Page 58 of Just One More Moment

He was back to anxiously peering out to the street, then ducking back again, his movements jerky, his composure like a strung-out junkie.

Trying to tamp down her panic, Raven closed her eyes and envisioned her location. The building the bar was in was across the way on a main street where cars passed by all the time. Unless the police had closed it off by now due to the bomb scare. She’d heard someone yelling at the people to disperse and go home earlier, so maybe the area wasn’t as crowded as it had been.

She didn’t know, but she needed to run…awayfrom the innocent people and far from Remy and anyone looking for her. If Lance shot at her, so be it. The cops would be on him in seconds and that mattered more than whether she was hit by a bullet. She’d rather save Remy from that fate.

She cringed at the thought of being hit by a bullet but gathered every ounce of strength and courage she had. “Lance?”

He turned toward her, his eyes wild and unfocused.

“I’ll go with you if you leave Remy alone,” she told him.

He studied her through narrowed eyes, gauging her honesty. He must not trust her because his features morphed into the angry man she’d seen hovering over her roommate, cheeks flushed, lips pinched, ready to cause pain.

“Lying bitch,” he said, his anger turning him into a monster.

This was it. Time to act. She’d done reading on self-defense after he’d attacked Emily and Raven had been afraid Lance would get out and come after her. The solar plexus was the best place to aim in order to knock the wind out of someone.

Using her free arm, she pulled back and with her palm struck straight into the soft spot beneath his ribs and above his stomach, aiming upward as she hit.

He groaned and doubled over and she took the opportunity to run out to the main street. Just as she screamed for help, Lance grabbed her ponytail and yanked so hard she saw stars. Her eyes teared, blurring her vision, and she tripped, falling hard onto her knees on the sidewalk.

“Get up, bitch.” He pulled her up by her hair again and pressed his gun against her rib cage.

Feeling the dig of the weapon, she remained on her knees and prayed she’d pass out and not feel any pain when he pulled the trigger. No way would she go anywhere with him when he planned to rape her.

“Hey!” a large, bulky-shaped man yelled. “Let her go!” He shoved Lance so hard he released Raven, then stumbled… into the street and in the path of an ambulance pulling away from the curb.

Raven watched in horror as the vehicle slammed into Lance’s body. She screamed as he went airborne for seconds before landing on the ground with a loud, dullthud.

He lay motionless, and she had no idea if he was dead or alive.

“Miss? Miss. Are you okay?” the man asked, but Raven couldn’t answer.

She was too busy watching people, including armed police officers, surround Lance. And Raven knew it was finally over.

***

As the ownerof the bar, Remy exited last and immediately looked for Raven. He didn’t see her anywhere near the back entrance or when he went around to the front of the building. The police and bomb squad arrived before Remy could take off and find her, forcing him to stay and talk to the man in charge. No, he hadn’t seen or heard anything suspicious. No, there were no packages left unattended that he’d noticed, and so on.

By the time they let him go, he was in a frenzy, doing his best to look for her in the crowd that by now, was across the street by order of the beat cops corralling the people who’d stayed and gathered.

He went to pull his phone from his back pocket only to realize he’d left it on the table where Melissa, the anxiety-ridden woman, had been sitting. Shit.

He returned to the rear of the building and approached the uniformed officer guarding the bar entrance. “I’m Remy Sterling, the owner and a former NYPD detective. I need to get inside for my phone. It’s an emergency.” His cell had access to Raven’s tracking app and he needed to see where she’d disappeared to.

“Sorry,” the officer said, folding his arms across his chest. “No one enters until I get the all clear.”

Fuck. Remy didn’t blame the guy but he needed to find Raven. Heart racing, he took off at a run, returning to the front and circling the crowd across the street, hoping she was nearby.

When he didn’t find her, he pushed his way through the throng of people and scanned everyone he passed. No luck.

After breaking through, he was back on the empty part of the sidewalk.

“Raven!” he yelled, at a loss as to anything else he could do to find her.

She didn’t answer nor did she miraculously show up. He caught sight of the security guard who’d been assigned to watch Raven and every move she made.

Remy stalked over to the man. “Where the hell have you been?”

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