25
Ears ringing, Jensen regained his feet. He wiped his eyes and looked at his hand. It glistened with red.
"Shit!"
A spot on the front of his scalp, just where his hairline would have been if he'd had any, stung when he touched it. He looked around and saw Hutch, on his feet and looking fine.
"You okay?"
Hutch nodded. "I ducked behind the couch. But you…"
Jensen touched the spot again. "Yeah, I know. How bad is it?"
Hutch stepped closer and peered at the wound. "Not bad. Maybe an inch at most."
Jensen moved into the kitchen area and grabbed a roll of paper towels. He ripped off a sheet and pressed it against his scalp.
Cut by his own bomb. Shit, this was embarrassing. When he got his hands on this son of a bitch…
Hutch said, "Hey, what's the story with that guy in the driveway—or what's left of him? Who—?"
Jensen stiffened. Through the ringing in his ears he thought he heard three pops from somewhere outside.
He turned to Hutch. "Were those—?"
Hutch was already on his way to the door. "Damn right!"
Jensen followed him to the car where Hutch got back behind the wheel and Jensen squeezed into the front seat.
The good news was that Lewis had found the pair; the bad news was he'd had to do some shooting. Jensen hoped the mystery guy was still breathing.
They backed around and roared down the driveway. As they again passed the scattered remains of Cooper Blascoe, Jensen made a mental note to get back here ASAP with some garbage bags and clean up whatever parts of the old fart hadn't already been carried away by the local wildlife.
Hutch skidded the car to a stop as they hit the pavement. Someone was writhing in the middle of the road.
"Hey, that looks like Lewis!" Hutch said. He pushed open the door and started to get out.
Alarm flared through Jensen as he scanned the area and didn't see the Crown Vic.
"The car's gone! Shit! They took off! Get back in here and go after them!"
"But Lewis—!"
"Damn asshole let them get the jump on him. He's on his own!"
"Fuck that!" Hutch said. "He's one of us. A few minutes ago you didn't want to leave a car in the bushes, but now it's okay to leave a bleeding guy? Where are you coming from? What's a cop gonna do if—"
"All right, all right!" He was right. "Drag that sack of shit over here and put him in the back."
Jensen sat and fumed. Lewis had been wounded and left here to slow them down. But they still had a chance to catch them if they drove like hell.
A slim chance, but a chance.