Catherine Nelson - Zoe Grey 02 - The Trouble with Theft by Catherine Nelson Page B

did have a fondness for windows. Still,
I liked my chances.
    What I found at Dix’s
house was a far cry from a post-drunken stupor of a morning. I wasn’t sure why
I continued trying to follow this plan. It hadn’t worked any better with Dix
than it had with Dennison yesterday morning.
    Dix’s yard and the one
next to it were full of swimsuit-clad bodies, lawn chairs, coolers, and a
kiddie pool filled with what I could only identify as vegetable oil. Two girls
in bikinis were in the pool, slipping and sliding with each other, while the
others looked on, cheering. It was their home version of mud wrestling.
    I spotted Dix among
the onlookers, a beer in his hand, cheering one of the girls. I parked the
truck a block away and pocketed the cuffs and a canister of pepper spray. I
have a stun gun my friend Sadie gave me after I’d been kidnapped and shot, but
I don’t often carry it. In order to use it, I need to be within an arm’s reach.
I’m already pretty good at defending myself within an arm’s reach. Amy had been
teaching me karate since we were kids. She held several black belts, so I felt
confident in my skill. And after what happened six weeks ago, I’d resumed our
lessons.
    What I really needed
was a tool I could use from a distance, and I thought I might get in trouble if
I went around shooting people. Pepper spray was a good alternative. It had some
distance to it, and it was usually pretty good at disorienting people long
enough for me to catch up to them. There was always the risk of exposure when
using pepper spray, but I’ve been in my fair share of trouble; I’d been sprayed
more than once. It still stung like hell, but it wasn’t disorienting to me
anymore. Fortunately, the air was still this morning.
    I was dressed in
shorts, a t-shirt, and my favorite Keen sandals. Already the temperature was
eighty. My hair was piled in a knot on top of my head, and I had on sunglasses.
The sun was hot on my exposed skin, and I thought I could already feel it burning.
    I hurried up the walk
and cut through the lawn toward Dix. One of the girls in the pool lost her top,
and everyone started screaming. In their excitement, several of the onlookers
jumped up and down, celebrating. Dix was one of them. Too soon he was turning in
my direction. Then he spotted me. I had the pepper spray ready, but I was still
fifteen feet away.
    I raised the can,
pointed it, and pressed the trigger. At the same time, I felt the wind pick up.
Everyone standing between Dix and me screamed as the spray hit their faces. I
saw Dix take a face-full, but instead of grabbing his face and crying like
everyone else, he charged forward. I saw him coming and inwardly grinned. I
could do hands-on.
    Prepared to take him
down, I sucked in a breath and got a snoot full of the spray. I choked, an
involuntary reaction to the burning in my mouth, nose, and throat. My eyes were
watering like little faucets behind my glasses, and everything was blurry. I
reached out for Dix at the same moment he leaned down and barreled into me with
his shoulder.
    He knocked me into a
girl screaming and flailing her arms, crying about dying, and I lost my
balance. I tried to right myself, but it was hopeless. All I could do was watch
as the kiddie pool full of oil rose up to meet me, finally swallowing me. I
landed with a huge splash and an eruption of laughter from those not crying and
holding their faces.
    I slipped twice trying
to get out. Finally, I stood in the grass beside the pool, oil dripping off me
and pooling at my feet. I was covered in the stuff, almost from head to toe.
Looking down, I saw a red and white bikini top stuck to my shorts. I peeled it
off and handed it to the girl still standing topless, wiping at her eyes, which
were now very red.
    I didn’t even bother looking
for Dix. Even with the face full of pepper spray, he was long gone. One thing I
had to give him, the guy was a runner.
    It’s moments like
these I remember why I have the waterproof seat