Jason Bleu ran blindly through the parking deck, looking desperately for a way out, wishing the woman he dragged along with him would quit screaming. Another shot echoed off the walls, and the man and woman jerked suddenly to the left, heading for a stairwell. As they did, an explosion of sparks and glass caused the man known as the Blue Canary to jerk the screaming woman into a dive between two parked cars.

Clasping his hand over the woman’s mouth, Jason whispered urgently, “Shut up! Shut up! Do you hear? You’ve got to shut up!” he demanded, shaking the woman to get her attention. Pausing a moment as he felt the woman’s body relax a little, he said,”You picked a real bad time to come back from the grocery store lady, but I’m trying to get us out of here, okay?” A fearful shudder ran through the woman’s body, but she managed to look at him from the corner of her eye, and nod her head.

Releasing his grip on the woman’s arm, Jason stared at the woman’s face for a moment, as she turned to see him better. Her tears running over his fingers, he realized he was still covering her mouth. Removing his hand, he whispered, “What’s your name?”

Taking a deep breath to calm her shaking, the woman sat up a little, and straightening the strap on her dress, she whispered back, “Amanda. Amanda Coney.” Jason looked away for a moment, as if he were trying to place the name. Amanda added, “I sing down at The Paper Umbrella.”

Bleu smiled. “Yeah... Yeah! I’ve seen your act,” he lied. Amanda smiled. Looking underneath the car, Jason saw feet at the other end of the parking deck. Gulping back panic for a second, he sat up and put his hand on Amanda’s shoulder. Looking her in the eye, he said, “Okay, Amanda, I need you to listen to me for a second. We’ve got a bit of a problem here. The guy shooting at us is a professional. He was looking for me, but you just happened to get in the way. If we’re going to get out of here, you’ve got to do what I say. This guy doesn’t like to leave any witnesses.”

Fear making her voice shake again, Amanda asked, “Who is he? Why’s he trying to kill you?”

“His name’s Exit,” Jason whispered. “He’s a hired gun. He shot out that exit sign on purpose. It’s his trademark; kind of like signing his work. He’s letting us know we can’t get away. It’s a game he plays with his victims, like a cat and mouse. Only in this case, it’s cat and Canary.” Motioning for Amanda to follow, Jason started crawling between cars. “And if we don’t get out of here,” he whispered, “he’s going to get two songbirds for the price of one.”

Crawling behind Jason, Amanda whispered, “This is a game? This guy needs a hobby!”

Still crawling, Jason looked back over his shoulder, and said, “This is his hobby!”

Amanda said, “Oh,” and started crawling a little faster.

Crawling around the bumper of a car, Jason tensed up, eyes bulging at two .45’s pointed at his nose. Looking up to see who was holding them, he let out an exasperated sigh of relief. “Oh! Man...” Before he could continue, he was shoved to the concrete, and one of the guns reached past him to hit Amanda upside her head, knocking her unconcious. Coming up cautiously and looking back at Amanda, Jason whispered, “Geez, April! Did you have to knock her out?”

The woman with the guns smiled. “She was going to scream.”

Edging beside her to look through the same car window, Jason snickered and said, “Shyeah, right. Admit it, you just can’t stand to see me with another woman, can you?”

Smiling again, April answered, “Only in your fantasies, Mr. Bleu. You’re late for your appointment; Mrs. Flowers was expecting you over an hour ago.”

“Yeah, well, I’m in demand today.”

Sighting the gunman through the car window, April said, “So I see. Who’s your playmate?”

“Miss April, but we can discuss that later.” Jason paused for a moment, looking for a smile on April’s face. Not seeing one, he continued, “I think that’s Exit.”

Then April smiled. “You’re kidding.”

“Would I kid a woman with guns?”

April’s left eyebrow arched with her smile, and she shook her head lightly, still looking at Exit. “You’re incorrigible, Mr. Bleu.”

Jason grinned. “Nah, it’s all just a part of my overabundant charm, Miss Sh...” Amanda groaned as she started to come to, drawing Jason and April’s attention, as well as Exit’s. “Aw, great,” griped Jason.

Poised on the balls of her feet, April tightened her grip on her gun handles, and whispered, “You two get out of here! Mrs. Flowers is waiting downstairs in her car; get her away from here!”

Motioning towards Exit, who was running towards them, Jason asked, “What about him?”

April whispered tensely, “He’s riding with the coroner.” With that, she leapt up firing both guns, and hollered, “Go!”

.

Story and characters owned by Chris Bishop, copyright 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022.