Page 104 of Brick

She tested each step before she took it, making sure the floor could support her weight. Within a couple of minutes, she found the stairwell and made her way to the bottom floor.

Relief washed over her when she finally pushed her way out and saw her brother’s face. She should have known he’d be here. He’d always promised he’d be there when she needed him.

But why was he raising a gun?

Suddenly, an arm clamped around her neck. A shot thundered past her, and her brother fell to the ground.

A voice she knew would haunt her for the rest of her life, whispered in her ear. “You think you’re so smart,” Tre hissed. “I’m going to fuck your dead skull, you bitch.”

She didn’t think about it. Her body took over.

Tuck. Push. Step. Duck.

She tucked her chin beneath his arm, pushed back with her shoulder, stepped out, and ducked under his arm. Then she did exactly as her sister had instructed… She ran like hell.

***

Brick

Brick stopped breathing when Tre put Will on the ground and grabbed Olivia from behind. No way he could get a clean shot from here, and he wouldn’t take the chance of hitting her with a stray bullet.

His only hope was the element of surprise. He stalked forward.

But suddenly, his girl took off running. Twisting and turning, she’d escaped Tre’s hold and fled his way. He knew instantly the moment she recognized him. Her face transformed from terror to hope.

He fired as she scurried behind him. The bullet clipped Tre in the shoulder, and the bastard’s gun clattered to the ground. Not good enough. He pulled the trigger again, but nothing came out. He reached in his pocket for another clip, but there was nothing there.

Fine. He’d kill the sick fuck with his bare hands.

Roaring, he ran full tilt toward the man who tried to take away his girl. Tre was already reaching for his gun. A shot went off, and fire tore through his bicep, but he didn’t slow down. He couldn’t. He smashed into Tre at top speed. A hard right-hook to the jaw dropped the kid to the ground.

The calm detachment he wore like a second skin burned away with the fire of his wrath. He kicked Tre in the ribs, the steel toe of his boot crunching bones beneath it.

He reached down and clamped his big hand over the front of Tre’s face, lifting him back to his feet. Then locking his fingers around Tre’s forearms, he shook the bastard violently.

“You wanted the thug life, you dumb fuck? You think you’re all badass trying to destroy something perfect?” he bellowed in his rage and began slamming his fist into Tre’s face. “You. Will. Never. Touch Her. Again.” He accentuated each word with another hit.

Tre had long stopped struggling beneath him. The only sound was the slapping of his knuckles against wet, meaty flesh…until Olivia whimpered behind him.

Grasping his enemy’s head, he twisted until he heard the familiar crack of a broken neck.

Tre had asked him once what his favorite way to kill someone was. Now he had an answer.

He released his opponent, dropping him gracelessly to the ground.

Sobs wracked Liv’s small body as she ran to her brother. “Will,” she cried. “Oh my God, Will.”

He closed the distance between them in a few long strides. “Let me check him.”

She dropped down beside him as he knelt next to her brother and took his pulse. It was faint, but unmistakable. “He’s still alive.” He handed Liv his phone. “Call 911.”

A quick inventory of Will’s body revealed the bullet had hit him in the chest. It was on the right side, though, so it didn’t hit the heart. The lung might be another story. Distantly, he heard Olivia begging for an ambulance.

Shivering against the chill in the air, he pulled off his dark flannel shirt and put pressure against Will’s wound. He couldn’t do anything to help the man breathe, but he would do his damnedest to make sure the guy didn’t bleed to death.

Olivia crawled to the other side of her brother, whispering nonsensical words of love, her tears dripping down into his blonde hair. Soon, the plaintive wail of a siren grew close, and the running footsteps of paramedics moved in behind them.

Gratefully, he stepped out of the way, into the beam of a police flashlight. “Put your hands in the air,” the young cop shouted.

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