“We gotta catch the fecker.” Rowen waved a hand at me and sweat beaded on his forehead and darkened the red hair at his temples. “Bring him down,” Rowen huffed out. “Go!”
“We should’ve brought Vail,” I joked with a grin. “He would’ve already gotten the guy.” I reached for every last bit of energy I had left and ran faster, gaining on the man.
It took about a minute, but finally I was in position to slam into him from behind. I jumped and knocked him against the stoop of a small shoe shop, the type that replaced soles and made repairs. He knocked his head hard against the cement and yelled, but still managed to land a painful elbow in my gut. I punched him in the ribs a couple of times, but before I could do anything else Rowen leaped over us and slammed his shoulder against the front door of the dark shop. He did the same thing twice more before the wood around the door splintered, allowing it to swing open.
“In!” he yelled while turning around to drag the struggling man inside.
I followed the order, and Rowen ducked down, kicking the door shut. We knocked over a turning rack of shoe polish and other stuff, and the noise as it clattered to the floor and everything on it scattered, combined with the potent whiff of polish that permeated the air, made it clear we’d probably broken more than one bottle. I wrapped an arm around the Cartel man’s neck and squeezed, hoping I was putting enough pressure on his carotid arteries to knock him out but not kill him.
I strained, and Rowen shot a worried look at me through the shadows.
The man stopped moving, and I sat up just enough to peek out the big front window with Rowen. A police car went past outside, rolling slowly. I wasn’t sure if it was the same one or a different one. My heart jackhammered and I groped for Rowen’s hand, then squeezed too hard when I finally had his fingers hooked with mine. The police car kept going, and I didn’t let out the breath I was holding until it was out of sight.
“We can’t stay here,” Rowen said, looking around wildly. “All that shooting. The cops will be thick in this area. There’s bound to be some sort of alarm we’ve already tripped. Come on.” He hoisted the limp man onto his shoulder, and I wasn’t really sure what he was going to do if he saw another police car, but we went back out onto the sidewalk. Rowen closed the door and it drifted open again.
“Someone’s gonna rob them blind, and I bet it’s a little old man or some shit,” I mumbled.
Rowen groaned and closed his eyes for a second, then glared at the door. “We’ll come back to even up with them later. But we hafta get off the street with this arsehole.”
“Be careful because he should’ve woken up by now. He’s bleeding bad,” I said, noticing drops of scarlet following along after Rowen as he moved. The sidewalk was sprouting round, red flowers.
Rowen growled, and I’d never seen him looking so stressed as he scanned the buildings around us. A black SUV screeched to a halt in the street beside us, and the driver-side window went down. Rowen dragged his gun out, then laughed as the man behind the wheel flipped him the middle finger.
“Irving? I didn’t realize ye were in the bar.”
“Get in, Shaughnessy.” His mouth twisted into a sneer, as if he was irritated to be talking to us. His angry hazel eyes seemed to flash fire as he waved his hand around, clearly wanting us to hurry. The rear door flew open, and there were already two men in there who looked familiar, but I didn’t really know.
Rowen tossed the Cartel man on the floor in the back, then sat down. No one was very gentle as they stomped their feet on the guy on the floor. Rowen tugged me in, which I needed because I wasn’t moving quickly after the chase, and I had no choice except to sit on his lap. He slammed the door shut and sighed, resting his head back as Irving jammed on the gas, sending me lurching against Rowen’s firm chest. I wrapped an arm around his neck, and he hugged my middle.
“Steady as she goes,” Rowen said, leaning forward. “Ye don’t want to get us pulled over just now.”
Irving snorted and glared at me through the rearview mirror. He ran a hand over his short brown hair. “You should’ve shot Reyes, Maher. I saw you had him in your sights. What the fuck?”
Grimacing, I shrugged and my entire body heated. Rowen squeezed his arms tight around me. I leaned back against his steady heat.
“Well, for one thing, I fuckingdid. I just didn’t kill him. Do I know you?” I grumped. “Usually someone has to be around me for at least five minutes before they get to tell me how to live my life.”
Irving grunted. “You should fucking know me. I’ve worked with your dad for four years. I’ve been to your parents’ house. We ate dinner together a few times, but you were more interested in where you were going to party each night than the Company business.”
I wanted to roll my eyes. About a million people had dinner at my house over the years, all mob guys my mom treated as if they were visiting royalty. I guess she did her part that way, but I’d hated it as a kid, and God help me if I didn’t act right when people were over for dinner. I would never hear the end of it. It was one of the few times I would get into trouble with her.
“Oh yeah,” I said, because it was easier to pretend I knew who he was, and his shoulders relaxed.
Rowen gave me another squeeze, and I grinned at him.
“We need to go to the house at Vinegar Hill with this one,” Rowen said, stomping his foot for emphasis. “The boss made his orders clear.”
Irving glanced back over his shoulder with a frown but nodded. “The rest of us will be needed at the hospital. Fucking Fionn. Can you imagine if he dies?” Irving pulled over to the side of the street beside a parked car, then got out.
Rowen nudged me.
I opened the door, hopping out as well.
“Go drive,” Rowen said with a scowl. “I don’t have anything to tie this one up with, and if he moves, I’m going to knock him out again.”
“You’re gonna get close to brain damage territory if you do that,” I said, going for a joke as the rest of the men got out of the SUV. They took off running back in the direction we’d come from, trailing after Irving.
“We passed cops!” I called after them. “Be careful!”
