The purple carriage raced along Chartres, trying to catch up to the limousine that held GQ’s goons and Daisy. Cars screeched to a stop and pedestrians jumped out of the way as the limo barreled down the road.
Vivian flipped the reins up and down on the horse’s back. “Giddy up, horsey! Go, go!”
“Do you even know what you’re doing?” Lucy yelled as they zoomed past the Shoe-Be-Do.
“No, but I watched ‘Little House on the Prairie’ when I was a kid!” Vivian smacked the reins again. “Yah! Yah!”
A gold sedan with dark tinted windows began to pull across the intersection right before the big courthouse but the limo swerved around it.
“We’re gonna crash!” Lucy covered her eyes.
“Where’s my ‘oh shit’ handle?” Wendy yelled and gripped the side railing.
The horse expertly veered to the right and they missed the car by inches, but Vivian saw who was behind the wheel. “It’s that undercover cop!”
“What the heck?” Kate said and strained her neck to look back.
Purple fringe was flying as they passed the courthouse. As they neared the Camellia Grill, a herd of Japanese tourists stepped off the sidewalk into the street. The limo driver honked and the herd scrambled. As the girls flew past, the tourists snapped away at the excitement.
“We’re coming up to Jackson Square!” Lucy yelled. “The driver is going to run over people!”
The limo’s brake lights flashed and the tires screeched as he approached the square. He tried to make a sharp left onto St. Peter but fishtailed and skidded to a stop, metal crunching as the front end of the limousine crumpled and jammed into the back of a Dos Equis truck.
“This is our chance!” Vivian yelled as the horse slowed.
The reverse lights came on, the engine revved, and the back tires squealed and smoked, but the limo stayed put.
“He’s trying to get away,” Kate shouted.
Vivian pulled up on the reins. “Whoa, horsey. Good boy!”
The carriage came to an abrupt halt. The girls jumped down, then ran toward the limo.
The driver got out of the car and slammed his door, then put his hands on his hips, looking at the front of the car.
The Dos Equis truck driver ran out of Le Petit Théâtre. “Hey, man, you all right?”
“What the hell? You’re blocking the whole damn road.”
The truck driver stopped. “I have my flashers on and this is perfectly legal. I heard the tires squealing. You were coming around the corner too fast.”
Kate tried to open the back door to the limo, but it was locked.
“Let me try this side,” Lucy said and tugged on the other door handle. It, too, was locked. “I’ll fix this.” She reached down and pulled off her Shoe-Be-Do wooden pump. She reared back, but the limo driver grabbed her arm.
“Don’t even.”
Lucy yanked her arm away. “Don’t touch me!”
The Dos Equis driver intervened. “Take it easy, take it easy.” He stepped between them.
“He has a kidnapped girl in there!” Vivian yelled. “Let her go!”
A small crowd had gathered and the same cop who had helped apprehend the pickpocket whizzed up to the accident. “What’s the situation here? Anyone injured?”
The limo driver started in. “This guy is blocking the whole intersec —”
Wendy interrupted. “He has a kidnapped woman in the back of his car! We saw them put her in there! It’s Daisy Easley, the dancer!”
The goon in the passenger seat of the limo got out and walked up to Robocop. “Officer, I don’t know what she’s talking about. We are not holding anyone against her will.”
“They’ve probably got Daisy drugged!” Vivian yelled. “And they’re making her wear a headscarf so you can’t see who she is.”
“There’re two other guys in there, too,” Lucy said. “They’re pretty damn big, you might want to call for backup.”
Robocop parked his Segway and talked into his shoulder radio as he brushed past the goon and walked to the limo. He knocked on a back window. “Everyone out of the car.”
The locks clicked and both back doors swung open. The other two guys got out of the car, but not the woman.
“Everyone out,” Robocop said again, peeking into the car.
The goons shared a look, then one of them reached inside and grabbed the robed woman, who emerged and stood quietly by the car.
Robocop walked up to her. “Ma’am, are you being held against your will?”
She shook her head, no.
“They’ve probably threatened her life!” Kate said.
The purple-clad carriage driver ran up, huffing and puffing from the run. “Those are the girls who took my Midnight.”
“Oh geez,” Vivian said, who had started to walk toward Daisy. She turned around to Purple guy. “We just needed to borrow him to save Daisy. He did a great job!”
The man nuzzled the horse. “Of course he did a great job. He’s Midnight the Magnificent. You should have seen him in his prime.” He turned back to the girls. “But you shouldn’t have taken him.”
Robocop spoke up. “Milton, are you going to press any charges?”
Milton petted the horse’s nose. “He seems okay, so I guess I’ll let it slide. Can I go now? I’ve still got a fare to pick up.”
“You can go.”
Milton put his purple self into the purple carriage and clip-clopped down the street. Midnight held his head high, his ears straight up and alert. He arched his tail and swished it repeatedly and he raised his front legs a bit more, almost prancing. He knew he’d saved the day.
Robocop turned back to the accident and kidnapping. “Ma’am, do you have any identification? In fact,” he said, turning to the three goons and the two drivers, “let me have everybody’s.”
A squad car pulled up and Robocop told them the situation. One of the officers started collecting IDs.
Vivian looked at the woman, trying to make eye contact, but she stared at the ground. Finally, Vivian couldn’t take it anymore. “This is bullshit!” She ran over and flung the woman’s headscarf off.