The WNN newsies hurried to catch up and failed because Mandi didn't bother
walking to the street doors.
She lay flat in the air beneath the car and flew it through the doorway,
over the heads of those now within her roped-off pathway, and out the street
doors to the parking ramp.
Once she was in position and hovering a couple of feet above the ramp, Mandi
simply shrugged the car upward a few inches and zipped out from under it before
it could begin falling to the ground.
The Crown Vic landed almost perfectly on all four of its tires at once,
bounced heavily, and shuddered to stillness. People came to wonderingly touch it
as if to see if it was a real car.
Pinching the fabric of her bodysuit at each shoulder, Mandi gave it a couple
of ear-splitting snaps that seemed to obliterate the two big, dark smudges on
her back.
"Kewl," said Cade. "Talk about stainproof..."
She then took off her cape and gave it a rolling snap that left a faint
cloud of undercarriage residue in the air.
As she put it back on, Cade opened the front passenger door to retrieve the
damp towel in the plastic bag, then used the towel to wipe smudges off the skin
of Mandi's arms and shoulders as the WNN people approached.
"Messy, messy," whispered Cade. "You need a bath, lady. Do you always get
this dirty when you play with cars?"
Mandi snickered as she held up a forearm smudge for Cade's attention. He
used the opportunity to check her makeup as he buffed her arm clean. No damage.
Prosthetics in place.
"Makeup's fine," whispered Cade. "You know, those fake teeth are kinda
sexy."
Glancing sharply at him, Mandi started to say, "They aren't..." then said,
"Watch it, smartass."
"Oh, yes'm. Watching it now. In fact, there's a spot on the back of your
right leg. Hold still another minute."
Kneeling behind her, he folded the towel to a clean spot and rubbed the
smudge from Mandi's calf. As he stood up, he saw the brunette newswoman eyeing
him sharply, curiously.
Patting Mandi's shoulder, Cade whispered, "There you go. All clean, milady.
Go gettum," and stepped back a pace as he re-bagged the towel.
A hotel employee stood near the front of the car. Cade tossed the bag to her
with a grin and said, "It's a hotel towel."
The woman looked at the bag, then at Mandi, and clutched the bag tightly to
her middle as if afraid someone would take it from her. Had the towel suddenly
bec