More gunshots.
“Get down!” Lo screamed as he shoved me inside and slammed the door.
I pushed myself up on my hands and looked out the window of the back door. Lo was crouched beside the car door with his shoulder pressed against it and yet another gun in his hand. With a shaky hand, I pulled at the door handle, but the child locks were engaged, and I couldn’t get out. A glass partition separated the front and the back seats, blocking any exit that way.
“Lo!” I screamed.
“Get down, Chloe!” he snapped back.
I didn’t listen. I pulled at the door handle again, still shaking. Movement caught my eye, and I watched a man and woman come out of the side door of the restaurant. The man also carried a gun and ran backwards, shooting toward the building as the woman pulled at his arm. They jumped into a red sedan at the end of the parking lot, and the tires squealed as the couple sped from the area.
Aiden and Mo came out of the door as they sped off.
“Goddammit!” Aiden turned and kicked the door closed with a bang loud enough to make me jump. He jerked his head up and looked at the jeep.
“Where is she?” Aiden screamed. He spun in a circle, darting his eyes all around the complex.
“I got her!” Lo yelled back. “She’s fine, Hunter! I got her!”
Aiden looked toward me, and our eyes met for an instant. I had no idea what he might have been thinking, only that his shoulders slumped a little as I stared back at him. He shook his head once and then turned to Mo.
“We have to follow them,” Aiden said. “We can’t lose them!”
“Not now!” Mo replied as he grabbed onto one of Aiden’s arms. “Holy shit, Hunter, have you lost your mind? The police are on their way!”
“And they’re going to do what, huh?” Aiden snapped. “They can’t do a fucking thing, and you know it!”
Lo stood and ran to Aiden’s side. In the distance, I heard sirens.
“You gotta relax, man,” Lo was saying. “You gotta go calm your girl down before she freaks out completely and says something stupid.”
They surrounded Aiden with their huge forms and coaxed him back to Lo’s Chrysler. Mo opened the door, and Aiden sat in the back next to me, but he didn’t look in my direction. He had his hand clenched into a claw where it rested on his thigh, and the other one still held his gun. His chest rose and fell as he took long, labored breaths which he hissed out through his teeth. His leg began to shake.
Suddenly, Aiden screamed.
He screamed at the top of his voice and repeatedly punched the seat in front of him until his knuckles began to bleed. I crawled to the other side of the car and pushed my shoulder against the door, pulling futilely at the handle. Aiden kept yelling, and I curled my feet up and wrapped my arms around my head.
The tears came, followed by choking sobs.
“Oh, fuck, baby,” Aiden moaned. “No, no, please! I’m sorry, Chloe. Fuck! I’m sorry!”
I felt his hand on my arm, and I lurched away.
“Don’t touch me!” I screamed as I pressed my body into the door of the car.
“Please don’t,” Aiden begged. “Please don’t do that, baby. I’m sorry—I’m so fucking sorry! I didn’t mean for you to get caught up in this, I swear. Please, Chloe…”
He gripped my arm again, pulling me away from the door and into the center of the car. I fought against him, screaming and crying. He could have forced me to him, but he didn’t. He let go, and I crawled back to the other side of the car and continued to sob.
“Shh, Chloe, please,” he whispered. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”
Over and over again, he whispered those words to me. He reached out and touched my hand, but I pulled away. Mo was calling his name from just outside the car, and when Aiden looked up, Mo shook his head slowly.
“What’s happening?” I finally choked out. “Aiden, what is going on?”
“It’s a long-ass story,” he said. “I didn’t want you tied up in any of this shit. I didn’t even want you to know.”
“Know what?”