A few feet to Allie’s right, Sergei bent over at the waist as he also sought the rabbit. Someone should probably warn him that half the women-and probably more than a few men-were salivating over the sight of his cute little ass in those taut chinos.
As Iris removed her heels, a tubby little man appeared at her side, his face flushed. His brown shorts and khaki shirt were grimy with dirt. If that hadn’t given him away as a Bellagio gardener, the pith helmet that shaded his ruddy face from the bright sun filtering through the glass roof did.
That and the trowel he pointed in Allie’s general direction. “Hey, young lady, you can’t be in there!” His voice shook with repressed energy.
Iris wrote him off as any kind of threat. Minding her skirt, she stepped over the low railing.
“You, you, you-stop!” The gardener jabbed the air with his index finger.
“Relax. We just need to catch our rabbit.”
“Rabbit! In the garden? No, no, no!” His free hand shot out and grabbed her wrist. “We’ll call animal control.”
“This will only take a minute.” She started to pull away, but his fingers dug deeper into her arm. Her patience snapped. “Look, buddy, I’ve had a lousy weekend, so you really don’t want to mess with me today. Now let go of my arm before I take that trowel and stick it up your-”
He dropped his grip. “Security!” He fought his way through the standing crowd. “Someone call security!”
Iris cursed under her breath. Just what she needed. Feeling her way with bare toes, she waded through the thick flowers. “Come on, Eddy, where are you?” she muttered. She’d like the rabbit in her hands before they were all arrested for trespassing or flower-tromping or whatever.
She stopped long enough to touch Sergei’s back. When he straightened, she said, “Bend with your knees.” She bounced a little on her toes to reinforce the idea.
He started to bounce with her. “Hip hop?”
Iris smiled at the sheer absurdity of the moment. “No, bend at the knees, not the waist.” She tried to mime both actions, but had to hold her skirt in place to bend forward even slightly. Hell, didn’t they teach guys anything?
Sergei’s pale eyes lit with understanding. He craned his neck to look over his shoulder at the crowd.
Iris imagined a collective sigh rippling through the young women. Sergei would be lucky if he weren’t mobbed like a rock star when they finished here. Already someone was approaching the low fence and, with a sigh of resignation, Iris recognized the return of the gardener.
She raised her brows at him as he climbed into the garden and picked his way toward her. “What, no security available?”
“They’ll be here in a minute.” He lowered his voice. “They’re dealing with some crazy guy in the lobby.”
Iris gave thanks that a crazy guy in the lobby trumped a loose bunny in the garden.
“Don’t move. I see him.” To their left, Allie spoke just loud enough for them to hear her over the crowd noise.
“Where?” Iris asked.
“He’s near Sergei’s left foot.”
Sergei immediately dunked his hands below the flowers. “Oww!” He pulled his hands back and examined his right thumb.
Startled, the gardener looked around as if sharks and not a rabbit might be below the surface of the flowers. “What happened?”
In less than five hops, Edgar took refuge beneath the bear topiary behind Allie.
“You scared him,” Allie said, hands on her hips.
Sergei shook his hand in the air. “He bit me. Bad rabbit.”
“He bit you?” The gardener whipped on a pair of leather gloves. “Is he dangerous? Has he had his shots?”
“Let me see.” Iris grabbed Sergei’s hand. “It’s barely a scratch.”
Edgar popped up from a bed of bright red flowers, his ears swiveling around like a periscope before he submerged again.
“Stay there,” Allie said. “I’ll get Edgar.” She slowly turned and eased her way closer to the topiary.
The gardener waded through the flowers after her. “No, let me. I’ve got gloves.”
Iris decided she’d let Allie charm the guy if she could. She glanced back at the walkway, gauging how much time they had before armed guards dragged them out of here. With a gasp, she recognized Jock and Pebbles in the second row of the crowd.
Jock saluted her and granted her a snide wink that flashed his gold tooth.
Wildly, Iris searched the crowd for either Mickey or Hunter, cursing that she’d left Officer Foote back at the store with Ginny. Near panic, she grabbed Sergei’s arm in a death grip.
“What?” He turned and caught her eye.
“There are two men out there who are after me.” She swallowed. “They’ve kidnapped me once. They want to kill me.” Even to her own ears, she sounded like a lunatic.
Sergei scanned the crowd as if helping women with death threats was an everyday occurrence. “You want me to take care of them?”
Oddly, that wasn’t her concern. With Sergei watching them, her assailants bided their time in the crowd. “No. Whatever happens to me, keep Allie safe.” Thank heavens she’d left the collar back at the store.
“She said she’s your sister.” He raised his brows in an unasked question.
Damn. Iris doubted her mother’s relatives knew a thing about Cosmo’s multiple marriages. “Don’t say anything to your family, will you?”
“It is a secret?”
Iris’s eyes closed in frustration then fluttered open again. “I think Cosmo should explain it to Aunt Tatiana. Agreed?”
He winked at her. “Agreed.”
Great, he probably liked playing at international espionage.
“You’re not helping.” From behind them, Allie’s limp reprimand gained their attention.
The gardener was using his arm as a scythe to search for Edgar. The poor rabbit was probably terrified at this point. Allie, her patience nearing an end, had that militant look on her face like she might kick the guy’s ass.
“I’ve got him!” The gardener pounced headlong into a batch of white flowers.
Allie craned her neck to see, but the gardener came up empty-handed. She pointed to his right. “He’s gone back toward the topiary again.”
The gardener chugged forward on all fours, only his pith helmet and brown hips visible as he burrowed into taller foliage. He gave a shout of what sounded like success and came up with Edgar.
The rabbit took exception to the large leather gloves and squirmed to free himself. As the guy tried to get a better hold, Edgar kicked his big back legs until he shot off the gardener’s chest like a cannonball. With a thunk, the rabbit bounced off the bear topiary and disappeared back into the greenery below.
The giant ivy bear teetered. Iris held her breath, sure the structure would right itself. But then the gardener lunged after Edgar, so intent on the rabbit that he knocked into the topiary with his pith helmet. The bear swayed back, then forth, then tipped in slow motion.
The gardener shrieked as the bear pitched toward him. He scampered clear of it, but the bear toppled onto its side, uprooting flowers and rerouting the flow of the trickling waterfall. Water started to spray straight into the air.
Catcalls and jeers burst from the onlookers. Anyone with a camera aimed it at the destruction while the gardener continued to stare at the bear he’d killed. Even Sergei fiddled with his cell phone-probably wanting to capture the moment. Kidnappers or no, Iris decided now was a good time to get out of here.
Allie sidled up to them with Edgar safely in her arms. Although wet, the rabbit didn’t look any worse for his adventure. “Got him, poor thing. Uh oh.” She motioned with her head for Iris to look over her shoulder.
Fearing that Jock or-worse-Pebbles was coming for them, Iris turned to find four black-suited security guards. As luck would have it, she didn’t recognize any of them. At least the two thugs stalking her had melted back a few rows deeper into the sea of onlookers.