Criminal(20)

My lips turn into a sneer, but I don't move an inch. I have to bide my time, let him think he's won.

"Why're you doin' this, man?" I glare, my arms loose and at my sides, ready for a fight. "I already fuckin' agreed to do everything you wanted, and it still wasn't enough.”

"Because, asshole. I knew you were gonna try somethin' funny. Guys like you can't be trusted," Ryder said, taking a step closer to me, his gun still in his hand.

It's me facing off against four thugs, and I have to think fast.

Where's Abigail? She'll have her car, but we're going to need to get to it, which means we're going to have to run, and we have four guys with guns waiting for us to make a move. They'd love to just shoot us in the backs.

"I wasn't gonna fuck you over, Ryder. I've been here this whole fuckin' time just waitin' for the day I had to go down for you, to pay my dues, but you won't even give me that? Three fuckin' years I was lookin' at, and I stayed here the whole time, just waiting for it, and now you're saying you didn't trust me? Why didn't you just kill me back then, huh? Why hold this over me 'til now? I could've fuckin' talked at any point and I kept my fucking mouth shut, just like you wanted."

Ryder's eyes narrow and he paces just a foot in front of my face, hands on his hips, gun at his side.

"You wanna know why I didn't kill you, you punk piece of shit? Because you mean nothing to me. Less than nothing. You were just some lost little kid and I took you in as the fall guy, but now you've got your sights on bigger things, huh? Don't think I haven't noticed how protective big brother is."

He smirks, and I've never seen him look so scary.

So cruel.

And I've seen him kill a man. I know that glint in his eyes, the way he was drawing out the moment, savoring it.

"So now, the game has changed, hasn't it? You have a reason to stay out, and put me away, is that what you think?" He turns, putting the gun square to my chest and though I try not to show it, I feel like my heart has just stopped and my life's flashing before my eyes. He cocks the pistol, his blue eyes hard and cold.

It's not like it was the last time he had me at gunpoint, asking me if I was gonna narc. That was just a test.

This is serious.

But instead, he laughs, and the thugs at his sides don't know what to make of it. They shift, uncomfortably, as they watch their boss and me.

"You've never been nothin' but a little fuckin' punk that thinks he's got his shit together when you are nothing. Nothing, Kaiden. You hear me?"

He removes the gun from my chest, nodding at Mustang. "Get the girl."





I see the boots move towards me, and I try to crawl in further beneath the van. My eyes are blurry and I'm trying desperately not to cry because I can't see and I need to be able to move and think quickly.

We're a long way from my car, and I swear, I just heard a gun get ready to shoot.

But when the guy moves towards me, I think fast, pushing my gun in towards the front tire of the van. I hide it from view, hopefully getting it close enough so that Kaiden can get it.

But how will he know it's there? I won't be able to tell him...

There's not enough time to think about it. Someone grabs my ankle, and I kick, but he's strong. It only takes him a second to grip me and tug me from under the van.

I'm still in my work clothes, but I'd taken off my heels to walk, leaving me in a slutty miniskirt and a flimsy top, dirt covering my skin. I scream and kick at the man, trying to struggle free, but it's no use. He's too strong, and he grabs me by the waist, tossing me over his shoulder as if I weigh nothing.

Seconds later I'm tossed down to the dirt again, right near the front of the van, the five of them surrounding me. Kaiden tries to move to my side, but Ryder holds the gun on him again and he freezes.

Ryder nods to the man that carried me over and suddenly there's a gun on me too.

"You thought this was gonna be you getting out, boy?" Ryder hisses, his voice filled with rage. "It's you getting out, you and your little sister, but you're goin' on a one way trip to hell," he says with a scowl. "Any last words?"

Kaiden's breathing hard, and I can see his face is red from out of my bleary eyes, and he's looking at me with such sadness it's breaking my heart. He looks so sorry, so fucking sorry, and I just want to hug him and tell him it'll all be alright.

"Yea," he says, his voice softer than I've heard it in so long. "Abby, I never meant to get you into this. Never. I always just wanted to protect you," he says and Ryder laughs, cruelly, as I'm shaking with emotion. "I love you, Princess, you get me?"

I nod, and the gun at my head cocks and all I can see is my imminent death.

"I love you too!" I practically screech, my body shaking in the dirt as I cringe away from the gun.