LOVE ON THE RUN - Sample Chapters

Chapter 3 - Part 1

Zinio motioned to the cops that he was gingerly setting his gun down. She did the same. They moved in the synchronized way they did when blowing the front door, both lowering to their knees at the same time.  

While he had them distracted, and while still on his knees, he reached behind him into his elastic-waist pants and pulled out a dynamite stick.  

Delaney couldn't believe what she was seeing. "I didn't mean literally pull something out of your ass! I shudder to think how you got in shape for that." 

Gesturing as if submissively putting both his hands behind his back to be handcuffed, Zinio undid the cap. Then he lit the end of the fuse by dragging the dynamite stick, rigged to ignite like a flare, along the pavement. The special slow burning fuse gave him a little under a minute. He revealed the stick of lit dynamite as he stood.  

The cops were only too happy to let the twosome hike the short distance to the entrance of the underground railway station, which was virtually adjacent to the bank.  

When a bullet slammed into Zinio's back from Trigger Finger, knocking the dynamite stick out of his hands, he heard a scuffle and what sounded like the same cop taking a punch to the face. He also heard a "You idiot!" and a bunch of cops taking a collective deep breath and a step back. 

As the stick blew, falling rubble effectively blocked the entrance. 

Delaney checked Zinio, noting the Kevlar vest. "You wore a vest? How come you didn't get me one?" 

"And ruin that figure and the best chance of distracting every male for miles? Not to mention, who would shoot you when they could just as easily shoot me?" He pulled the slug out of his back with a wince. Eying the mangled .45 bullet, he said, "I rest my case."  

A short while later, Zinio and Delaney crawled out from under a manhole cover.  

They took in the sci-fi robots pulling at the rocks of the caved-in muni-entrance. The one on half-tracks used a singular crane-like arm jutting up from its center of gravity to fling rocks the size of a man into a heap. The one on four legs, moved catlike through the debris, tossing massive chunks of rock, either with its mouth or one of its forepaws. Both robots looked DARPA funded and private-company streamlined.  

And then there was the guy aiming a pole with a disk at the end at the asphalt over the Muni-tunnel as he counted paces. 

"They filming a Michael Bay movie?" 

Zinio eyed the robots and sighed. "That's the bomb squad. They don't have to put themselves in harm's way anymore." 

"And the rather handsome guy, mind you, with the metal detector thingie?" 

"He can peer through the ground with that, know if we're still there, dead or alive, hell, if we're phoning home." 

Delaney was hang-jawed. "Out of curiosity, have we considered retirement?" 

Zinio took a moment to appreciate the direness of their situation. "It's not like we have a 401k." 

Cleared of the manhole, they slid under the cars parked against the street one after the other, using what greasy handholds they could for leverage, until they came smack up against the low rider. Zinio banged the bumper with his palm. "Did I particularly not park in front of this guy for just this reason?"  

"The other driver must have left with the meter running and he saw an opportunity. You can't blame a person for trying to save a penny in this economy." 

"Not now with the 'this economy' spiels." Zinio noticed they were in front of a hotel, where people ordinarily came in and out, so he figured he'd risk it. He helped her up, and together they walked their two bags down a car to their black Porsche, threw the bags in the trunk, and made sure to tip the valet when he came out for doing absolutely nothing in case anyone was watching.