Not a speck of frosting so much as touched any of their clothing.
Only just resisting the urge to fling something sweet in their direction just to watch them jump, Luke turned to survey the rest of the room. Even the giant television was getting splattered, and some of the people gathered on the balcony above were regretting their choice of getting so close, though how on earth cake was being thrown that high was beyond him. Truly, the melee was impressive and was only going to add to their fame this day on the nightly news. That whole slew of bystanders in the balcony had their cellphones out, recording every second.
Civilians. Potential casualties.
What are we thinking?
The whole thing had gotten completely out of hand, and William was at the heart of it. Setting up Dani as bait had only been part of it. He truly hadn’t cared one whit about the thousands who had shown up today with no thought in their minds beyond planning their weddings.
He should have called in a bomb scare. Anything to empty the place. Why hadn’t he?
Luke shook his head. Because that took time, plain and simple. Time that his father had felt they hadn’t had. Was he right? The groups fighting over the few remaining cakes certainly had shown up just as expected. But how much of that was his father’s fault? Air Force One certainly hadn’t been subtle.
A handful of cakes remained. Luke started toward them, his foot kicking something that clattered across the floor and came to rest in a pile of strawberries and smashed flowers. Luke looked down automatically and froze. There was a half-smashed bird statue under a fallen table a few feet away. It was difficult to tell, but there was something poking out of the bottom of the bird. He ran, slipping and sliding like he was trying to jog on a skating rink. A man in what might have been a black suit at one time saw him and, following his gaze, lunged for the same statue. Luke gritted his teeth and threw himself forward, shoulder meeting shoulder, sending them both tumbling, sliding, falling.
“FBI! FREEZE!”
He couldn’t have stopped if he’d wanted to, though he could have sworn he heard his father shout. Somehow he rolled and came up running. A wild, crazy leap over another agent, a woman in a blue suit, sent him stumbling over the remainder of a wedding cake that had been large enough to park a limo on, his feet and legs reducing it to so many frosted crumbs, and slid the remaining distance to the broken statue.
Another hand grabbed it before he could, and he looked up into a face twisted with a certain hatred intermingled with violent pride. The man tore the USB stick from the statue and held it aloft, shouting, “Elaina!” in a thick Russian accent. He smiled, yellowed teeth glowing behind his thick beard.
His expression altered to one of shock, eyes going wide before rolling back into his head, as he dropped to his knees, his hand releasing the stick. Elaina stood behind him, holding a table leg like a baseball bat.
“STOP SAYING THAT!” she shrieked.
Luke swept the stick off the ground and leapt to his feet.
He saw Marcus, who was looking at him, but pointing behind Luke.
Luke threw the stick to Marcus, and grunted as he was taken down from behind.
“FBI!”
Luke’s face was pinned to the floor, but he could see Marcus running from the melee. Then he saw Dani. She wasn’t wasting time looking for the stick, she was beating on people. Wherever the violence reached her, between men and women trying to hit or strike each other, she was clearing a swath.
“MOVE!” Marcus cried, and Dani whipped around to look at him.. It was like seeing double, spotting that second figure fighting alongside her, back to back. Assailants fell away. Whether those spike heels were to blame was anybody’s guess from here, but more than one person was limping or clutching a body part, showing they weren’t coming away unmarked.
Dani rose up then, higher, more beautiful than anything he’d ever seen in his life. A kick that was sheer perfection sent a bearded man falling backwards into the only table holding a cake that had thus far escaped destruction. He hit the edge hard, launching the cake skyward. The crowd in the balcony cheered until they figured out that this one was for them. Some scrambled to get away, still others remained, arms outstretched, laughing as it exploded over them. It was only cake, after all.
Dani straightened, hair swinging out, frosting on her nose. Never had Luke been so proud in his entire life. That’s my girl.
To his relief, the pressure on his back was lifted, the FBI agents were pulled off by Homeland Security, or maybe the CIA, for all he could tell. Dani was cornered, running up the stairs while Maria guarded the end of the staircase when someone did the unspeakable.
A gun went off.
Screams erupted from overhead as the bridal crowd rethought their stance on watching until the end. The balcony thundered with the sound of retreat while a dozen agents drew their weapons on a single man, whose own gun went clattering to the floor and was kicked aside, into a snowdrift of white frosting.
For a moment a standoff ensued. FBI and Homeland Security stared at each other, cake-spattered hands holding weapons that could turn this into the massacre of the century. No one seemed to know which side the other was on, or who was allied to whom. Orders were shouted, conflicting, each officer sure of his status of being in charge, only adding to the confusion. A shouting match ensued, weapons pointing to the floor as four-letter words blossomed like bridal bouquets. It would have been comical had it not been for one thing.
Marcus. Lying still upon the floor.
He’d spun and fell, calling Dani’s name, one arm arcing up in a wild throw. Dani was halfway up the steps, and turned, her face going white as she reached out and impossibly caught the tiny object. She shouted his name and would have thrown herself over the railing to go to him, had it not been for Maria’s steadying hand on her arm. Luke saw the older woman bend to speak, her mouth moving quickly, her free hand gesturing urgently.
Luke pulled free of melee. All he could think was how he needed to get to her. Now. But she was too far away. And Marcus. Had no one seen him fall? His mouth was open, and he was breathing in labored gasps, one hand clutching at his shoulder, bright streaks of red showing through his fingers.
Maria saw Luke as he plunged through the crowd and pointed at Marcus. No, at something behind him. Something he couldn’t see. Luke skidded to a halt and turned, but only saw several men in a shouting match, each representing a different agency if the accents were anything to go by. Two rough military types were nose to nose, shouting despite being only inches apart. No...not there. Beyond. He turned to mime a question at Maria, who flung up her hands in despair and pointed at the TV, miming a garage door opener. Or a phaser from Star Trek. She shot him a look and he shrugged.