Hayley darted behind Bryce. “What about you?”
“Get down!” Bryce shouted, as Callow produced a handgun and sprayed the walls around them with bullets. Bryce shoved Hayley to the ground, landing on top of her. “Go! Now!” he roared.
Hayley scrambled up and ran for the door, keys clutched in her hand. The door slammed behind her. Bryce stood and fired another shot as he rounded the island.
“It’s over, Callow. Tomorrow, your face will be plastered on every news network. You have nowhere to hide” Bryce said. “Come out with your hands up.” He ducked as Callow raised his gun and fired again, circling the island just out of Bryce’s reach.
“You don’t know what you’re interfering with,” Callow called. “I’m saving her.”
“Shut up.” Bryce leaned against the cabinets, his gun ready.
“These are the end times,” Callow said. “Only the righteous and their brides will survive.”
“It’s only the end for you,” Bryce said. “Your choice if it ends in a jail or a coffin.”
Callow jumped up and fired downward over the island before breaking toward the front door. Bryce leaped out and tackled Callow to the ground. He could see the police lights in the distance.
As Bryce tried to wrestle Callow’s arm behind his back, Callow hit his head with the butt of his gun. Bryce’s vision went black and Callow wiggled free. Struggling to regain his senses, Bryce gripped Callow’s ankle as he stood and made him crash onto the front porch. Bryce hopped to his feet, and as he kicked Callow’s gun out of his hand, the man fired a wild shot. Bryce fell backwards, pain exploding down the right half of his body. As he dropped to the floor, he heard another shot fired before his head banged against the hardwood, and everything went black.
13
Still Ticking
Bryce heardRusty’s voice before the beeping of machines registered. He opened his eyes, but the figures and furniture around him were blurry. He tried to sit up, but Rusty’s hand caught his chest.
“Easy there,” Rusty said, helping Bryce lay back down. “You’ve got some things that need to heal before you go barreling out of this bed.”
Bryce lay back on the pillow, Rusty’s face and his surroundings slowly becoming clearer. “New York?” he asked, the effort labored.
“Not yet,” Rusty said. “Too weak to travel. You’re stuck here for a few more days.”
“Hayley?” Bryce tried to sit up again to look around the hospital room, but the pain from the gunshot wound in his side was too great.
“You weren’t kidding when you said you’d take a bullet for her,” Rusty said. “I hope you didn’t do it just to prove your point.”
Bryce smiled, trying to shake his head. “Accident.”
“At least you’re not reckless. You hungry? The nurse brought you some…” he lifted the lid on a brown covered dish. “Jell-O.” Rusty recovered the dish as a light knock sounded on the door. Hayley cracked it open and peaked in.
“Can I come in?” she asked.
“That’s my cue,” Rusty said. “When you can sit up, I’m going to need you to take a picture of me with Hayley. Kaylin’s a fan.” He patted Bryce’s knee and stood, letting Hayley pass into the room. She sat in the chair beside Bryce.
“How do you feel?” she took his hand.
“A little pain here and there. But nothing I can’t handle,” Bryce said. “What about you, are you okay?”
Hayley laughed. “Of course I am. Thanks to you.”
“Callow?”
“Dead,” Hayley said. She lowered her head. “He tried to shoot you when you blacked out but the police took him down the moment he raised his gun. I can’t really say I’m sad. Apparently, he’d been awful to a lot of women over the years.”
“It’s his own fault he’s dead. Not yours.”
“I know,” Hayley nodded. “It’s just…weird that it ended like this.”
“He probably won’t be the last creep in your life,” Bryce said. “That’s show biz.” He tried to smile, but even that effort made him tired.
