“It’s cute that you think you have any control over this situation.” He lets out a nasty laugh. “Jack, go get her. That bitch is annoying anyways, and it’s starting to piss me off.”
With that, Jack, the poor young guy who shouldn’t be involved with this, goes to get Chloe. I have this horrible feeling about this.
“Chloe…” Jack tugs her out. She seems unwilling, struggling against Jack, but he is stronger than her, so she has no choice. She is still wearing her hospital uniform and it’s disgusting. They obviously haven’t been taking care of her. “Oh my God, Chloe, are you okay?”
Her eyes widen with shock when she sees me. I can tell that she didn’t think she would ever see me again.
“Ted, oh my God.” She looks like she’s struggling to breathe. “What are you doing here?”
“Let her go,” I growl at Jack. “Let her go now. I have a car. She can get out of here and you will never hear from her again. You don’t want Chloe anyway.”
“Ted, no,” she whispers, shaking her head hard. “You don’t need to do this for me. You don’t.”
“Let her go,” I continue. I ignore the gun in my face as I make my demands. “Chloe won’t talk to anyone about this. There is no need to harm her. She has nothing to do with this. I’m the only one left.”
“I don’t like loose ends kid.” The gang leader shakes his head hard. “Loose ends cause issues. You see, fear can only keep silent for so long, but dead lips can’t talk at all, can they?”
Nerves whip through me, I can’t let this happen. I didn’t come all this way to lose Chloe.
“Chloe won’t talk.” I’m going to have to fight. I don’t have a choice. I don’t know if I’ll survive, but if I can save Chloe, it will be worth it. I just need to find a way to attack carefully.
Bang!
Oh God, as soon as I hear that noise, I’m transported back to the moment my father was killed. I expect the bullet to ricochet against me this time, but it doesn’t. When I don’t instantly get a bolt of agony, horror grips me. I can hardly stand to look at Chloe, just in case, but at the same time, I need to see.
“Chloe?” She’s fine. At least I think she is. The bullet seems to have flown up in the air, it’s a warning shot to shut me up.”
Still, I can’t go to her. Jack has her and the gang leader with his gun stand in our way. She has tears in her eyes and I’m pretty sure that I do too. This really does feel like the end for us this time. I mouth the words ‘I’m sorry’ to her, wishing that I could make things better but now I’m not sure I can
The boss of the gang is angry now. “No more fucking around. I don’t need your bull shit, Ted. You are too much like your idiot cousin, Stix. That asshole had a mouth on him as well, and it got him killed. Well, that and his sticky fingers.”
The gun presses up against my forehead, but I don’t focus on it. Instead, I’m worried about how to get the car keys to Chloe to make sure that she has a way to get out of here. I can’t leave her helpless.
“You all need to learn to keep your fucking mouths shut, do you understand me? And you need to learn how to respect the order of things. I am not to be fucked with.”
Bang!
Well that wasn’t what I expected…
Chapter 25 – Chloe
The police. I don’t know where they came from, but they are surrounding the compound and shooting at the gang. Everyone drops, including Jack, and he yanks me down with him. Because I’m not expecting to fall, I’m winded and shocked, everything begins to hurt, but a survival instinct kicks in.
This is my chance to escape. I kick Jack off, and crawl along the ground towards where Ted was, panting heavily and sucking in far too much dust for my lungs to handle, but I don’t let that stop me. I move as quickly as I can, working through the pain.
“Chloe.” Oh my God, is that Ted’s voice? I don’t think that I have ever been so relieved to hear him. “Oh God, Chloe, are you okay? I’m so sorry.”
I spin around quickly and cling to him. I didn’t think that I would ever get to see Ted again, much less hold on to him, but he’s here. He came here to rescue me. He was willing to die for me.
“Oh, Ted, you came for me.” I’m sobbing now. “I can’t believe it.”
The cops are still in the middle of a shoot out, so Ted drags me away, pulling me away from danger. We don’t go far, we can’t, but we’re out of the line of fire. I cling to him tightly, holding on to him like he’s the only man left on the planet, and I sob against his chest hard. Ted’s holding me just as desperately.