Nikki clamped her hands tightly over the man’s ears. “I told you not to move.” The syringe found its mark. “Anyone paying attention to us?”

“Doesn’t look like it,” Kathryn said, her gaze raking the runners and joggers.

She sat down and wrapped her arms around her knees. Nikki did the same thing.

“How you doing there, Clyde?” Nikki asked. “Remember that Gumbi doll you had when you were a kid? Well, that’s how you’re going to feel for a good long while.”

“Who…what…?”

“Need to know, big guy,” Kathryn said as she kept scanning the runners and joggers.

“Vigi…vig…” Bonnie bleated.

Nikki laughed as she said, “Viti, vigi, vegi,” referring to an old I Love Lucy segment, her very favorite. “Well, you got it half-right. Isn’t it great, Kathryn, that these skanks recognize us as the infamous vigilantes?”

“Yeah, just great,” Kathryn said. Her gaze never left the Basin. “No one is paying attention.”

“We still need to wait a little while. Some of those runners are going to do a second lap. We want to appear the same as when they did the first lap, just four friends enjoying a picnic on a hot July afternoon.” Nikki scooted around until she was facing the dopey-looking pair. “Thought you were smart with that little heist a while ago, huh? Just so you know, it didn’t work.”

Clyde tried to hold his head up, but he was fighting a losing battle.

“Look alive, you two! Well, try to look alive. Over there, past the Sno-Cone guy and through that stand of cherry trees. I see cops! I see six kids being handcuffed. I can’t see that plaid bag or that itty-bitty purse that was hanging around your neck. You know why I can’t see them?” Kathryn singsonged. “Our partners have them. And now we have you, and the police have those kids. My questions would be: Where did these two make contact? And are those kids going to point us out? Oh, yeah, they’re all looking at us as I speak. Think, Nikki! Quick! Those cops are going to split up and be here before you know it. Where the hell are Snowden’s people?”

Nikki looked around, her eyes desperate behind her dark glasses. The only word that screamed in her mind was “diversion.” But who was going to create it?

“Do you see what I’m seeing?” Kathryn hissed.

“Oh, yeah,” Nikki hissed in return as she stared across the Basin at Alexis, Joe Espinosa, and Maggie Spritzer. “How long do you think we have?”

“Depends on whether we have to drag these two or they can walk. We’re going to need some help. I’m thinking.”