Page 62 of The King's Boy

Before Malloy could even get the door open, the loud retort of a gun sounded from outside on the street. King almost instantly began dragging me toward the back of the building.

"Malloy, see if you can get one of the cars and bring it around back. If not, get a taxi or steal a car. I don't care. Just meet us around back."

"Yes, sir," Malloy said before heading toward the front door.

When we reached the back, there was a door. King pressed me against the wall next to the door before pulling it open and looking out. He must have felt that the coast was clear because he grabbed my wrist and pulled me out into the alleyway beyond.

I was a little concerned that night had fallen while we had been inside the apartment building. There didn't seem to be a whole lot of light here in the alley. It made things harder to see.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"We're waiting for Malloy to bring one of the cars around."

"Wouldn't it have been safer to wait inside?"

"You would think that, but no. Inside, we have very few exits. Out here, we have a better chance of getting away if trouble finds us."

Considering we had heard gunshots out front; I was pretty sure trouble had already found us.

King stood up taller and took a step. "Here comes the SUV."

Oh, thank god. I couldn't have been more relieved. We were one step closer to being home.

The SUV came to a stop several feet away from us, but when the front door opened and a man climbed out, it wasn't one of the men dressed in dark suits that I was expecting.

It was one of the men that had kidnapped me, and he had a gun in his hand, which he pointed directly at us.

I grabbed King's hand and started pulling him back toward the building. "King!"

King didn't run, but he did step in front of me, placing himself between me and the guy with the gun. "What do you think you are doing, Terrence?"

"Taking out the trash," Terrence sneered. "Does Ireland know what a disgusting pervert you are?"

Huh?

"O'Donnell might have had a few issues," the man continued, "but even he wasn't into boys."

I was hardly a boy.

Pure astonishment laced King's voice when he asked, "You betrayed me because you don't like who I am sleeping with?"

"You betrayed us first when you brought that freak in."

"Hey!" I shouted as I stepped to one side of King. "I am not a freak."

"You are wearing make-up."

"And?" I looked damn good in make-up.

"Guys don't wear make-up," Terrence insisted.

"Says who?" I knew a lot of guys that wore make-up. Hell, half of Hollywood wore make-up. There was nothing wrong with it.

"I'll be doing the world a favor by taking you out." Terrence pointed his gun at me. "You disgusting freak."

He'd already said that.

"How did you hook up with Katrina?" King asked. "Why hire her to kill Spencer and me if you wanted to take us out yourself?"