Page 54 of Outlaws’ Runaway

Fabbri's eyes fall on me, and they're terrifying. Dark, cruel and calculating, like I'm not even a person, just a thing for him to deal with. His smile comes nowhere near those eyes. “Ms. Holland, finally. I’ve been curious about you for a long time.”

“I didn’t know you existed,” I snap, not quite able to keep myself from saying anything, but I’m smart enough to stop there.

He nods. “Understandable, and I do apologize for the unpleasantness with your uncle, but I have someone here that I think you'll be happy to see.” He snaps his fingers and one of his men goes to open the door.

Flanked by two big burly men, a woman is brought in. I blink in surprise, honestly not expecting her to even be alive anymore. “Aunt Heather?”

“Paige! Oh, he got you too.” She rushes to me, on the verge of tears. “I hoped you'd manage to keep away. I’m so sorry you got dragged into this, honey.”

I don’t know how to react. We’ve never been close, but given what she’s gone through, maybe she’s happy to see at least one familiar face. And I really am glad she’s okay. Oh, God, does she know about Uncle Walter? She might not.

Before I figure out how to broach the subject, Savage takes back over. “Okay, I have your cash. You can see the girl. What's the point of this?”

“Humor me. You seemed so concerned about my methods, so I thought it might make this a little easier for you with a demonstration that I am also capable of mercy.”

“Aunt Heather, do you know? About what happened to Uncle Walter?” I whisper. She needs to know, but I hope she alreadydoes. I don't want to have to be the one to tell her, and not right now.

She nods, tears welling in her eyes.

I put my arms around her awkwardly, and she hugs me back. I think about how I'd feel if I lost one of my guys, and they’ve been married for at least ten years. It must be a billion times worse. I'm amazed she's keeping it together as much as she is, but maybe she’s known for longer than me. Hopefully she just knows that Uncle Walter is dead, and not the gory details.

“Ms. Holland,” Fabbri starts, and both Heather and I turn to him, making him chuckle. “I'm sorry, Heather, if I can be familiar for the sake of clarity. Would you like to have a moment with Paige? I can have refreshments set up in one of our other rooms. Now that she's here and the money's here, this whole unpleasant interval is almost over.”

“Paige stays where I can see her. Until this is done with, she's not going anywhere,” Savage declares in no uncertain terms as he puts the bag that I stole on Stefano’s desk. “It’s all here, or at least most of it. I think there’s about ten grand missing from before we caught up with her.”

“Excellent, if that’s all that we’ve lost then I will count myself lucky in this situation. Is there anything left to discuss?” Stefano waves at one of his men, who comes over with a small suitcase and puts it on the table between them. Fabbri pulls out his phone and brings up an app where he taps a button, and the locks on the suitcase click and pop open. He lifts the lid, revealing stacks of cash. “I love modern technology.” He chuckles as he pulls out a stack and places it in front of Savage. “Here you go. Payment in full as per Walter Holland’s bounty, plus a finder’s bonus. I'm sure we'll find occasion to worktogether in the future, and I'd hate to have you leaving on a sour note. There’s just one more thing.”

“What’s that?” Savage asks Stefano.

One of the guards raises a hand, and before I even understand what’s happening, Burton’s head snaps backwards, blood spattering the wall behind him.

31

PAIGE

Everything happens at once.The guard that shot is dead milliseconds after Burton, killed by Poe who ducks behind the table for cover as he prepares to shoot again. I stay low as Crank pushes me behind him, just like they taught me last time I was caught in a shootout. Aunt Heather screams, and the office doors burst open, admitting more of Fabbri's goons who already have their guns out, pointing them around the room. No one has fired again, but I feel like I could reach out and literally touch the tension in the room.

This isn't how this was supposed to go.

“Did you really think we wouldn't recognize Detective Burton?” Fabbri scoffs.

“Surprised you let us in the door,” Savage says dryly. He's got his gun out, and is aiming it directly at Fabbri's head. “I don’t really give a shit about Burton, so unless there’s anything else?”

“Everyone in this room has their gun trained on you and your men. You won't even be able to pull the trigger before you're as dead as the detective. Put your guns down and I'll let you walkout, alive and wiser for the next time our paths cross.” Fabbri throws his hands out, indicating all his men around him. “You're miserably outnumbered.”

Aunt Heather clutches my hand, grinding my fingers together. “What's happening? I don’t want to die!”

“Just stay low. We'll get out of this.” Listen to me, sounding like I have any idea of what I'm doing. A few more years with the bikers and I’ll be an old pro at standoffs. Aren’t we supposed to have backup by now? This plan is feeling awfully thin. Both Burton's men and Hellfire's should be ready for our signal. Poe must've sent it by now. “There's support on the way.”

She nods quickly, clinging to me while Crank watches over both of us. “If you say so.”

Here's hoping I'm not lying.

The whole building rumbles as an explosion goes off beneath us. It gives me chills, eliciting some primal fear deep inside me. Was that supposed to happen? I don’t remember the mention of bombs. I clutch Heather closer.

“What the fuck?” Fabbri snarls. He looks towards the door, and so does everyone else.

“Stay down!” Savage pulls the trigger, and one of Fabbri's guys is knocked back against the wall, his face no longer there.

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