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Chapter Seventeen
V
“Viola Gingham!” The deputy called my new name. The people at Witness Protection always made sure we had the same initials as our real names. “Halt or I’ll shoot.”
Deputy Kier followed us down the street, but instead of stopping, I did the opposite and broke into a run.
“It’s the black Ford,” X shouted at me as we raced down the street toward his car. We’d broken apart from the cozy way we’d walked down the sidewalk, and now I ran, the bag of guns smacking against my hip as I did so. X was behind me, the injuries I had given him slowing him down. But as we approached the car, he skidded to the sidewalk and snatched something from beneath the vehicle.
The lights of the central locking flashed and the vehicle beeped.
“Get in!” X yelled.
I risked glancing in the direction we’d come, to see the deputy come skidding around the corner, his weapon drawn.
Oh, shit.
“X, we’ve got to go.”
“What do you think I’m doing? Get in the fucking car!”
I didn’t want to think the deputy would start shooting in the middle of town with people around, but I didn’t know if someone was paying him to watch me. If he thought he’d end up with his balls cut off if he lost track of me, it would make him more likely to take risks.
My heart hammered, my mouth running dry. I wished I’d thought to put one of the guns in an easy to reach place, but for some reason, having a shootout with the police hadn’t been part of my plans for the day. I had thought to secure my knife in the sheath between my breasts right before we left the house, but a knife wasn’t any good at a distance.
I yanked open the passenger door and threw myself inside, dragging the bag in with me. X had the engine running and was pulling out of the space with a screech of wheels on asphalt before I’d even gotten the door shut. Deputy Kier had broken into a run, and was simultaneously speaking into the radio attached to the front of his shirt.
“Fuck. He’s calling for backup.”
X glanced over at me. “Don’t worry. We’ll be long gone.” And he put his foot down, the motion throwing me back in the seat.
The crack of gunfire made me duck.
“Motherfucker,” swore X, but continued to drive.
I reached into the bag, and my hands made contact with the cold metal of one of the handguns. Flicking the safety, I wriggled around in the seat, facing back the way we’d come. I used the passenger seat as protection, pointing the muzzle through the gap between the two seats, fully prepared to shoot out the rear windshield if I had to. But I caught sight of the deputy running down the street behind us, slowing to a walk and finally a stop as he gave up, knowing he was never going to catch the car and that there was too much distance for an accurate shot now. X swerved around a corner, and I leaned with the movement.
“Don’t worry,” X said. “We’ve lost him.”
I turned back in the seat to face the front. “Yeah, but for how long? He knows I’m running now. He’ll check the house and find the bodies and Nickie gone. We’ll have the cops after us.”
“Then first thing we need to do is find a new vehicle. Know anywhere nearby we can get one?”
My thoughts went straight to the bar where I worked. Would Johnny lend me his truck? Could I trust the guy not to tell someone? He wasn’t the type of man to turn to the police. He was as suspicious as I was, always thinking the cops were out to get him for one thing or another. He’d always been good to me, and I thought he would lend me his truck without too many questions if I asked.
“Yeah,” I said, eventually. “Take me to the bar I work at. My boss will lend me his vehicle.”
“We can always use a little extra persuasion if needed,” said X, his fingers tightening around the steering wheel.
“There won’t be any need for that, and I wouldn’t go there if there was.”
“No? Not even if it meant getting one step closer to getting your sister back?”
“There are lines I’d rather not cross.”
“I thought you’d already crossed them all.”
I scowled at him as he glanced over at me. I didn’t like having my misdemeanors thrown at me, and it left me irate that this stranger seemed to know everything about me, when I knew absolutely nothing about him.
