Page 5 of Blue

“We need to go,” I said.

“Blue, it’s all I have.”

Cruz jumped out of the window. I carried her to the ledge, slipped her legs through, and handed her to Cruz. He grabbed onto her and carefully lowered her.

“Don’t jump,” one of the guys said and laughed.

“What the fuck is wrong with using the front door?” Sam asked.

“Fuck if I know,” Kane said. “But I’ve known Cruz long enough to trust his spider senses.”

I grabbed her pink backpack off the floor and jumped out the window. Kiss reached for me. Cruz handed her over and took the backpack. Her thin arms clung to my neck.

Kane and Sam followed us out, dropping into the weeds surrounding the trailer.

“Give her to me,” Sam said and reached for Kiss.

I ignored his request, and Cruz held a finger up to his lips.

Sticks and dead grass crunched beneath our feet as we approached the neighbor’s trailer. Late-night news blared through the screens. Staying out of the swath of light from the window, we rounded the rear of the trailer.

Cruz gripped my shoulder. Two unmarked police cars rolled slowly down the street, passed in front of us, and stopped. Another vehicle approached from the cross street, shutting down their headlights as they neared the trailers.

A large box vehicle rolled to a stop. S.W.A.T. was on the scene.

“We need some distance between us and them.” Cruz crouched and pointed to the next trailer down.

Branches snapped in the distance. Cruz flattened out on the ground. Sam and Kane dropped and did the same. I ducked next to a pickup truck tire and, holding Kiss close to my chest, leaned against the front panel of the vehicle.

In the past few weeks, she’d lost weight and lost her color. She was fragile in my arms, a butterfly with broken wings.

I stilled. She heard it, too. Her hands balled into fists and clutched my shirt.

“Shh.” I slowed my breathing but still drank in the scent of her. Not the vile stench of drugs, but the underneath softness of the insecure girl. Contrary to what Bullet thought, Kiss and I had never been anything more than friends. I’d never fucked her, never kissed her. I’d hardly touched her.

Not that I hadn’t wanted more. Not that I hadn’t fucked my fist to thoughts of having her under me. I had her in my arms now, but this girl was a fucked up beautiful disaster.

A small group of guys in S.W.A.T. gear skirted the rear of the property. Focused on their target, they moved with stealth toward Kane’s trailer.

Sweat trickled down my temples, and my heart slammed against my ribs to the point I couldn’t quell the adrenaline firing through my veins. My fluctuating breaths left me lightheaded and amped as fuck.

As soon as they cleared the adjacent trailer, I released an exhale. Cruz, Sam, and Kane crawled to my hiding spot. We huddled together.

“That was fucking close,” I said.

“Our bikes aren’t an option.” Cruz chewed his thumbnail. Cops waited up and down the street. S.W.A.T. was moving into position.

“We need to get farther away, blend in with the neighbors, and wait it out.” I raised up enough to peer over the top of the vehicle.

Kiss tapped my shoulder. “I can walk.”

She slid down my body but clung to my cut.

“Stay close to me.” My voice was just above a whisper.

“Why do you keep trying to save me?”

Because I wanted to be her savior, even if it meant becoming her tormentor. I’d find a way to get through to her. Everyone had given up on her. I wouldn’t.

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