Chapter 39
Thirty-Nine
Daphne
Iscreamed as Brooks swerved onto the shoulder of the road.
A bullet shattered the back windshield, sending glass ricocheting through the SUV. A shard sliced into my cheek.
I touched the cut and looked at my hand. Blood streaked my fingertips, but it was the least of my worries when headlights suddenly flooded the windshield.
A car was barreling toward us.
I grabbed the center console as Brooks jerked us into the opposite lane. The oncoming car mirrored the move, refusing to let us pass.
Another SUV behind us surged forward, slamming into our bumper. Brooks swerved onto the shoulder, and my body smacked into the door.
“Duck, Daphne!” Brooks shouted.
He let go of the steering wheel with one hand, cupped the back of my head, and shoved me down. My heart hammered against my ribs, but the second he released me to regain control of the wheel, I pushed myself upright.
There was no way I was staying down without knowing what was happening.
A black SUV pulled alongside us, matching Brooks’s speed. I held my breath, preparing for the worst, when the passenger window rolled down.
For a moment, my eyes met Philip’s. He nodded before raising the gun toward the oncoming car. It stayed in our lane, as if ready to play a game of chicken.
Philip fired a single shot. The driver’s head disappeared from view, and the car coasted to a stop in the middle of the road, its horn blaring through the night.
The inside of the SUV seemed to tilt around me. Brooks never slowed, only sped past the disabled car as headlights beamed behind us. Another round of gunshots hammered the SUV.
I screamed so hard that my chest hurt when a bullet zipped past Brooks’s head, missing him by inches. He didn’t even flinch. He only pressed harder on the gas as Philip slammed on his brakes, dropped behind us, and swung his SUV between us and the pursuing vehicle.
Peeking over my seat, I watched Philip lean out his window and fire at the SUV behind him.
“Huh.” The sound slipped out before I could stop it. Even while freaking the fuck out, I couldn’t help but be impressed.
A sudden squeal of tires cut through the night. Brooks checked the rearview mirror, then slammed on his brakes. The SUV that’d been pursuing us had stopped.
“Stay here,” Brooks instructed, shifting the SUV into park. He squeezed my knee before stretching his arm across my lap to open the glove box.
He pulled a pair of brass knuckles, then a gun.
Of course he doesn’t use the thing for insurance cards and extra fast food napkins. He uses it for murder weapons.
I gulped as he slipped the brass knuckles on before tucking the gun into the back of his waistband.
“And I’m being fucking serious.”
Even with the shadows cutting across his face, I could see how serious he was.
“Don’t you dare get out of this vehicle.”
Brooks stepped out of the SUV, his silhouette crossing the road toward the stopped car, where Philip waited. The only light came from the vehicles’ headlights cutting through the night.
I crawled over the center console to the driver’s side to get a better view. Brooks reached the SUV, swung open the driver’s door, and yanked the driver out. He tossed the man onto the pavement, then loomed over him.
Brooks drew his gun with his free hand. The man on the ground threw his arms over his face the second Brooks pointed the gun at him. His back was to me, so I had no idea what he was saying to him.
Seconds passed before Brooks swung his fist back and drove the brass knuckles into the man’s face.
He hit him again.
Again, and again, and again.
Blood dripped from the brass knuckles when he finally stopped. Somehow, Brooks still looked frighteningly calm.
I slammed my palms against the window as Brooks dropped to one knee. From my angle, I saw him press the gun to the man’s forehead.
I covered my mouth just as the gunshot roared through the night.
Movement flashed at the edge of my vision. A man sprinted toward them.
Without thinking, I threw open the door and ran toward them, waving my arms. I was closer to the man than Brooks or Philip.
“Brooks!” I screamed. “Watch out!”
The man stopped and aimed the gun in my direction.