Page 22 of Guarded By Them

My heart broke. “Oh, Ryan. You don’t have to protect me.”

“Yes, I do.” He nodded fiercely. “That’s exactly what I have to do.”

Kodee and Dillon had overheard our conversation from the front. “We’d cover you,” Kodee said. “You know that.”

“What if there wasn’t time? I’m the best shot out of any of us by far. You know that. You need me to be covering you, not the other way around.”

Dillon twisted in his seat. “Hey, man. We’re fine right now, okay? No one is coming for us. We’re safe. You do what you need to do and let us worry about the rest of it.”

Ryan sighed and dropped the back of his head onto the seat behind. “I’m just so fucking sick of this. I’m sick of being the one who always needs special treatment. The exception made for him.”

I reached out and took his hand. “No, that’s me. I’m the one who’s uprooted your entire lives.”

He shook his head. “You were worth it.”

“And so are you.”

We exchanged smiles.

Dillon started the car. “Let’s get out of here.”

I kept hold of Ryan’s hand as we pulled out of the parking lot and got back on the interstate. We still had a fair distance to cover.

A full stomach and the steady hum of the car engine lulled me to sleep. My eyelids grew heavier, and I settled back in the seat and closed my eyes.

***

THE CAR SCREECHED TO a sudden halt, the slamming of the brakes throwing me forward, the seatbelt jamming across my chest, locking my breath in my lungs. In the road directly ahead, a black SUV with blacked out windows had stopped, blocking the way and forcing us to stop.

Oh, God.

I didn’t know who these people were, but they meant us harm.

“Back up!” I yelled to Kodee, who was sitting behind the wheel. “Get us out of here.”

Confusion ran through me. Why was Kodee driving? Kodee didn’t like to drive because of the accident that had killed his family. I glanced to my side. Ryan was no longer beside me. He’d switched with Dillon, so I could see the back of Ryan’s blond head in the passenger seat and Dillon was sitting beside me. When had they switched places? I didn’t understand.

Not that it mattered. All that mattered was that Kodee backed up the car and got us out of here, but he didn’t move.

The SUV’s doors opened, and men wearing dark suits climbed from each of them. I tried to get a look, wondering if I’d recognize any of them—were they the Capellos’ men or Joe Nettie’s? But I couldn’t get a good look at their faces. They were turned away or moving too quickly. I wasn’t sure. It was strange. I was terrified, yet somehow, I felt like I’d been expecting this. Just waiting for it to happen.

“We have to go!” I yelled again, slamming both hands down on the back of Kodee’s headrest. “Move!”

But he sat there, and so did the others, as though just waiting for the men to kill us. Did they have something else planned? I didn’t know what was happening.

I yanked at the door handle, desperate to get out. “Help! Help!”

But the door wouldn’t budge. Why was it locked? Surely, none of the guys would have locked us in? I stared around at them, frantic. Why were they just sitting there, not moving?

The men in the suits stepped toward us, approaching the car. One raised his hand, and in it was a gun.

Oh, no. Please, no.

He aimed it directly at the windshield, and still none of the guys reacted. They all had weapons as well. Why weren’t they protecting themselves?

A few more steps brought the man closer. I couldn’t make out his face, the features blurry, though I didn’t know why. My heart raced, confusion and panic overwhelming me.

He pointed the gun, aiming it at Ryan, the hollow muzzle seeming to take up all my vision.

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