“When I say get down, do as you’re told.”
He didn’t have a chance for a snarky response. One of the four men fired, barely missing me…and then it was on.
“Down!” I shouted at Penn. He hit the ground, and I covered his body with mine.
He looked at me in shock, maybe not believing I’d shield him, but a beat later his eyes widened in surprise and I was beingflipped. Three shots went off right where we’d been lying. Penn had saved my life.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Pennsylvania
This was insane.After the guy tried to shoot Gideon, one of Gideon’s men tore through him with more bullets than was necessary.
“We have to get you to the back room,” Gideon shouted over the gunfire.
“Not for nothing, but that guy…” I motioned to the now dead gunman. “He wanted to kill you, not me.”
He glared for a second, then grabbed my hand and yanked me to follow him. I didn’t want to get shot, so I went along without argument. There were bodies on the ground, blood, and a ton of bullet holes. This was gonna cost Alan a fortune. I hoped he had mobster insurance.
The two of us got to the door of the break room but before we could open it, a shot fired right by our heads. We turned and there were two men, clearly not Gideon’s.
“He’ll be coming with us.” A tall man with a jagged scar on his cheek sneered.
Gideon raised his gun, but he was outnumbered. I didn’t own one, and if Gideon shot one of them, the other would kill him.
“Okay, I’ll go.” I shrugged and stepped forward.
“Like hell you will.” Gideon grabbed my arm as I’d suspected he would.
I pulled away with more force than necessary, and my fist slammed into scar face’s chin, causing him to stumble.
With him out of sorts I punched him once, twice, three times square in the jaw. A shot rang out, and I saw Gideon bestriding the other guy. Of course scar-faced dude took that opportunity to sock me right in the face. I snorted at him, spit blood on his shirt, and continued to hit him.
“Penn!” Gideon gripped my arm, and I realized the man was unconscious. “Come on.”
We made it to the employee lounge and once the door was shut, he started barricading it as best he could. There was only a table and four chairs he could use but he did it, then pulled me with him to the corner. He placed me behind him and aimed his gun in the direction of the barricade.
The sounds outside were lessening—I only hoped it Gideon’s team was winning. I had to get my shit and leave this town tonight.
A minute later, there was silence. We waited and listened. Finally when we heard someone call Gideon’s name, we removed the table and chairs and stepped out.
“Report.”
“We lost three guys; Lorcan lost seven.” Alex gestured toward two of them. “Those are the ones that were supposed to be watching Penn, so looks like you won’t have to deal with them. The other was Walt.”
I didn’t know these guys, but it was still sad. I was sure Gideon was close to all of them.
“Sorry for your loss,” I remarked and Alex and Gideon stared at me like I had two heads. “What? It’s hard to lose friends.”
“Something’s not right with you.” Alex huffed out a laugh. “We gotta get out of here, though. Danny’s getting your guys out of here, all that will be left are Lorcan’s. Chief said he’ll handle it.”
“Where’s Alan?” I tried looking around the room.
“Safe.” Alex didn’t say more.
“Okay, well, can someone maybe drop me off at home? I’m getting my things and leaving Northchester tonight.”
“Not happening.” Gideon narrowed his gaze and lifted his chin. “If you think after this carnage that Lorcan isn’t going to hunt you down, you’re nuts.”
