31. Paige
31
PAIGE
Everything happens at once. The guard that shot is dead milliseconds after Burton, killed by Poe who ducks behind the table for cover as he prepares to shoot again. I stay low as Crank pushes me behind him, just like they taught me last time I was caught in a shootout. Aunt Heather screams, and the office doors burst open, admitting more of Fabbri's goons who already have their guns out, pointing them around the room. No one has fired again, but I feel like I could reach out and literally touch the tension in the room.
This isn't how this was supposed to go.
“Did you really think we wouldn't recognize Detective Burton?” Fabbri scoffs.
“Surprised you let us in the door,” Savage says dryly. He's got his gun out, and is aiming it directly at Fabbri's head. “I don’t really give a shit about Burton, so unless there’s anything else?”
“Everyone in this room has their gun trained on you and your men. You won't even be able to pull the trigger before you're as dead as the detective. Put your guns down and I'll let you walk out, alive and wiser for the next time our paths cross.” Fabbri throws his hands out, indicating all his men around him. “You're miserably outnumbered.”
Aunt Heather clutches my hand, grinding my fingers together. “What's happening? I don’t want to die!”
“Just stay low. We'll get out of this.” Listen to me, sounding like I have any idea of what I'm doing. A few more years with the bikers and I’ll be an old pro at standoffs. Aren’t we supposed to have backup by now? This plan is feeling awfully thin. Both Burton's men and Hellfire's should be ready for our signal. Poe must've sent it by now. “There's support on the way.”
She nods quickly, clinging to me while Crank watches over both of us. “If you say so.”
Here's hoping I'm not lying.
The whole building rumbles as an explosion goes off beneath us. It gives me chills, eliciting some primal fear deep inside me. Was that supposed to happen? I don’t remember the mention of bombs. I clutch Heather closer.
“What the fuck?” Fabbri snarls. He looks towards the door, and so does everyone else.
“Stay down!” Savage pulls the trigger, and one of Fabbri's guys is knocked back against the wall, his face no longer there.
“Oh yuck.” I look away, and hope Heather is smart enough to do that, too. I'm sure she's got some nightmares of her own by now, and that's not going to make them any better.
More gunshots followed by screams. Poe swears loudly, and then there's a crash as he and Savage flip over the stone meeting table together. Hundred dollar bills go flying in all directions, but no one cares. Crank literally grabs both me and Heather by our ankles and yanks us into better cover.
There's shooting outside the office now. Hopefully the cavalry’s coming to get us out of here.
Stefano dives for the door, Savage firing after him. He cries out in pain, and red blossoms on his arm, but he makes it through before Savage can place another shot. He's going to get away, but right now I don't care. I just want to get out of here alive, and for Crank, Poe and Savage to do the same.
“Paige, over there.” Heather points at a door at the end of the meeting room area. “We can hide in there.”
“Stay here,” growls Crank. “We don’t know what’s in there, and I can’t protect you where I can’t see you.”
“But we can't stay here,” she squeals. “We're going to die! It’s just a bathroom, I swear! I’ve been in this office before.”
Crank growls. I get it. I'm glad my aunt is alive, but having her here is making this even more complicated. If she's going to panic and freak out, she might get herself killed. Or worse, one of us. I grab her and try to force her down, but she fights me. “Heather!” I snap between gritted teeth. “You need to calm down, or we're definitely going to die.”
She bursts into tears, as if she’s the only person in any sort of danger.
“We need to stick together!”
Crank gets distracted as a guard pops out from behind Stefano’s desk. The guard fires twice and Crank hisses, pulling sharp air through clenched teeth.
“Crank!”
He holds up a hand to keep me where I am. “I'm fine. Just a strafe. Keep down, so we can keep you safe.”
Poe fires and the guard screams as he disappears back behind the desk. That's one less, I guess.
“Paige!” My aunt grabs my arm and tries to pull me along again. “We're not armed like them. We’re going to die if we get shot out here. We can hide until it’s over.” As if to emphasize the point, two bullets slam into the wall just above our heads, spitting little marble chunks into the air and raining down on us. We both scream.
“Fuck,” growls Poe and moves down the table a little as a crack forms from a bullet impact. As heavy as it is, it still isn't going to hold up under continued fire. Crank waves for us to move down behind the table behind him. It puts us closer to the bathroom.
An over-eager guard takes a bullet from Poe. His gun bounces off the wall and skitters across the floor. I could reach it if I only stretch a little, but should I? One lesson from Bonnie hasn’t exactly made me useful in a gunfight. I’m just as likely to shoot one of us.
Crank growls as he fires. I know having to cover us is making it difficult for him to keep himself safe. We're liabilities as long as we're out here. “Crank, if it's the only door, maybe it's better?”
He shoots an angry glare in the bathroom’s direction, but he nods reluctantly. “Fuck, fine.” A bullet makes another chip in the marble and Heather screams again. He turns his glare on her, and she shrinks under it, shutting up. “Only way in?”
“Yes. I swear.”
He doesn't like it, that's obvious, but he weighs the risks. “Fine. I'm gonna lay down cover fire, and you go, got it?”
We both nod.
“Go!” His gun thunders as he fires, over and over. There's a cry as someone's hit, and then we're running, hunched over to use the table as much as we can.
“What the fuck?” Savage yells, but he joins Crank in firing.
Aunt Heather throws open the door, and then we're through. I slam it behind us, and just in time. The door shakes and two dents in it pop out, showing exactly where the bullets hit, even if they didn't quite make it through.
It's just a bathroom, but the fanciest I’ve ever seen. An executive Mafia bathroom. There's even a shower.
“Here.” She pushes a button hidden behind the toilet, and the back wall of the shower slides away on silent wheels. A dark hallway extends behind it.
“What are you doing? We’re supposed to wait in here. How do you even know that was there?”
“I heard Mr. Fabbri talking about it to his guards when they were getting ready for you to come. It’s a safe room that he can hide in if things go bad. Come on.” Heather seems to have recovered a little, now that she has a purpose.
“No, I think?—”
She disappears into the hallway behind the shower.
“Aunt Heather! Stop being stupid. We need to stay here!” I step into the strange hallway, intending to grab her and drag her back, but as soon as I’m inside, the door slides shut behind me and automatic lights come on. “You told Crank that there was only one door.”
“Well I’ve never really been in here before, have I?” she says, like a toddler caught lying.
I look back at the closed door. I feel along the edges, but there’s no way to open it that I can see. “Are we stuck in here?”
She shakes her head. “No, I think we need to follow the hall.”
That feels like the last thing we should do, but she stays ahead of me and I feel obligated to follow. This is closer to the Aunt Heather I remember, always having to do things her own way.
“If we make it outside, we have to find the other bikers. They’ll keep us safe.”
She ignores me until we get to the other end of the hall. There’s another locked door. She knocks and a pit opens in the bottom of my stomach.
The door slides open and rough hands immediately grab me, covering my mouth and hauling me into a man’s chest. Cold steel is pressed against the side of my head. I try to scream, but it just comes out a muffle.
“Excellent, darling. You did a wonderful job.” Stefano Fabbri's voice is as oily as ever.