Page 56 of Captivated with Them

Chapter Twenty-three

Rue

––––––––

I COULD HARDLY BELIEVEthis was happening.

My mind was spinning.

One moment, I’d heard the not-guilty verdict, and my stomach and heart had plummeted, certain my death warrant had just been signed. Then I’d heard the gunshot and seen Joe Nettie killed in revenge by Cisco King’s men, and the next Ryan had been there in his wheelchair with a gun pointed at Frankie Capello.

Now we were breaking every speed limit in an effort to put as much distance between us and Frankie as possible.

I wanted to throw myself into Ryan’s arms and bury my face against his chest then climb over the seat and into Kodee’s lap, but now wasn’t the time. We still weren’t out of danger, and I didn’t want to do anything to distract either of the guys. They’d put their lives at risk to save me.

Twisting in my seat to get a view of the road behind us, I spotted one of the black SUVs Frankie favored.

“Shit, they’re coming after us!”

Ryan turned in his seat as well. “Yeah, that’s them,” he confirmed. “They’re hot on our tail.”

“I’m going as fast as I can,” Kodee said.

I couldn’t take my eyes off the sight of the SUV. “They’re gaining on us!”

Kodee drove fast and dangerously, weaving between other vehicles to get ahead. The traffic drew to a standstill, and instead of stopping, he veered onto the sidewalk. Pedestrians saw us coming and screamed and jumped out of the way.

If we weren’t careful, we were going to have the police chasing us, too.

I looked back again to see the SUV had followed our route. The people we’d just forced off the sidewalk had started to pick themselves and each other up again, but they didn’t get the chance to do much more. Frankie’s SUV mounted the sidewalk as well, and everyone threw themselves out of the path of the second speeding vehicle.

We’d got past the buildup of traffic and were back on the road, but so was the SUV.

“They’re still coming,” I cried.

I didn’t want to think about what would happen if they caught us. There would be no second chances this time round. Frankie would kill Kodee and Ryan without a second of hesitation, and, if he let me live, it would only be so he could make money out of what was between my legs.

Ryan glanced back, too. “Shit.”

He pulled the gun he’d threatened Frankie with back at the courthouse and hit the button on the passenger door to slide down his window. He twisted in his seat, so he was facing backward then leaned out of the window.

“Be careful!” I told him.

I couldn’t handle it if Ryan got shot now.

He aimed at the car chasing us and squeezed off a couple of shots, the bangs loud enough to make me want to cover my ears. The vehicle behind swerved, but I couldn’t tell if he’d hit it. One of Frankie’s men leaned out of the passenger window and returned fire. I let out a scream and ducked down, terrified I’d feel a bullet punching through the back of the car and hitting my torso.

Ryan fired again, and there was an explosion of glass. He let out a whoop of victory, and I dared lift my head. The SUV had veered to one side, the windshield completely shattered. I didn’t know if whoever was behind the wheel had been shot, but for the moment, it seemed we had an advantage.

Kodee put his foot down and increased the distance between us. He turned onto a different street and kept going, and the next time I dared to look behind us, there didn’t seem to be any sign of the SUV.

“I think we’ve lost them,” I dared to hope.

Ryan nodded. “For the moment, anyway.”

My heart was racing so fast I thought it might explode. I was so thankful Ryan was such a good shot from the time he’d spent in the Army. He’d needed that defense. If they’d caught up with us, he’d never have been able to run—not without his prosthetic leg.

Ryan clapped Kodee on the shoulder from behind. “Good driving!”

---