Page 4 of Riff

But if we got out in unison, we could both make it to the car at almost the same time.

More bullets rang out as my heart punched against my ribcage.

One.

Two.

Time to run.

I kept my gun up, trying to keep my gaze forward but running toward the side.

It was how I saw Raff make it to the door, one of the men pulling himself out from behind cover to follow.

I squeezed off one shot, enough to make the man pause and duck, so Raff could escape, then I flew out too.

But there were two other men between me and the driveway.

Raff was already reaching the side of the car.

Then there were two men coming out of the back of the house, likely alerted by the sounds of the gunshots.

I would never get past them with their semiautomatics with endless firepower.

“Fuck,” I hissed to myself, ducking behind the building, hopefully before they even saw me, then flying into the woods, finding myself thankful for the cover even as the underbrush nipped at my legs.

With the woods masking me, I turned back, finding Raff still in the driveway, likely trying to wait for me.

But the men were descending on him, the ones from the house and the ones from the garage as well.

The engine revved as he suddenly backed out of the drive at a pace that had my stomach pitching.

But, to be fair, Raff was the far better driver. Especially defensively. If anyone could drive backward at a fast pace without crashing, it was him.

I held my breath, watching as the men chased him, bullets ringing out, but none of them hit. Or hit true enough to stop him.

Because within two minutes, our car was gone.

With it, any easy means of escape for me.

But I was just going to have to find my own way through these fucking woods.

I didn’t want to go any closer to the house, so I walked deeper into the forest, wincing each time my feet cracked a twig.

Not that I needed to worry for much longer, anyway.

Once the men pulled their wounded out of the garage and into the house, the crew left unharmed suddenly peeled out of there in their own trucks.

If my math was right, it left two wounded men and one unharmed one in the house.

And no other vehicles for me to hotwire and steal to get away with.

It looked like I had a long-ass day of hiking ahead of me.

With a resigned sigh, trying not to worry too much about Raff, knowing he was capable of taking care of himself, I made an arc around the property as the cold started to seep into my bones, making me wish I’d worn a fucking jacket since it was only going to get worse as the night came on.

I couldn’t tell you why I found myself closing in on it, all I knew was, all of a sudden, that extra shed was really fucking close, and I wondered if maybe it would have something inside of it that might help me for a night, or possibly longer, alone in the woods.

I didn’t dare go around it to enter the front door, but there was a window at the side, hidden from the view of the house thanks to another giant stack of crap gathered about.

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