Julie slowed down at Mark’s voice, not because of what he said but to wait for him. He was slower, burdened as he was with Alan, and it was her job to protect him as much as she could. He and Carl made it to her side quickly, and she pointed into the woods.
“Einstein went that way. We need him!”
Grizzly Carl took off. God, bears were fast. Mark was running but with Alan still whipped over his shoulder, he was a good deal slower.
“Stay with the cops!” Mark snapped as he kept running, but not in the same direction as Carl.
Cops? What cops? Oh shit, those cops bursting through the house with their guns drawn. She recognized Tonya but the other two looked scary as hell. She threw her hands up in the air, but she didn’t stop running. Every part of her wanted away from that damned shed.
“Stop! Police!” one of them bellowed, and he was aiming at Mark.
Oh fuck! “No!” she screamed, stumbling as she tried to block their view of him. Oh God. All she could see were the muzzles aimed right at Mark. “He’s rescuing us!”
“Don’t shoot!” barked Tonya, her voice loud with command. But it didn’t seem like the other two were listening. “He’s taking Alan to the doc!”
Really? That was good. And why had her knees just given out?
“Where’s Carl?” Tonya barked, the tone so forceful that Julie answered even as she fell to the ground.
“That way.” She jerked her hand in the direction of the words. “After Einstein.”
Tonya nodded and ran off, bellowing her command over her shoulder. “Stay here!”
Julie didn’t know if the order was for the other cops or for her. Either way, she wasn’t going anywhere. Her entire body was shaking. Where is Mark? The other cops advanced on her, their eyes scanning everything.
“Don’t do it!” one of the cops bellowed.
Julie’s heart leapt to her throat. She wasn’t doing anything, but her voice had frozen.
“Put it down now!” the other cop ordered.
Unwillingly, her gaze jerked to the nearest cop. It was only then that she realized he wasn’t pointing his gun at her but at the shed. She turned—slowly—to see ball cap kid on the floor of the shed. He was lying on his stomach, a pistol braced on the concrete as he aimed at her.
Oh shit.
“Bitch,” he said. Then she heard the bang of a gun and she face planted. No pain, just suddenly, the world slapped her in the face. Had she been shot? All she knew was that her vision was blurry as she blinked grass from her eyes.
Gunshots pounded against her eardrums. If she’d been able to move, she would have covered her ears. As it was, she just lay facedown and prayed everyone thought she was dead. And in her head, one words echoed over and over in her brain.
Mark. Mark. Mark.
“Are you all right? Miss? Miss!”
A rough hand pulled at her, and she cried out in pain. “Let go!”
She jerked her arm back and then winced as the burn built. Damn it, her arm was on fire. Shit. She’d been shot. A long hot red streak across her upper arm. “Ow!” she said, putting all her anger into that one word. “That bastard shot me!”
She turned to look and then wished she hadn’t. Ball cap boy was dead. Really, really dead.
But wherever he was, stoic guy wasn’t far behind. “Where’s the other one?” she asked, scanning the ground in panic.
“The other one?”
“Yeah.” She took a breath, trying to remember. She’d shot him, right? She couldn’t even remember. “The bigger one.” He wasn’t anywhere she could see. Then she saw a patch of grass that had slick dark blood on it. Take that, you bastard. Though a second later she started to worry. Where the hell is he?
Meanwhile, the cop who’d grabbed her arm talked into a shoulder mic, something about, female hostage recovered, but she couldn’t focus on his words. Her mind was starting to catch up with her, and every part of her was looking for Mark.
Was he okay? He’d taken Alan to the ambulance, but she didn’t see them. And she desperately needed to see him just to reassure herself that he was alive. That she was alive. That everything was finally, absolutely okay.
