Syndicate Files: The Sister - Part 11

It took me a moment of flailing panic before I realized that it wasn't one of the Bunnies on top of me. The form I was tangled up with was too soft and yielding to be a guard, and no self-respecting gangster would have chosen such a delicately floral perfume.

"Having fun there, Rory?" Auvy said acerbically, standing over me.

"Would you mind," Sia said politely, "Moving your hand?"

I let go of the pilot's - well, I moved my hand - and she scrambled up off me.

Auvy folded her arms. "Are you going to get up?" she said. "Or just lie there until the Rabbits catch up with us?"

"How did you - ?" I asked as Envelan reached down and hauled me bodily to my my feet.

"Oh, we should sit around waiting for your heroic rescue?" Auvy said. She shrugged. "Sia came over all faint and when the bozo they had watching us rushed to help her, I hit him over the head from behind." She rolled her eyes. "He was too distracted by the chance to cop a feel to hear me coming. Why is that breasts make men so stupid?"

There were a dozen things I could have said to that, none of them wise.

Envelan saved me. "Hate to interrupt the reunion," she said, "but we tripped at least one alarm on the way in and someone's going to check on you two sooner rather than later." She jerked her head towards the way we'd come. "Less chit-chat, more running."

"You tripped an alarm?" Auvy said, starting down the hall. "That's really helpful, Rory, why didn't you just send Knuckles a mail to let him know his prisoners were escaping?"

"Look, I didn't know you'd have everything under control when I got here," I said, following her.

Behind me, Sia reached out a hand towards Envelan. "Ani ..."

Envelan drew back. "Get moving," she said curtly. "Try to get back to the hangar without getting anyone else killed, can you?"

Sia flinched, and limped after Auvy, wearing the one shoe that hadn't been left on the floor of the storeroom.

Envelan met my eyes with a hard don't-give-a-fuck stare.

If I hadn't seen her face when she'd realized the 'rista's had Sia, I might have even been convinced.