Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 56831 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56831 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
Shots rang out. It felt like my shoulder suddenly caught fire. I staggered a few steps, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t. If I stopped, I was dead.
Everything sped up again, and I began acting on pure survival instinct. I grabbed the gun from my waistband and used its hilt to break the nose of a huge guy who’d stepped in front of me. As I dodged around him, someone up ahead shot at me. A searing pain radiated from my left side. I returned fire and was vaguely aware of him falling to the floor, just as another man grabbed my arm. I landed a punch and managed to shake him loose before propelling myself forward.
By some miracle, I managed to reach a door at the very back of the bar, which led to a store room. I slammed it behind me and knocked over a wire rack to slow down my pursuers, then wove through a maze of boxes before launching myself out the rear exit.
Fear and adrenaline spurred me on as I sprinted down a dark alley. The pain in my shoulder and side were worse than anything I’d ever experienced, but I couldn’t think about that now. I just needed to keep moving.
Finally, I dove into the rental car and started the engine. Several gunshots rang out behind me as I threw it into gear and slammed on the gas. A bullet shattered my rear window, but I didn’t look back.
The tires squealed as I took a series of quick turns. I fully expected to hear sirens at any moment, but even though I knew I wasn’t being followed, I couldn’t slow down. I might only have a few minutes left before I bled out, and it was vitally important to reach my destination.
I had to get to Romy. I needed to tell him I loved him.
I needed to see him one more time before I died.
Nothing else mattered.
Nothing but him.
20
Romy
When I went to get something to drink in the middle of the night, I was surprised to find Jack sitting at the kitchen table. He looked up from his paperback and asked, “Couldn’t sleep either?”
“No. I just have a lot on my mind.”
“Anything you want to talk about?” I shook my head, and he gestured toward the stove. “The kettle’s still hot. Why don’t you make yourself a cup of tea and join me?”
As I took a mug from the cupboard, I asked, “Good book?”
“It’s great. I’ll lend it to you when I’m done.”
We chatted for a few minutes, until a knock at the door interrupted us. He muttered, “Who’d be dropping by this late? It’s after midnight.”
“I’ll go see.”
There was nobody on the porch when I glanced through the peep hole, but I opened the door anyway, so I could take a look outside. The first thing I saw was Marcus’s rental car. It was at an odd angle and partially up on the sidewalk, and the driver’s side door was open.
“Romy.”
I stepped outside at the sound of my name, and there he was. Marcus’s complexion was ashen as he leaned against the house to the left of the doorway. He was clutching his side, and his hand was covered in blood.
Fear and panic jolted through me as I blurted, “What happened?”
“I was shot.”
He leaned on me heavily as I guided him into the foyer. As soon as we made it over the threshold, he collapsed onto the floor, and I yelled, “Somebody help us!”
I ripped open his shirt, and then I pulled off my T-shirt and pressed it against the wound below his ribcage to slow the bleeding. Meanwhile, Jack raced into the room, and my brother ran downstairs with his phone in his hand and froze on the last step. “Call 911,” I yelled. “We need an ambulance!”
Marcus struggled to sit up as he blurted, “No! You can’t.”
“We have to,” I told him, as I discovered a second wound near his collarbone and pressed my palm to it. “You’re losing a lot of blood, and we need to get you to a hospital.”
“I can’t. Please.” His voice was growing weaker. “I returned fire. I don’t know if I killed someone tonight, and I can’t go back to jail. I just can’t. If I went to a hospital with a gunshot wound, they’d call the police.”
“But you need help, Marcus. You need—”
His breathing was becoming labored, and there was agony in his eyes when his gaze locked with mine. “I just need one thing, baby. I need to tell you I love you. I should have told you sooner. I love you, Romy. God, I love you. You’re my whole world, and I’m so fucking sorry for all the mistakes I made.”
“I love you too, Marcus, and I have to help you. We need an ambulance.”