Packing Heat(49)

24





Rafa





It felt like a fucking trap.

I’d set up a lot of traps just like it. You lure someone into a sense of security by bringing them to a location and delivering, but once they get to that second location, bam. You nail them there.

This was exactly what I would’ve done if I’d wanted to trap the Spiders. Cassidy didn’t understand that, of course. How the fuck could she? Finding the VHS tape wasn’t proof of anything, and I was still on high alert as we turned to leave.

That was probably the only thing that saved her. As she stepped back into the living room, a person wearing all black slammed into her, shoving her against the far wall, and threw a bag over her head.

I squeezed off two rounds. They hit the person right in their body armor and knocked them over, but I knew they weren’t dead.

I moved fast, but there were more people spilling into the room. I grabbed Cassidy by the arm and yanked her behind me as the shots began to ring out. She screamed, but I threw her back behind the wall and into the kitchen, getting us into cover.

I counted three more people, plus the one on the floor. There was a back door, but I couldn’t be sure that was unguarded.

We were fucking trapped.

I grabbed the hood and tore it from Cassidy’s head. She looked terrified, her eyes wide. “Stay down,” I yelled. I checked the room and bullets rained down on me, forcing me back.

Fuck. I had to think. I quickly replayed what had happened as I heard the people in the other room shifting their positions.

And then it hit me. I grabbed Cassidy by the shoulders. “Run for the back door.”

“What? Are you crazy?”

“No. You have to go.”

“They’re shooting at us.”

“They’re shooting at me. They tried to grab you, but I stopped them. They don’t want you dead.”

“Rafa, no. I can’t leave you.”

“You have to go.” I pushed her toward the door. “Go, god damn it.”

“Rafa.”

“Go,” I yelled, and then fired off a few shots.

She stared at me and then ran toward the back door.

I covered her escape, firing shots back into the room, but they weren’t aiming for her. She got to the back door, pulled it open, and escaped into the backyard.

I smiled to myself. At least she was going to get out of this. Cassidy and the baby were more important than me. If I died, so be it. At least my kid would survive in her.

I looked back into the room. The person on the ground was gone, and only two people remained. I cursed and fired off some shots, hitting one person in the shoulder. I heard a scream and she backed off.

The other two must have gone after Cassidy. I yelled a curse and fired off some wild shots as I made a run for the back door.

Bullets hissed through the air around me. As I got through, I felt a burning pain lance up my calf. I stumbled and fell, rolling forward.

I got to my feet, whirling around and squeezing off some shots. That saved my life, because the Spider had followed me. My shots caught her in the body armor, knocking her to the ground.

I was shot in the calf, but I was okay. I looked around wildly and saw that the back gate was open. I limped through it as fast as I could. I looked left and then right, and I saw Cassidy slowly backing away from two people wearing black.

I reloaded my weapon and then fired. I hit the one person, knocking her over. The other fired back. Cassidy ran as I fell back, pressing myself against the fence. The Spider grabbed the one I had shot and dragged her away, disappearing around the corner as I fired off a few more shots.

I limped after them, but by the time I got there, they were gone.

“Rafa!”

I turned, and Cassidy was waving at me. I limped toward her.

“The keys!” she yelled.

I threw her the car keys and she disappeared again, running as fast as she could. I felt exhausted and heavy, and I realized that it was probably blood loss. I headed down the alley until I came out to the sidewalk and then leaned up against the side of a house, catching my breath.

The car tore around the corner a second later. I climbed into the back and then she began to drive.

“You’re bleeding,” she yelled.

“I’m fine. Keep going.” I tore a strip off my shirt and used it as a bandage. She drove fast, getting away from there.

“What the hell was that, Rafa? Why would they do that?”

“I don’t know.”

“They give us the tape and then attack?”

“I don’t know,” I said again, but I had a pretty good idea.

They didn’t care about me. They wanted her. As far as I could guess, their plan had been simple. Give us the tape in case we got out of the trap. That way we wouldn’t get killed by the mob. But what they really wanted was to capture Cassidy, and probably kill me.