Page 93 of Deserving Lara
Lara’s heartrate increased. Her adrenaline spiked. Maybe, just maybe, they’d be able to reach the door after all.
Owl awkwardly wrapped an arm around her from his position in front of her and began to shuffle them away from the window, along the wall, closer to the door. “When I tell you, run. Get out. Hide,” he whispered.
“I’m not leaving you,” Lara blurted.
“The hell you aren’t,” Owl muttered.
“I’mnot!”
This probably wasn’t the time to assert herself, but Lara couldn’t continue to live if Owl was killed trying to protect her. Once upon a time, Owl standing between her and the man who’d made her life a living hell was the only thing that kept her breathing from one day to the next, but now? She was a different person. Not necessarily strong enough to take on a serial killer on her own, but she’d be damned if she sacrificed Owl.
Every muscle in his body was taut as he slowly inched them toward the door, Ricky and Carter’s attention still on each other and the guns in their hands.
Ricky’s gaze flicked to them, then immediately back to Carter. “What now, Grant? Your plaything’s getting ready to flee the coop. But if you take your weapon off me, you know I’ll fucking kill you the second you do.”
Carter’s face was so red now, Lara began to think that maybe hewoulddrop dead of a heart attack. It would be the miracle she and Owl needed.
“Fuck you,” Carter seethed.
And he pulled the trigger.
Ricky obviously anticipated his move, because he was throwing himself behind the couch before the bullet left the barrel.
Carter fired at Ricky again—then shocked Lara by turning his weapon toward her and Owl. Before she had time to squeak in fright or for her ears to stop ringing from the first shot, another rang out.
Instead of feeling pain blossom anywhere on her body, Lara grunted when Owl shoved her hard toward the door.
Carter had ducked behind a stack of boxes, and Ricky was still behind the couch, leaving the path to the door wide open. Lara barely avoided slamming into the door frame as she ran. She instinctively fumbled for the knob. She had to get out of this room!
Immediately, another shot rang out, this time from Ricky’s general direction. Expecting to be killed at any second, Lara almost sobbed in relief when she finally got the knob turned and the door opened into a hallway.
“Go!” Owl said, pushing her through with a hand on her back.
“Which way?” she yelled, sure she was speaking way too loud, but with her ears still ringing from the gunfire, she couldn’t regulate her tone.
“Right!” Owl yelled back.
Ricky and Carter were still shooting in the room, but Lara had no idea if they were shooting at her and Owl, or each other. She supposed it didn’t matter. All that mattered was getting the hell out of the house.
“They’re getting away!” Ricky taunted, his tone gleeful.
“It’s a fucking island. There’s nowhere to go!” Carter yelled back. “I’ll get what’s mine when you’redead!”
She supposed it was a good thing the two assholes were trying to take each other out, but Lara couldn’t help but panic. Carter was right. If they were on an island, and she had no reason to doubt that they were, therewasn’tanywhere for them to go. She supposed there had to be a boat somewhere. Carter had gotten here somehow, after all.
“There! This way, Lara. Hurry!” Owl said as he urged her toward a large room at the end of the hallway. She could still hear Ricky and Carter yelling at each other and the occasional gunshot, so she prayed they had a bit of time to find a place to hide.
Lara glanced back at Owl. He looked fierce and determined—and she’d never loved him more.
Then she noticed he was limping.
She almost tripped when she saw the blood trail he was leaving in his wake.
“You’re bleeding!” she exclaimed.
“Yeah,” Owl said grimly. “We need to get the hell out of here.”
Lara was still trying to wrap her mind around what she was seeing. Owl had one hand on her back and the other was clasped against his thigh, obviously trying to staunch the blood coming from a gunshot wound. But it wasn’t working. His pants were soaked and he was pretty much dragging his leg as he hobbled behind her. Even if they did find a place to hide, he could die from blood loss—and the trail Owl was leaving would lead Carter straight to them.
