The door opened, and Aiden Devlin jumped to the ground, his arms out to show he was unarmed. His gaze instantly sought mine. “You okay, Angel?”
Chapter 42
Fear now tasted like acid in my mouth. “I’m fine.” Then I listened. Was there any way he had backup? Only the storm cut through the night. “You okay?”
“Yep.” He kept his arms out as the judge rather expertly patted him down and found no weapons.
I stared at him. Light jeans, dark T-shirt, scruff over his jaw. Stress lines cut into the sides of his eyes and mouth, but his chest was wide and his gaze direct. Nobody had ever looked better to me. He’d come for me. Into certain death, he’d brought those drugs to save me. Maybe our moment years ago had shaped us both.
Sal moved toward him, gun out. “Stand over there.”
Aiden stood to the side of the garage, his hands at his sides.
Sal gave the judge the gun and ran out into the rain to jump on the hauler. He lifted the trunk to an older Ford Taurus and then looked up and smiled. “Drugs are here.” He slammed it shut.
Spider stayed close to me; his gun steady in his hand. “Devlin? You a cop?”
“Nope,” Aiden said, sliding his left foot back so slowly it was barely discernible.
“Then you’re a snitch,” Spider sneered.
The judge held the gun on Aiden. “I’ve looked through all the case files and haven’t seen your name anywhere. It’s odd with your rap sheet that you’re out of prison. It’s almost as if your history is made up perfectly.”
“Good to know,” Aiden said evenly.
“Judge?” I ignored the pain in my ribs and flattened my feet beneath me. “You haven’t killed anybody and can still get out of this. Heck, you’ve acted insane the last year or so and probably can plead insanity. That was the plan, right?”
His gaze flickered my way.
Aiden kicked for the gun. The second I saw him move, I jumped up, chin down, and charged Spider right in the gut. My head plowed into his stomach, and we flew across the cement to land hard and skid. His gun skipped farther into the garage. He threw me off him, and I landed on my arm, crying out at the shocking pain.
Then I scrambled for his gun on my hands and knees. Small rocks and cement shards sliced into my already damaged palms.
Spider grabbed me around the waist and threw me to the side. I kicked out, nailing him in the knee. It buckled, and he went down, swinging.
I moved for the gun, and he grabbed my shoulder, twisting and throwing hard. Pain shot down my arm, and I tumbled head over tail, hitting the rear tire of the car.
Spider got the gun.
Panicking, I threw myself under the car, rolling until I got to the other side. He fired, and bullets pinged off the metal. I crouched next to a tire, looking frantically around. The judge lay prone on the ground, where Aiden must’ve slammed him. Right now, Aiden and Sal traded punches, Aiden definitely winning.
Until a bullet shot from Spider hit him in the upper thigh.
“Aiden!” I yelled, crab-walking to the front of the car.
He slammed Sal’s head into the side of the garage and then went down, clutching his leg. Blood welled between his fingers, pumping out a dark red. He shook his head like he’d taken a blow to the temple.
The clicking of a gun echoed through the small space. Spider needed to reload.
“Run, Anna,” Aiden groaned, pulling himself up to sit by Sal. He started searching the unconscious guy’s pockets with the hand not plugging what looked like an artery.
I stood and looked over the hood at Spider. He was on his knees, furiously whipping through his coat to drag out a silver clip, which glinted like evil in the dim light. I could make it to the door, but Aiden was a sitting duck. There was only one option. I yelled as loud as I could and rushed Spider, reaching him and kicking him as hard as I could beneath the chin. He fell back, and I stomped on his face out of sheer panic, trying to keep his beefy arms from swinging up again.
He grabbed my left ankle, so I jumped up and nailed him in the temple with my right foot.
His hold loosened and he flopped back.
Sobbing and grunting in sheer terror, I kicked him again, right where his jaw met his temple. It cracked loudly. He clutched it, tears streaming down his face.
