As we pass the back corner of the house, I find myself wishing I’d called Kaiser for help. He could put an FBI tactical team around this house capable of stopping a frontal assault by a crazed mob. The question—as Serenity realized—is how fast could he do it?

Tee’s left hand whips up to stop us, but not quickly enough to prevent me from colliding with her back. When she turns, I see her frustration at dealing with untrained civilians.

“Stay here,” she says.

Before I can argue, she sprints to the stucco wall that borders the back of the property, leaps up and catches the top with her fingers, then pulls herself up and looks over it. After about twenty seconds, she slowly lowers herself, then runs back to where we await her.

“There’s an alley back there,” she whispers. “There’s a motorcycle parked in the alley, and there’s a guy on the motorcycle.”

“VK?”

“It ain’t Steve McQueen.”

She must have watched The Great Escape with her uncle Catfish, I think crazily. I don’t relish getting into a gunfight, especially with Dolores in the middle of it. “Should we wait for the cops to respond to my home invasion call?”

Serenity clearly doesn’t like this option. “I don’t hear any sirens yet,” she whispers. “I don’t want to sit here waiting for the NOPD. They might not show for half an hour.”

“What, then?”

“His kickstand isn’t down.” She bites her bottom lip, then gives me a hard look. “I can take him out.”

“You mean kill him?”

“No. Neutralize him.”

Before I can give any opinion, Serenity unbuttons her blouse, then yanks out her shirttail. “If you hear me shoot, I had no choice. Okay?”

“Jesus, Tee. Are you—”

“Listen. When I yell ‘Now! Now!’ you bring Dolores through the back gate and get right on my heels. Got it?”

“Yeah.”

Serenity squeezes my hand, then turns and sprints far out to her right. This time when she reaches the wall, she climbs it and drops over to the other side.

“Where’s she going?” Dolores asks. “Why aren’t we following her?”

“We’re going to in a minute. Just wait. I don’t see the gate.”

“There’s a Judas gate over there in the ivy, to the right. I have the code.”

A little good news. Unable to stand waiting in the dark, I lead Dolores forward to the wall, then pull myself up and peek over.

What I see astonishes me.