“Why, thank you.”
Adam looked back at Mercedes and then the others, now lined up in a protective row at his back. They were probably thinking the same thing he was. Blake was catching up. They’d already killed Yani, killing Antonio would light an inextinguishable flame. Like a trail of breadcrumbs that led Blake right to their door. But leaving Antonio alive? That definitely was not an option.
“Paul, Dan, Carlos—head out the back and get out of here,” Adam said, a soothing calm in his voice as he glared at Antonio.
“They’re not going anywhere,” Antonio spat, his tone making his men stand alert.
“Let’s go,” Paul said.
“What? We can’t go!” Dan said.
“We can and we are. We’re gonna go somewhere public and make our faces seen,” Paul said.
“Why?” Carlos whispered.
“So that when all of these assholes die, Blake won’t be able to pin it on us,” Paul said.
Their footsteps prodded loudly on the sticky tile as they calmly paced for the back exit.
“Stop them!” Antonio ordered.
With small, unsure steps the men began a forward march. Adam blocked their path. Paul nodded to Dan and Carlos, and together they continued their slow break for escape.
Just as slowly, the thugs began another approach, attempting to sidle past Adam.
It was an intricate dance, an unspoken warning, as if one wrong flinch might cause an explosion. Not an outright pursuit, a slow, delicate chase. But the thugs weren’t stopping, and neither were Dan, Paul, and Carlos.
The goons came within a foot of Adam and showed no sign of slowing, no matter how nervously they avoided his gaze. Adam angled his head over his shoulder to Mercedes, who locked eyes with him, too. Her stance was soft, feet light, ready to dive. The nod of approval she gave him was so slight, anyone else would have missed it.
Time to move.
Adam moved quickly. So against the rules of their slow pursuit, that it took long moments for everyone to realize what had happened, Adam raised his gun, aimed and shot, and the approaching man closest to him fell in a bloody heap.
In the seconds that the room was silent, Adam turned to Paul and nodded at him hurriedly, to go, gonow.And from within, the inevitable fight erupted.
* * *
Dan, Carlos, and Paul were out the door like their asses were on fire.
Antonio and his men blindly fired. Missing the bullets by what felt like only millimeters, Adam and Mercedes fled. Adam jumped to his right, landing in the black leather seat of his favorite booth, while Mercedes slid along the floor, underneath the counter of the bar.
Behind the bar, Mercedes quickly checked Adam. He was tucked into the booth, hands over his ears as bullets tore fluffy shreds into the upholstery. He was holding back, giving her time to secure an advantage.
Ignoring the rain of glass bottles smashing around her, Mercedes pinned a keypad to unlock a sleek set of black cupboards. Their hidden arsenal. She tore into the stash, pulling out only the guns they would need. It only took her seconds to release them, slide ammunition inside, and line them up for the taking.
Lastly, a stun grenade. Pity there were no actual grenades, but an explosion would’ve been a bad idea anyway. Sadly.
After one last look to make sure Adam was still crouched into the booth with his ears and eyes covered, she threw the stun grenade, taking shelter herself. The room lit up like a flare as it landed, gunfire halting.
In a fluid, smooth movement, she launched up from behind the bar, two shotguns in hand. At the same time Adam rose from the booth and held a hand to catch the shotgun she tossed across to him.
Then they were up. As they cocked their weapons they walked slowly to the middle of the room and locked together, shoulder to shoulder.
They shot those who hadn’t found time to shelter, still fumbling around blindly from the shock of the grenade. Like carefully lined dominos, the men fell in neat piles, blood spraying the walls.
From the right, Adam was rushed by a burly thug with a protruding belly. He only smiled and dropped his gun, kicking the guy in the chest and dousing him with a right hook.
Mercedes smashed the butt of her gun into a nameless face, rolling to climb on top of the tables. Grabbing nameless by the hair, she forced his jaw open on the table edge and booted his head down, locking eyes with Antonio as she did.
