Page 46 of Once A Crime Lord

Jonathan jogged toward them. She was torn between hugging him in relief or screaming at him to stay away from her.

“Are you all right? What’s going on?” Jonathan asked.

“Jonathan, you should leave,” she said as they entered the ground level of the parking garage.

“Is there a fire?”

One of her guards reached into his jacket.

She grabbed the guard’s arm to stop him from removing his weapon. “No!”

“We don’t have time for this,” Blade hissed.

“Go, Jonathan!” she snapped.

Squealing tires sounded as two SUVs whipped around a corner and stopped in front of them. Blade reached for her arm and then shoved her to the ground. Bullets ricocheted against the bulletproof car. She pulled her gun out of her purse and rolled, knocking Jonathan off his feet.

“Get down!” she yelled as she took in her surroundings.

Gang members used parked cars for cover. Her guards scrambled to do the same.

“Get in the fucking car!” Blade shouted at her.

She army crawled toward the SUV and tried to block out the noise. One of her guards dropped with an agonized yell. She stopped and raised her gun.

“Lyla, go!” Blade barked with such urgency that she resumed her slow progress to the SUV.

She made it to the back door and reached for the handle. A bullet sparked against metal less than six inches from her hand. She dropped, and the driver’s door opened.

“Get in!” the guard shouted as he covered her.

She dove onto the back seat. As she slammed the door, she heard the ping of bullets bouncing off metal. She sat up, tossed her purse, and flipped the safety off her gun. Men were everywhere. Her guards were pinned and they were in an enclosed space with lots of hiding spots. Her eyes fell on Jonathan who was on the ground, hands over his head. He was a sitting duck.

She cracked open the door and shouted his name. Jonathan dropped one hand and looked in her direction. He couldn’t see her through the tinted window so she stuck her hand out and gestured for him to come. To her relief, he began to crawl toward her. She couldn’t watch him bleed out in front of her. When Jonathan was right below the door, she tossed it open and covered him. Jonathan leaped in and slammed the door.

“What’s happening?” he shouted and ducked as bullets bounced off the window.

“Get her out of here!” Blade roared at her driver.

Even as the guard backed into his seat, a man rushed out from behind a car. She heard the click of an empty chamber as her guard ran out of bullets. The man shot him at point blank range and stuck his ugly face in the SUV. She pulled the trigger. The man staggered back, face a bloody mess. She crawled over the console and slammed the driver’s door before she fumbled with the seat settings and locked the doors.

“What’s going on?” Jonathan shouted from the back seat.

“Didn’t I tell you to stay away from me?” she shouted back.

She looked in the rearview mirror and breathed a sigh of relief as Blade and the three remaining guards got into the SUV behind her. Blade honked and jabbed his finger at her. She didn’t hesitate. She jammed her foot on the gas pedal and careened toward the exit. She caught a glimpse of the front lawn of the hospital flooded with people before she whipped onto the highway and passed a squad of police cars.

She set the gun in the cup holder and clutched the steering wheel with shaking hands. A perfect day ruined by the underworld and its fucking politics. The hospital director, a good man, was dead. Hundreds of sick and terrified people were now milling on the hospital grounds, waiting for word on an imaginary fire. Had the gunfight between Gavin and those men spilled into the rest of the hospital?

“Lyla.”

She glanced at Jonathan in the rearview mirror. His hair was disheveled, and he was pale with shock.

“What’s going on?” he whispered.

“You should have gone on with your life and forgotten about me.”

“You have a gun.” His voice was faint with shock. “And you know how to use it.”

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