shake your hand, but…”

His grin didn’t quite reach his eyes. “But someone else needs them more. We are even now, yes?”

“Yes, we are. Until the next time a pretty cop gets close to you.”

He laughed as they pulled away. 

Keith opened the car door for me, while BoBo went to the front seat. Minutes later, we pulled away and headed home.

“What happened to Jorge?”

“I sent him home in my car. He didn’t go easily. You know he’s been dying to meet Fiona, and he wanted to make sure she was okay. I convinced him this wasn’t the best time.”

I nodded. “Did you know he was gay?” That was still bugging me.