False Pretenses

Part 15

Chapter 14

My hand reached towards the black sack covering her face, but when one of the men jerked his gun, I drew back with a frown.  Looking towards her, I noticed how her chin was dropped down on her chest.  I had thought it was because she was drugged, but what if it was something else.  My eyes narrowed as I glared at the men in the room.

“If you harmed her, you’re dead.”

One of them laughed, clutching his side as if it were the funniest thing he had ever heard.  My hand twitched, and before they knew what was happening, my hair was flowing down my back.  The last chopstick was sticking from the man’s throat, effectively stopping any more laughter.  The sound of a gun cocking made me glance to the other two men.  Mr. Beefy was still alive and looking like he wished he wouldn’t have grabbed me to begin with, while the other man kept his gun steady. 

He had been the one to cock his gun, and we both knew it was for effect.  He wanted me to know that he was ready to shoot.  “Move one more muscle, and I’ll kill you.”  He paused for a minute before shrugging.  “To be honest, I don’t know why you’re alive to begin with.”

The man’s finger tightened on the trigger, and I kept my eyes locked with his.  If someone was planning to kill me, I would make sure he remembered the light dying from my eyes.  As a gun shot rang through the room, the door slammed open to reveal a panting Gabe. 

Watching as the man who was going to shoot me fell to the floor with a bullet in the side of his head, I frowned.  “You’re here a little late,” I mumbled towards Gabe while turning towards the man who had just saved my life.  “I don’t understand.  Why did you shot him?”

He looked as if he were ready to lose his lunch.  Sweat beaded on his forehead, and his Adam’s apple bobbed.  “You’re parents,” he said before throwing the gun on the ground.  Raising his hands, he blinked before staring me in the eyes.  “If I knew who you were, I wouldn’t have brought you in here in the first place.”

“What do we do with him?” Gabe asked.

My eyes stayed on the man as I answered Gabe.  “Shoot him.”  The man’s eyes widened, but he didn’t begin begging for his life.  He just nodded as if expecting my answer.  “In the shoulder,” I continued.  “It won’t kill him, but it will make it look as if he put up a fight.”

“Whatever you say,” Gabe mumbled.

The once relieved expression on the man’s face turned to one of complete agony as he fell to the ground, clutching his shoulder as red seeped from the gunshot wound.  Reaching up, I snagged the necklace of my throat.  I flipped the little locket opened, pushed the button, and then threw it towards his body.  Soon, the place would be crawling with all kinds of cops.  It would get the man the medical attention that he needed, but it also meant that we had to leave this place in the next five minutes. 

Walking towards Genna, I pulled the black sack from her head.  As soon as she was revealed, I grimaced.  The bastards had hit her.  It made me want to spray bullets into their corpses, but I knew that was drawing the line.  My hands quickly untied the knots holding her hands and feet in place.  Just as I was freeing her, I heard sirens in the background.

“Shit, hurry up,” Gabe shouted as he tossed me his gun and hoisted Genna up as if she were a child.  Her head thumped against his chest, but he didn’t stop as he walked towards the door.  Following, I stopped for only a moment to grab my discarded weapons.  There was no way that I was letting something like a murder weapon be traced back to me.  “Anything else you need?” Gabe asked.

I glanced up ready to snap at him, before I realized the question was genuine.  Frowning at him, I shook my head.  I had almost forgotten that he worked for the same people as me at some point.  He knew that leaving behind weapons was a mistake; he knew you had to clean up after yourself, even if it was just a little.

A bang echoed from the front of the building, causing Gabe and I to freeze in our spots.  My eyes roamed around frantically, looking for a place to escape. 

“Secret back door,” the man croaked from the ground.

With a smile, I jogged towards the back wall before running my hands over it.  Finally, I felt the seam.  Pushing the door, I watched as it popped open to reveal a back alley.  It made me thankful that criminals were so paranoid.  Gesturing for Gabe to go, I stepped away from the door.  He ran out, not looking back.  I knew I had a little bit of time before the door was busted open again, and a dozen cops tackled me to the ground.

Running back towards the bleeding man, I bent down and pressed a kiss to his cheek.  His eyes widened, even as he grimaced in pain.  “Thank you,” I whispered.  “If you ever need anything, just ask.”

With his nod as a signal that he understood, I ran out the back door and into safety.  Knowing that the car we drove here in would be crowded with cops, I darted further into the shadows.  As I did, my body hit something warm and a hand wrapped around my mouth.

“That was stupid,” Gabe hissed in my ear.  I smiled under his palm, but didn’t say a word.  He must have realized that I couldn’t reply with his hand over my mouth, because he dropped it with an aggravated sigh.  “I called in backup when you ran in there like an idiot,” he grumbled.  “Genna’s safe and away from here.”

I turned towards him with a confused expression.  “Where is she?”

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as if he were praying for patience.  “In the vehicle that was meant to be our getaway car.” 

“So why aren’t we getting away?”

His eyes snapped open and narrowed.  “Because the cops are swarming the place.  Genna needed out now or her name would have been thrown all over the newspapers.  They had to leave while they could still get out.”

Taking a step towards him, I glanced up.  “Why didn’t you leave with them?”

Before I knew what was happening, his hands grabbed my waist and he turned me.  My back hit a metal fence, making it bow under my weight.  His hands ran up my side until stopping on the side of my face.  Gently, he bent down and brushed his lips across my cheek.  Even as heat coursed through me, I winced.  I hadn't even realized that there was a mark on me, but Gabe pinpointed the cut on my cheek as if it were the only thing he saw.  The thought made me tense.  I couldn't afford to like this guy, couldn't afford to be cared for. 

He took a deep breath before dropping his hands.  “That’s why,” he mumbled.  His eyes didn’t connect with mine as he motioned to the fence behind me.  “Now start climbing.  It’s our only way out.”

Turning, I gripped the fence, wondering how I could with such shaky hands.  There was one thing that I learned tonight.  Gabe was more dangerous than he looked, and if I wasn’t careful, it wouldn’t just be Dorothy’s family that I would miss once I left this job.