“Don’t fucking lie to me,” she snarled. “Justin told me it was over because he was going to ask you to marry him. The asshole thought he could fuck me, scrape me off, then smile at me across the dinner table when I came to visit. I showed him though.”

Her last statement sent a chill through me. “What do you mean?”

She stood, shoving her chair back with a loud scream of metal on concrete. Katie paced across the office, back and forth, clearly upset.

“Car jacking. Jesus, why are cops so fucking stupid?” she muttered.

My brain was struggling to keep up with the implications of her words. “What are you saying, Katie?”

She suddenly stopped her frenetic movements, whirling to face me and lifting the gun to point directly at my head. “I shot the motherfucker. Right in the goddamn face. He treated me like a whore. He wasn’t the first, but he wasn’t going to get away with it like the others.” Her face formed a strange rictus of a smile. “I taught him a lesson, the bastard.”

“You shot Justin?” I asked, my eyes wide.

“Yes, I did.” She lifted the gun, pointing it at me. “Maybe I should do the same to you. You’d look pretty with half your brains against the wall.”

Holy shit, she wasn’t just whacked, she was a fucking psychopath and she was obviously jacked up on something.

I watched in horror as her finger began to tighten on the trigger and knew I was about to die.

That’s when all the lights went out.

Without hesitation, I threw myself out of the chair and onto the hard concrete floor. As my elbows cracked against the concrete, I heard the boom of the gun and saw the muzzle flash as Katie shot at the spot where I’d just been.

Disoriented, I did my best to aim myself toward the door and crawled forward on my hands and knees. Because there were no windows in the office, it was black as pitch inside.

I felt the rush of air as Katie moved by me and froze for a split second. Over my breathing, I heard the strike of her shoes against the floor as she walked away from me.

“Where are you, you bitch?” she screamed, the loud sound echoing in the small room.

My shoulder brushed the wall as I kept moving forward and I paused. Carefully I lifted a hand and felt along the sheetrock. I put my hand out to the right and felt the corner. I closed my eyes for a second, trying to imagine the distance from the corner to the door.

Pressing my right hip and shoulder against the wall, I began to slowly crawl forward, trying to keep my breathing as quiet as possible. I could hear Katie moving around, bumping into things. I could tell by the sound that she was back in the middle of the room where the chairs were.

I jumped and squeaked as she squeezed off another shot that whistled over my head. The echo of the gunshot covered the sounds I made as I hurried forward.

Terrified, I almost missed it when my bare arm hit the cool metal of the door to the office. I stopped moving, listening intently. I could hear Katie breathing heavily and it sounded like she was a few feet to my left.

Whatever I was going to do, I needed to do it quickly. It wouldn’t be long before she got off a lucky shot or a ricochet caught me. Moving as silently as possible, I lifted my right arm, sliding it to the left edge of the door then up.

My fingertips brushed the doorknob and I held my breath. Careful not to jiggle the knob, I pressed my palm against it and wrapped fingers around it.

It creaked ominously as I turned it.

“There you are!” Katie screamed, more gunshots filling the air.

Something hot streaked across the edge of my right arm and I knew I had no more time to waste.

Twisting the knob violently, I yanked the door open and dove through, slamming it shut behind me. I heard Katie shrieking and firing random shots in the room. There was a little more light in the open space of the building and I was able to figure out where the door was and scurry toward it.

I didn’t dare get to my feet because I didn’t know how much ammo Katie had left and I didn’t want to risk a stray bullet taking my head off.

When I got to the door, I threw it open and tumbled out of the building into the bright sunshine. Without taking a second to look behind me, I jumped to my feet and started to run toward the trees to my right.

As soon as I cleared the corner of the building, an arm shot out and wrapped around my waist, pinning me to a hard body.

Just like that, I was caught again.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

‡

Immediately, I struggled, fighting as fiercely as I could.

“Stop, Jena,” a deep voice rumbled in my ear.

I recognized Jack’s voice. I went limp, all the fight going out of me. My eyes watered with tears of relief. If nothing else, I at least had someone else here to help me.

“Is she still inside?” he whispered.

I nodded. “She’s expecting a guy named Renaldo. I don’t know if he’s coming alone or what.”

Jack grunted. “Get that boss?”

I glanced over my shoulder to see Jack talking into a Bluetooth headset. King must be here somewhere.

The door to the building crashed open and my body went rigid.

“Jena, you fucking bitch!” Katie screamed. “I will find you and I’m going to shoot your fucking kneecaps off!”

Jack lifted me off my feet and literally carried me around the corner to the back of the building. I blinked rapidly when I saw a black SUV sitting there, wondering if sheer terror was causing me to hallucinate.

He threw open the driver’s door and shoved me inside and down into the passenger floorboard. After he slammed the door shut, he sprinted around the hood to the driver’s side. Just as he was about to climb in, I heard the sharp crack of a gunshot. I watched in horror as he groaned and semi-collapsed across the steering wheel before sliding down into the floor, half hanging out of the SUV.

“Jack?” I whispered.

His eyes rolled back in his head and I saw the blood gushing from the wound in his shoulder. He appeared to be breathing, but there was nothing I could do to help him yet.

“Oh shit.” I risked a peek above the dashboard and saw Katie making her way toward the car, her gun up. I knew she couldn’t see me, so I ducked back down into the floorboard, trying to form a plan out of my chaotic thoughts.

I spotted the gun butt sticking out of a holster at Jack’s waistband. Quickly, I crawled forward and grabbed it. I hadn’t fired a handgun before, though Tia had shown me hers when we lived together and explained how it worked. It had been close to six years ago though and the memory was fuzzy.

Hands shaking, I studied it. It looked alien and terrifying. However, I’d rather have it and hope I got a lucky shot off than have to face Katie down with nothing in my hands.

The safety. I had to do something to the safety. I turned the gun and saw a little black lever on one side, close to my right thumb. The dot next to it was white. Shit, did that mean it was on or off?

Quickly I flicked it in the opposite direction and saw a reddish orange dot. That gave my memory a boost. Red or orange meant it was ready to fire.

Panting, I crouched in the passenger seat and wrapped my right hand around the gun butt. I struggled to remember what Tia said about how to shoot, fear clouding my ability to think clearly.

Squeeze, don’t jerk.

As clear as if she were sitting next to me, I suddenly heard Tia’s voice telling me what to do.

Don’t hesitate. If they’re armed, you only have one chance to catch them off guard. Aim for the body, the biggest mass. You’ll be less likely to miss.

Somehow, hearing Tia’s voice in my head calmed me down. I took slow deep breaths and kept my eyes fixed on the driver’s door, bracing my forearms against the seat to keep my aim steady.