Page 82 of Biker's Enemy
The biker outside keeps approaching the door and he fires again.
"GET DOWN!" Lacey yells at me. I want to be the type of woman to jump up and senselessly join in a gunfight, but I obey Lacey's command and immediately get down on the ground. I can't just go running into battle when Avery is on the other side of this gas station and for all I know... she's their damn target.
Once I get down on the ground, I abandon loyalty to everyone except Avery and roll around to face the other door so I can army crawl to the second exit and sprint back to Juliette and Avery in the backseat. Juliette must have heard the gunshots, so I know she's in the driver's seat ready for a getaway.
I run towards the other door expecting to see Juliette outside, safely in the car, prepared to drive us both to a second location. Instead when I open the door, I nearly bowl Juliette’s wild ass over and get myself shot in the process. She yells at me to be careful and then tells me to duck. I cover my ears and duck, correct about my instincts that her crazy ass fully planned on firing that weapon. She fires and a display explodes.
“He’s down by the coffee!” Lacey screams, aware enough to recognize that Juliette is on our side. Maybe she knows her, but I can’t tell if that’s it. Juliette whips her pistol around, but there are no gunshots for a few more seconds. Then, I hear Lacey scream.
“LET GO OF HER!”
Juliette runs past me and I rise to my feet, still locked on my mission to get to Avery. Unfortunately, the gas station has turned into a war zone. I shove through the door as I hear another two gunshots — from the pistol this time. I hear Juliette screaming one last time as I open the door and run towards the Rav-4.
My first thought is to check for the keys in the car. They’re in there. The windows are down, and by some miracle… Avery is safe. I don’t know if she’s the target or not, but adrenaline pushes me to do everything in my power to escape. Juliette has a gun. Lacey has a gun… they’ll be fine.
After checking on Avery through the back window, I rush around to the other side of the car as fast as possible so I can drive. Normal driving wouldn’t make me nervous. Driving a Rav-4 faster than a motorcycle scares the crap out of me. I don’t want to flip the car. I don’t want to hurt Avery.
Glancing back one last time for Juliette, I hop into the driver’s seat. I don’t want to leave her behind but… if I don’t protect Avery, who else will? I can’t let anything happen to her. I put my hands on the steering wheel, gripping tightly, frozen in place for just a few seconds longer when I hear the gas station door open and Juliette screaming.
I can’t make out her words at first, but she wants me to know something. I move as quickly as I can, leaning over to open the passenger side door. As Juliette gets closer, I can hear what she’s saying. Finally. And it’s not good.
“THEY GOT LACEY. WE GOTTA GO EAST. WE GOTTA GO EAST.”
“East? I thought we were going?—
“DRIVE, QUIN. DRIVE THE DAMN CAR.”
I start moving before she gets the door shut. But it’s Juliette. She screams. She hollers. But she gets the door shut and I skid out of the parking lot back the way we came from. She’s my best friend. I trust her. Avery does too, clearly, because she thinks my crazy driving is hilarious and starts laughing, gurgling and clapping her hands in the backseat.
I watch the speedometer climb from 65 to 75 to 85. My hands are white knuckling the steering wheel. At least it’s flat out here, but I’m already scared as hell.
“You’re gonna have to push that shit to 100,” Juliette says. “They have five more guys stationed West that just left another Sinclairs. Lacey will have called Southpaw but… our only chance is heading East.”
“Do you think they have people stationed East too?”
“I don’t know,” Juliette says. “Step on it.”
“I can’t,” I tell her. I don’t even want to glance back over my shoulder at Avery, but she’s the main reason I can’t fuck this car up and push almost 100 miles per hour.
“They’re behind us,” she says.
“No, they’re not.”
I don’t want to look. I know she has no reason to lie but… I don’t want to accept it.
“There’s another Sinclairs in 20 miles. If you push this car to 100, we can lose them.”
“We can lose our damn lives,” I tell Juliette. My heart feels like it’s a giant ball of yarn stuck and growing in my throat.
“That man wants to kill us, Quin. I know you’re scared but at least if we die… we die together.”
“Only your crazy ass would think that’s a good thing…” I mutter. But I plant my feet on the gas and push that damn car to 105.
Let’s lose those motherfuckers…
Thirty-Nine
CASH