Page 21 of Sunny Undone

“We’re coming back to that comment, Indy,” I say. There is no time to turn around, so I just gun the truck into reverse. The truck lurches backward over the rutted road hard enough that Della lets out a startled squeal.

“There goes your suspension,” Ridge mutters, his gun in his hand in case we need cover.

I swing the wheel, throwing the truck around in a cloud of dust before dropping it into drive. Gravel spits from beneath the tires as we shoot toward the main access road. Della slams her hand against my seat to stop from sliding.

In the rearview mirror, I see the three men give up the chase. One of them is hopping on one foot before he slumps against their van. Glasses guy is crawling around in the reeds, likely looking for them. But I’m pretty sure they went into the water.

And I start laughing. Not just a polite chuckle. But a full-blown belly laugh at three grown men lurching around and the fun we just had.

“They’re looking for his glasses after they went”—I gesture them flying off his head—“weeeeeee.”

Ridge glances over his shoulder to Della, who is now seated and fastening her seatbelt, then starts laughing. “They should probably try looking for their dignity too.”

Our eyes meet, and we actually laugh even harder.

“Look for their dignity,” I repeat.

Then, I catch Della’s eyes in the rearview mirror, and not only is she not laughing, but she’s pale.

Her hands are trembling where they’re clutched to her chest, and she keeps looking over her shoulder as if she’s expecting those men to materialize behind us.

The laughter dies in my throat, and I reach back between the seats without thinking. “Hand, Della,” I say.

She startles at the sound of my voice, and then her fingers find mine, and she grips them with surprising strength.

“It’s over, Indy,” I say quietly.

She swallows. “Is it, though? They knew someone was out here.”

“We don’t know that. Perhaps they suspected.”

Della shakes her head. “We missed something. Cameras. Trip wires. Sensors. I don’t know. How did they just know to show up right at that time?”

“For a start, we don’t even know if they were there because of you. They could have just been there for us. We have enemies of our own, you know?” I squeeze her hand.

“I overheard them,” Della says. “They weren’t expecting you to be here. They were surprised to see you.”

“Well, now, they’re surprised we kicked their ass,” I reply.

A tiny, reluctant smile tugs at one corner of her mouth. “You did. But didn’t you and Ridge assault them, first? Won’t you get into trouble?”

“Meh, that’s just a timeline issue. If we hadn’t, they would have hit us first, and honestly, Della, this face is too cute to wear bruises.”

Ridge chuckles at that. “It’s true. He’s not a good bruiser. Goes all yellow and green. Plus, you’re a scientist. We just gave them a physics lesson. On your behalf.”

Della raises an eyebrow. “Enlighten me, Ridge.”

“Newton’s laws of physics or whatever. I kicked one, he fell over. Gravity and shit.”

Della blinks. “That’s not what Newton meant.”

I let go of her hand, for a second, to indicate we’re turning, then smack her knee until she puts her hand back in mine. “If we’d been in space, that kick would have sent him to Mercury.”

Della pinches the bridge of her nose. “Actually,” she says, “if you’d been in space, it would have pushed Ridge in the opposite direction too, and he’d be on the fast track to freezing his ass off on Uranus after blowing past all the other planets.”

“Uranus,” I repeat, and Ridge looks at me, and we both burst out laughing.

“Jesus, it’s like being in a car with ten-year-olds,” Della says. “I’m not going to attempt to explain conservation of momentum.”