Page 100 of Bad Seed
Fuck! A bullet grazes my arm, splitting my skin. Biting my tongue, I leap down the stairs.
“Keep shooting!”
“What if we hit him?”
Ugh! With a painful thud I land and scramble for the closing door.
“It’ll slow him down.”
“What if we kill him?”
No, no, no! It’s closing too fast. Sucking in my gut, I twist to the side and dive. Metal scrapes over my bare chest, threatening to spring back open and ruin everything. Warm hands grab my arm and yank me the last few inches. The door slams shut.
Panting, I’m tempted to listen to them falling for the ruse, but we have to keep moving.
“Aubry, your arm!” Sadie gasps, trying to mop up my blood with her palm.
“It’s fine,” I grunt. “We have to get out of here.” Taking her hand, I try to run but my legs scream at me. I couldn’t shake off that fall as much as I wanted to. With a hobble, I make it down the ground floor hallway. People linger by doors, or start to come out of their rooms. I reach over and slam their opening doors, or shove them back in. No one can see us. No one can know we’re here.
“Where is here?” Sadie asks as we come upon the door.
With a deep breath, I fling it open.
A wall of sound and lights hit us with the fury of Dionysus. Sadie’s eyes go wide as she steps from the hotel beige carpet onto the tell-tale red.
“This is a casino? We’re in a casino?”
“Welcome to Vegas,” I say. Whatever happens in Vegas follows you to your grave. Running in a casino is the surest way to get every guard on our asses.
Taking a deep breath, I drape my arm over Sadie’s shoulders and put on a smile. “We have to blend in.”
“Aubry?”
I walk her onto one of the slots floors. Cabinets lit up with promises of money from raiding Grandma’s cookie jar, or stealing out of the fridge blare around us. A handful of waitresses in the same grocery apron wander around, drinks at the ready for the serious gamers. Some are locked in at the slots, others are standing, furiously chain smoking while weighing how much more they cannot afford to lose—then doing it anyway.
“We’re just two tourists on our first time in Vegas.”
“Aubry.”
People glance over, then return to their slots. Then the heads turn again. Jaws drop.
Shit. I forgot Sadie’s in her underwear. Are they fucking leering at her? Not the time. “Blending. Blending. They’ve seen weirder here,” I assure her.
The heads that were turning to follow us start to whisper, then shout. Then people are standing. What the…?
“Aubry!” Sadie cries out. “You’re naked!”
Oh, crap! The waitress went to get security.
“Run.” I spin on my heel and a man grabs my shoulder. Sunglasses. Dark suit.
“I’ve got—”
My fist flies, flattening his throat. The guy gasps for air when I slam into his stomach and send him toppling. But there are others by the bistro. Looks like a meeting getting out. Fuck. I need a distraction. A diversion. A…
Perfect. I grab the gun out of Sadie’s hands. “Hey!” she cries out as I point it at the ceiling.
“Everyone!” I shout over the stares, then fire off a round. “Start running!”
