Page 45 of Possession

After sweeping right then left, Roman tromps toward O’Neil. Shoving his gun in the back of his pants, Roman bends down to O’Neil, takes his head in both hands, and delivers a vicious twist. O’Neil’s body flops and slumps as Roman lets go. Hegrabs O’Neil’s gun from its holster and straightens. He scans the parking lot again, then he motions to me.

I burst through the doorway and run to his side. As I arrive, O’Neil’s radio puts out, “O’Neil! What happened? Are you—”

I’m focused on that, so when Roman shoves me down, I’m unprepared. I sprawl over O’Neil’s corpse as shots fire, both from Roman and from someone else. My arms fly over my head as several ping against the van.

“Stay,” Roman orders.

I drop my hands as he goes stalking toward a downed guard. His cleats are noisy and aggressive on the asphalt. Roman shoots the man then takes his gun and rummages in his pockets. Keys jangle. Roman scans the parking lot again before jogging back to me.

He hauls me up and pulls me around to the passenger door. He puts a gun in my hand then juggles a set of keys. He unlocks the door and opens it. I scramble inside. He slams the door shut and walks around the front of the van to the driver’s side.

When he starts unlocking the door, I scramble for the unlock button to help, but I’m too slow. Roman gets the door open first.

He climbs into the driver’s seat and slams the door. Finding himself crunched up against the steering wheel, he grabs the lever under the seat and shoves it back. He wedges a gun into the cup holder then fiddles at his feet for a second. He drops the metal cleats on the floor between us.

He starts the van and backs up. His eyes flick to me because I’m staring at him, then he focuses on his driving. He swipes sweat from his eyes as he scans the parking lot for threats. He’s still breathing in short, shallow bursts. He reaches a shaky hand behind his back and pulls another gun from his waistband. He sets it on the floor with the cleats.

At his grunt, I follow his gaze. I don’t have long to look at the black SUV that comes squealing around the side of buildingbefore Roman guns the van’s engine and goes tearing through the parking lot.

I thought I was already maxed out on adrenaline, but a fresh surge explodes through me as we race toward the exit. Roman barrels out onto a mostly empty street. It must be the middle of the night because there’s very little traffic.

A sharp turn throws me halfway out of my seat. The gun falls to the floor as I grab at the dash.

The glow of streetlights that comes through the windshield illuminates my bloody hands. I jolt at the sight, like I’ve somehow forgotten that I stabbed a man to death.

My mind jumps away from that. I scramble to retrieve the gun from between my feet, but Roman takes it from me and drops it to the floor between us.

Roman’s eyes jump between the rearview mirror and the road. He swipes more sweat from his eyes. He’s blinking a lot, still panting.

Oh my god, is he having a heart attack or something?

“Roman—”

I slam into the door as he makes another sharp turn. Tires squealing, the van careens. Roman’s wild corrections barely save us from crashing into a median.

“Roman, pull over—”

“I can’t,” he gasps. “They’re still—”

“Something’s wrong with you!”

“I fucking know that!” he shouts and makes a dangerous lane change to zoom past another vehicle.

Behind us, the SUV races to catch up. I stare at it in the side mirror for a second then whip my head toward Roman again.

He makes a gasping sound and swipes a hand across his face.

“Jesus, Roman, pull over. If you have a fucking heart attack—”

“We’re almost there. I can make it.”

“Roman—”

“I’m not letting them take you!”

I shut up because I’m making things worse. I watch the road. I watch the mirrors. Roman exits the freeway. We race down several streets to a gated neighborhood.

At least that’s what I think it is until we slam straight into the gate. As we tear along a paved drive, I realize we’re actually on a private estate. Trees tower on either side, and the black SUV comes roaring in behind us.

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