Page 3 of Turn the Tide
Molly grinned back at him as she darted through, wishing she had enough breath to thank him, but he didn’t seem to mind.
“Go get her,” he said in that rumbling voice, and her smile widened as she realized just how gorgeous this random Good Samaritan was. Then her brain kicked back into work mode, and the stranger was forgotten as she sprinted toward Doreen’s retreating figure, not wanting to waste the advantage she’d gained.
Doreen took another sharp turn, but this time, Molly was ready for it and stuck right behind her. They were reaching the edge of the food court, and the south exit doors were twenty feet away. As Doreen ran around the last table, Molly charged after her, so close she could taste victory and that lovely bill-and-tuition-paying bounty money.
Even as she bared her teeth in triumph, Molly saw Doreen grab a little boy’s arm, yanking him into the path behind her—and right in front of Molly. She saw his huge eyes widen as Molly scrambled to throw on the brakes, knowing the boy was too tall to hurdle and she was too close to stop completely before bashing into him.
Desperately, she hurled herself to the side, the edge of the table knocking painfully against her hip before she skidded over the top and landed hard. She was on her feet immediately, ignoring new aches that were sure to develop into colorful bruises.
“You okay?” she asked the kid as his mom snatched him against her. As soon as the boy nodded, she was running toward Doreen again, but she already knew those few seconds of delay had been too long. Sure enough, Doreen was almost to the doors. The mall was crowded, but the street outside was even busier, and Doreen was much too talented at disappearing—as Molly knew from painful experience.
Still, she gave everything in that final sprint as Doreen reached for the door handle, shooting a triumphant smirk over her shoulder at Molly…just before someone shot from the side to tackle Doreen to the floor.
Doreen gave a surprised shriek as she was taken down, and Molly slowed to a jog, her smile returning even as she sucked in air.
“Nice…job…Charlie,” she told her sister, who grinned back at her fiercely. There was nothing Charlie loved as much as tackling a skip. Even though Charlie and Cara were twins, their personalities couldn’t be more different. Right now, Molly was grateful she had both of them on her side.
“Didn’t I tell you she’d head for the food court?” Charlie asked triumphantly, turning her attention back to Doreen, who was squirming in her hold. Charlie latched on to Doreen’s right thumb and pulled her arm behind her back, and the woman in her grip went still.
“You did, but I was still hoping I wouldn’t have to be covered in ketchup today.” Glancing down at her side, where some mysterious brown substance stained her shirt from the slide across the table, Molly sighed and then refocused on her sister. “Need any help?”
“Nah, I’m good. Are the deputies on their way?”
Cara jogged up, and Doreen immediately started pleading, an artful tear streaking down her cheek. “Please help me! These crazy women chased me down. They want to rob me!”
Cara, being Cara, gave Doreen a sympathetic smile. “Sorry, but that’s not going to work on me. I was the one who did all the research.”
With an annoyed-sounding grunt, Doreen dropped the act and went back to muttering invectives under her breath.
Turning to her twin, Cara continued, “I let the deputies know. They said they’re three minutes out.”
“Thanks.” Molly was about to ask if she’d also told Felicity when she spotted her youngest sister heading toward them.
“How do you always know which way the skips are going to run?” Felicity asked Charlie as soon as she was within earshot. “I ended up with the boring, unused exit again and missed out on all the excitement. It’s like you’re psychic. I never get to tackle anyone.”
Charlie just gave her a Cheshire-cat grin. “It’s a gift.”
“If you want excitement,” Molly said, still catching her breath, “you’re welcome to be the one who does the chasing next time, Fifi. I’ll watch an exit instead. That seems like it’d be nice and peaceful.”
Felicity shot her a glare at the hated nickname. “Seems like we need to up our morning workouts if a little jog through the mall leaves you so out of breath.”
The rest of them groaned, especially Molly. At this point, with fatigue making her legs shake as adrenaline drained out of her, she couldn’t imagine even walking to the parking garage, much less enduring one of Felicity’s grueling training sessions. She sent a text to their other sister, Norah, asking her to pick them up at the south entrance. Norah was a genius with tech, but she was even more hopeless in the field than Cara was.
“I almost had her,” Molly said as she returned her phone to her pocket. “If she hadn’t started throwingchildrenin front of me…” She gave Doreen a chastising look, but the pinned woman just turned her head to the other side to avoid Molly’s gaze.
“Yeah, I saw,” Felicity said. “Who was that guy who helped you?”
Molly shrugged, glancing back toward the food court, but the giant, smiling stranger wasn’t anywhere to be seen. “Some random helpful dude, I guess. I thought he was a security guard, but he wasn’t wearing a uniform.”
“Speaking of security,” Cara said in a low voice, tipping her head toward a wide-eyed man and woman in bright-yellow shirts hurrying toward them.
“He definitely wasn’t security, then.” Molly straightened, pushing back all thoughts of the gorgeous stranger, and went to deal with the guards. Doreen might be in their custody, but the job wasn’t done yet. Still, Molly allowed herself a small grin.
They’d done it. As slippery a skip as Doreen was, Molly and her sisters had tracked her down and captured her. They weren’t half-bad at this bounty-hunting gig.
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