CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
After dinner and dancing, and while waiting for the valet to bring JJ’s car around, Tish spotted Dena Lamb at the less-swanky restaurant next door. “That’s my P.O.,” she said excitedly. “JJ, that’s my P.O. I need to tell her I have a job or she could submit paperwork on me and get me violated. I’ll be back,” she said, and began hurrying across the lawn to the restaurant next door.
JJ let her go. He knew how important it was to her that she didn’t violate any of the terms of her probation. But when he saw a car drive up and a reporter get out, along with a photojournalist and his big camera, and they both began hurrying his way, he rolled his eyes. “Ah shit,” he said. Then he began hurrying across the lawn to Tish, to get to her before that reporter could.
“Judge Brant!” the reporter began calling out as he hurried behind the judge. But the club’s security stopped him and his photojournalist. “The man doesn’t want to be bothered,” said the burly black man who could guard the front of the country club, but couldn’t be a member.
But as JJ was making his way to Tish and Dena, he looked over and saw an SUV suddenly kill its lights. And then speed up. And it was heading straight for Tish and her probation officer!
JJ’s heart dropped. “No,” he said in disbelief as he began running and waving his hands. “LaTisha, move! Tish! Tish! Move!”
When Tish finally heard him, the SUV had jumped the curb and was by now flying toward her. She saw JJ running toward her first, and then she saw the speeding SUV. And as soon as she saw it, JJ’s hand snatched her sideways and the SUV plowed straight into Dena Lamb. Dena was knocked down as if she was a rag doll and then the SUV began dragging her nearly a hundred feet until it crashed into the restaurant. And almost immediately the front end of the vehicle ignited.
Tish jumped up and began running to help her P.O. “She’s underneath that truck!” she cried as she got up and began running. JJ tried to grab her, but she was too fast for him.
He ran after her, catching up as she was about to get down to drag Dena from beneath the burning vehicle. Only JJ snatched Tish back so hard that she fell on her butt. She’d already dodged one bullet, was how JJ saw it. He wasn’t about to let her dodge another one. But he did get down, reached beneath the SUV, and then pulled Dena Lamb from beneath it. Several other men ran over and grabbed her too. But when JJ looked over to make sure Tish was okay, he didn’t see her.
Panic set in as he turned around and around looking for her as the other good Samaritans helped Dena. But when he saw Tish, along with another guy, chasing after the badly injured driver who had apparently jumped from the burning vehicle and bolted, his heart nearly stopped beating. And he ran after them too. As soon as he ran away from that burning SUV, its front end lifted up and then the entire vehicle exploded in flames, causing pandemonium inside and outside of the restaurant.
Tish was running after that driver. He could have killed her and he might have killed Dena: he wasn’t getting away with this. Because Tish was much younger than the big-belly man that chose to run after the driver, too, she was able to catch up to the already-injured driver and jump onto his back. The driver began stumbling forward, still trying to keep his balance and run, but he failed. He stumbled to the ground face first. And that was when JJ made it up to them and got Tish off of him. JJ’s heart was nearly beating out of his chest as he pulled her into his arms. She was nearly killed. That was all he could think about. The one and only person in this world he wanted by his side nearly left him forever. And it was ripping him apart.
By the time the big burly man that had been chasing the driver alongside Tish arrived, he straddled the driver’s body as if he was the one who had captured him, although it was obvious the injured driver wasn’t going anywhere. And the Scottsdale Police and Fire Rescue arrived in force. And the reporter and his photojournalist finally broke free and ran over to JJ and Tish, asking all sorts of negative questions. Which only made JJ more protective of Tish. Everybody seemed to be against her when she wasn’t against anybody. And that was beginning to anger him.