Page 24 of Ignited Heat

He points the gun at Jason and pulls the trigger. Jason's body jerks back towards me, and I try to keep him up, but he collapses beside me. Marcos starts to advance towards me, and I'm filled with rage that he dared hurt Jason. I let him get closer and closer until he is almost close enough to get a hold of me. He's still pointing the gun at Jason because he knows that even wounded, he's the most dangerous person here.

Then I kick Marcos’s hand to disarm him. I need that gun if we are going to live through this. The gun falls from his hand, and of all the things, he smiles at me again—like I'm that same defenseless person I was last time. I try to kick him again to get some distance so that I can reach for the gun.

He's too fast and grabs me by my injured arm. I scream at the pain, and he just laughs like a maniac. He pulls me closer to him and grabs me by the neck. My right hand is free, and instead of trying to dislodge the hand that is on my neck, I grab his balls and twist as hard as I can. He screams like a little girl and lets me go.

This is it, this is my shot, so I lunge to my left and grab the gun. I don't point it at him just yet. I need a few seconds to compose myself and to remember everything Jason has taught me about handling the weapon.

"Give me the gun, Cassandra."

"It's Cassie, you stupid idiot." I bark at him.

"Cassandra is more elegant, classy, but I see you've got none of that if you're giving yourself to Harris."

I try to position myself behind Jason so that I can check if he's still breathing. I've got only one good arm and have no way to call the police. No one seems to have heard the first shot, and my anxiety ratches up. Once I see Jason’s chest moving, I concentrate on Marcos. He's been inching towards me without me noticing.

"Turn yourself into the police, Marcos."

"That's not going to happen."

"What will it take for you to leave me and my family alone?"

"I'll never stop coming for you. You’re mine."

"Back away, or I'll shoot."

"You wouldn't dare."

"I'm not the weak flower you attacked two months ago, Marcos. I can defend myself now."

"A kick here and a kick there means nothing."

He takes another menacing step towards me. I'm still not pointing the gun at him. Do I want to shoot him? Only if he hurts me. I need to get Jason help. You can do this, Cassie. I'm stuck in my head, trying to get myself to hurt another human being, when Marcos grabs my bad arm again and pulls me towards him.

"You're mine, Cassandra."

I struggle against him, but the grip he has on my bad arm grows more forceful. That's when he feels the muzzle of the gun against his side, and he punches me. I fall back on my ass, but now I know it's him or me. When he starts coming for me again, I shoot him twice in the chest. He crumbles in front of me, and I kick his body away.

Getting up is hard, and I can’t seem to catch my breath, but I need to get help for Jason. I go to his side and see that he's still breathing, but it's very shallow, and he's lost a lot of blood that pools around his back. I call 911 and then call Carlos. He must have called Jason’s team. In seconds, I see them pouring out of the nightclub. They kneel down and start putting pressure on his wound so that he doesn't bleed out.

What the hell was I thinking? I should have done that. But I couldn’t think. I only heard the gun. It kept echoing in my head.

Suddenly, police and paramedics surrounded me, and the cops wanted answers. I show them where I put the gun and tell them it's not mine. It's Marcos's. Still, they take me in for questioning. Carlos wants to go with me, but I plead with him to go make sure Jason is okay.

The questioning takes hours, as one would expect. They make me tell them everything a gazillion times. I explained how I asked to be taught self-defense so that Marcos wouldn't hurt me again. They didn't like that, as if I was planning to kill him. Whenever they gave me a break from the interrogation, I asked about Jason’s condition. No news.

Finally, after what seems like an eternity, a lawyer comes into the room, saying he's representing me. When he sits beside me he tells me he's a friend of Jason's and that he's got my back. He does. He acts fast, and everything that comes from his mouth sounds professional and cutting. To my surprise, I'm released within thirty minutes of him entering the room.

When my paperwork is finished, I ask the lawyer, Wesley, to take me to the hospital where Jason is being treated. He tells me I already have a ride. Althea, Jason's partner at Midnight Heat, is waiting for me in the police station lobby.

"What's going on, Althea?"

"They're operating. So far so good, I'll take you there."

I sigh in relief and follow her out of the police station. At the hospital, my brother Carlos is looking pale but hopeful. I run into his arms, and he hugs me tightly. I gasp in pain because of my arm.

"What's wrong?"

"My arm."

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