Still at a low crouch, Derrin pivoted around the corner of the back of the car and fired at the person behind us. There were two shots and then nothing. With all the noise around us I couldn’t tell if he had hit the guy.
Then there was another shot in the opposite direction, the bullet zinging off the fender of the car on the other side of us.
Derrin looked at me and jerked his head to the right of me. “Stay down as low as you can go, hide behind the cars and go as fast as you can to the exit ramp. The other guy is down, I’ll take this guy.”
And with that he suddenly sprang up and fired off a few rounds of carefully aimed shots. He swore, obviously having missed, and looked back down at me. He was angry now. “Go, damnit! I’ve got this.”
I shook my head, paralyzed by fear. “My cast, I can’t crouch like that.”
“Fuck,” he swore. “I’m sorry.”
Then he quickly fired off two more shots. “Reach for my other gun, it’s strapped around my calf,” he said.
I could at least do that. I quickly pulled up his pant leg and took another handgun out of his holster. I held it up to him and he placed the one he was carrying into my hand.
“There are two bullets left, use them wisely,” he told me.
The gun didn’t feel as heavy as I expected it to and fingers wrapped around it like a lifeline. I had no idea how to shoot one of these but I wasn’t afraid of it. I would gladly use to it protect our lives.
Derrin quickly dropped to a crouch beside me as he slid the hammer back on the other gun. “The guy is still out there, scarface,” he said, his voice rough and low. “He’s hiding behind the concrete pillar. His aim isn’t the best and that’s what’s saving us right now.”
“I’m pretty sure you’re what’s saving us right now,” I said breathlessly.
His lips twisted into a grim smile. “We’ll see. We have to make a move or he won’t come out and we’ll be stuck here.”
“Someone has to come and stop him, security.”
“I think the security has run with everybody else.”
“What about Javier?”
He sighed and quickly wiped the sweat off his brow. “If your brother is still here, he’s hiding in his car behind bulletproof glass. I’m sorry Alana, but he would not come back in here to get you.”
I had a feeling that was true. It still hurt though.
“Are you ready?” he asked, leaning in closer. “Go left and left again. You run as low as you can and I’ll stay up as your shield, all right? When I yell, we’ll dart across the lane and then keep going till the end. We’ll hit the stairwell to the offices. I can open it and lock it from the inside. The place is empty. It’s our way out.” He took in a deep breath. “Ready?”
I managed a nod, my grip tightening on my gun.
“Now,” he said and he popped back up. Shots were fired in both directions but I ran hunched over as low and fast as was possible with my injuries. I could feel Derrin right behind me as I turned to left at the hood of the car, running flush along the lane. I couldn’t help but scream every time a shot was fired off, whether it was from Derrin or scarface. Everything was so much louder down here, so much deadlier. I felt like a rat caught in a maze with several big cats on the loose.
“Head across!” Derrin yelled, now at my side, though in a second he was pivoting around again to take another shot. I darted across the lane, nearly getting hit by a car that suddenly had to slam on its breaks. The person honked, yelling but the minute they must have seen Derrin with the gun, they shut up.
We slipped in between cars, ran across another lane and then finally reached the door to the office stairwell. I was practically flat against it, Derek pressing me against the door and shielding me as he quickly stuck a makeshift key into the lock with one hand while aiming his gun behind us with the other.
“Hurry,” I couldn’t help but whimper. The lock didn’t seem as easy for him now as it was earlier. Then he dropped the key, which clattered loudly on the concrete.
“Fuck,” he swore. He gave me a look like he expected me to drop down to get it but I couldn’t do that quickly with my cast. So he rapidly ducked down and it was at that moment that I saw scarface appear.
He was dead ahead of us, standing between cars on the other side of lane, gun being raised, aimed right at me.
There was no time for Derrin to stand back up and protect us.
Before I knew what I was doing, I was aiming the gun at scarface, holding it with shaking hands.
I pulled the trigger.
The first fire had a bit of kickback and I missed so as soon as I could, panic and adrenaline coursing through my veins, I pulled the trigger again just as he was about to pull his.