Page 6 of Beautifully Reckless

The door I escaped through minutes ago bursts open with a whoosh, and suddenly Griffin releases me, shoving me behind him, a gun already in his hand. Jared, Dee and the other man,Devon, whip around, weapons raised, their eyes locked onto the new threat.

For a long tense moment, nothing but stunned silence fills the alley as the figure in the doorway remains still.

Shifting to the side to see past Griffin, my eyes land on not one, but two forms in the doorway.

Daniel and Donny.

“Is she there?” a voice yells from inside, and my knees nearly give out at the unmistakable voice of Officer Allen. Donny’s uncle.

The moment Donny shouts “Yes!”, Devon fires his gun, the bang like a clap of thunder, echoing off the alley walls. Fragments of brick explode, as Daniel and Donny yelp, diving for cover back inside the passage while Devon chuckles darkly.

“Fucking pussies.”

“Time to go,” Jared snaps, spinning and shoving Griffin aside before he grips my arm, dragging me down the alley.

“Seriously, Crow. You really gonna snatch my mark?” Griffin growls from behind us as Dee falls into step.

“I was, but now I’m helping you keep her safe by taking her, so you two can hold them back.”

My eyes widen at his words, and I glance back over my shoulder as we hurry away, just in time to see Officer Allen step out, his gun raised at Devon.

I squeak and duck as gunfire erupts behind us, and the three of us take off running, the other two men in suits covering our retreat.

“Hurry,” Jared hisses, passing me off to Dee, who grabs my other arm and pulls me forward faster as Jared shifts behind us and starts firing back.

“Oh my God,” I cry out, terrified Jared and Dee are going to get hurt, and dare I say, even a little worried about the men in suits too.

As we near the mouth of the alley, Dee points to the left, and we bolt that way, where she darts forward to yank open the door of a ute parked on the street.

She gestures again, holding it open, and I nod quickly, climbing in before she follows, sliding in next to me on the bench seat.

Gunfire echoes out of the alley as Jared sprints towards us, the driver’s door flying open before he leaps in and fires up the engine.

“Everyone okay?” he rushes out, slamming the ute into gear and gunning it out of the parking space.

“Yes,” I squeak before a thumb pops up in front of me, and I realise it’s Dee’s way of letting Jared know she’s okay while he frantically bounces his gaze between the road and the rearview mirror.

A ragged breath shudders out of me, and I realise I’m trembling.

Reaching around me, Dee grabs the seatbelt and pulls it across me, clicking it into place.

“T-thank you,” I murmur, tears blurring my vision as I try to look at her.

What the hell just happened?

One minute I was doing laundry, and the next I’m being hunted down by too many people to count, nearly kidnapped by suit-clad men in an alley, and then saved by a five-foot-nothing mute girl and a six-foot-something boy I grew up with.

“How? What?” I shake my head, trying to make sense of it all as hot tears track down my cheeks. “I don’t understand.”

My gaze shifts to Dee.

She’s a small, mysterious girl who never speaks and hardly interacts with anyone, but who once approached me at the school swimming carnival, and used her phone to type out messages to find out if I needed help.

She knew.

All my friends knew I wasn’t in a good situation. They all wanted to help. Lexi tried, but I begged her not to because every time they tried, Daniel made me pay.

I felt so ashamed of what was happening. I couldn’t wrap my head around what my parents were forcing on me, or why having sex with Daniel was such a big deal. All I wanted was to make them happy and for things to go back to the way they were before I ever let Daniel Stone near me.

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