Page 17 of My Crazy Killers
A shiver moves through me. I’m just in the cami and thick tights, and it’s really cold out here. There were no sweaters in my room, so I didn’t have much choice since I decided a dress would get in the way. Jagger grabs my hands and lifts them to his lips, kissing my knuckles before stepping closer and giving me a tender kiss on the lips.
“I love you, Wren. I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you better,”he signs.
I grab his hands and shake my head vehemently. “No, it’s not your fault, it’s mine.”
He starts to sign, but yelling has me turning around with wide eyes. He grips my shoulders tightly as we ease forward. The yelling gets louder, then I hear the distinct sound of a car engine. We both lean forward to peek around the edge of the building and see a truck moving across the lawn in a haphazard fashion. The sound of gunfire fills the air, and as I watch guards start to drop, I realize someone is shooting them from the back of that truck.
“Who is that?” I whisper with a mix of hope and fear.Ivan must have a lot of enemies, but that doesn’t automatically make them our allies.
Jagger pulls me back out of view, and we wait with bated breath as the firing continues and the engine roars closer. I fear it’s getting so loud now that they are going to see us at any moment.
The truck comes flying into view, and Jagger quickly moves in front of me, fists clenched as if he plans to fight bullets with his hands. The truck screeches to a halt as a voice calls out.
“Get in, quick!”
I gasp, popping my head around Jagger’s side to see Pete beckoning to us.
“Pete!” I yell as I run to him. That’s when I notice Elias standing at his side, his gun aimed into the distance as he fires off a few shots. “Elias!” I cry in relief at seeing him alive.
Jagger grips me under the arms and lifts me toward the back of the truck as Pete helps pull me in.
Then he reaches down for Jagger’s hand and hauls him inside.
“Get down in the back behind those empty crates,” Elias instructs, and I do as I’m told, seeing there is no time for a reunion right now.
Jagger doesn’t join me, and I see Elias toss him a gun. I find a spot to sit down beneath a crate with no sides and take a moment to take a few deep breaths. The space is small but not too small that it makes me panic.
“You can do this,” I whisper to myself. “You’re not trapped.” However, it is dark back here. I remind myself that three of my guys know I’m here and they’re only a few feet away.
Elias isn’t dead.
I squeeze my eyes tightly shut, letting a few tears of relief slip free. The truck bounces along the ground, and the gunshots ring out, and I cross my fingers that we can get out of here uninjured. How are Pete and Elias even here right now? How did they possibly make it to Russia? Did that mean Sly and Dex were here, too? One of them must be driving the truck, right?
I wish I could look, but the wall between me and the cab is solid metal, so for now I just sit and wait as shots ring out around me.
The gunfire picks up, and I hear the sound of bullets hitting the side of the truck. I duck my head between my knees and throw my arms overtop, hoping to make myself as small a target as possible.
“Please don’t let them get hit,” I whisper to whoever’s listening.
“Hang on!” Someone yells, and I can’t tell if it came from the front, the back of the truck, or inside the cab.
A long bang rings out as I jerk backward, hitting my back on the metal wall and crying out in pain, not having expected that. I inch away from the wall again, wishing I had something to hang on to, when we go over another bump, then suddenly the ground must even out because the truck starts to move smoothly. A few more shots ring out, then silence surrounds me; only the sound of the engine reaches my ears.
A sudden loud bang rings out, making me jump. As I’m shrouded in darkness, I realize they must have closed the back door. That’s a good thing, right? But my heart starts hammering with the feeling of being in a small space and unable to see my surroundings.
“Wren?”
“I’m here!” I yell back to Pete.
“Hold on, it’s hard to see, but we’re making our way back to you right now.”
“Are any of you hurt?” I ask with worry. There’s a pause, and I start to panic. “You are, aren’t you! What happened?”
Pete chuckles softly, and I can picture him shaking his head. “I’ll be fine, just a small graze on the outside of my arm. I barely feel it.” I press my lips together in annoyance. He is probably underplaying it, but he sounds fine.
I hear the sound of a crate being dragged and the heavy breathing of the three of them as they move closer. “Alright, angel, almost there, can you reach for me? I can’t see a damn thing back here.”
“I’m here,” I tell him as I stretch my arms out, blindly reaching for him. Something touches the back of my fingers, then his hand is gripping mine tightly.
