Fuck me. Fucking fuck me. Goddamn it, I’d told him to wait for the cops outside.
As if getting Remi out of this hell wasn’t enough, now I had to worry about Aaron too.
Mark’s face softened for a beat before he was able to recover. “What the fuck are you doing here? Go home, Aaron. This is none of your business.”
He shook his head and kept his hands at his sides. “Are you kidding me right now? You are my business. Remi is my business. I don’t have any fucking business that isn’t you two.” Spreading his arms wide—not in surrender—he took a step toward his former friend.
“Back the fuck up,” Mark rumbled, swinging his gun from me to Aaron.
“I know you, Mark Friedman. You’re not going to do this.” That stupid, brave son of a bitch kept advancing.
My chest got tight as I watched in horror.
“Aaron,” I warned.
Aaron shook his head. “Do it, Mark. I’d rather be dead than watch more people I love suffer for no good Goddamn reason.”
Mark’s eyes flashed wide. The rigid grip he had on the gun began to loosen, and it drooped slightly so it was no longer leveled at Aaron’s head.
That was it. If I was going to make a move, it was my best chance of taking him out without the gun going off. Lunging forward, I clipped Aaron with my shoulder, shoving him out of the way. In the same fluid movement, I landed a hard fist against Mark’s temple. He stumbled, trying to remain upright, but I struck him again, sending him down to the dirty concrete floor with a loud crack that wasn’t nearly satisfying enough.
I glanced around, frantically looking for the gun, but I couldn’t see where it had landed.
Mark was out cold though, so rather than searching and allowing him time to wake up, I rushed to the cooler.
“Oh my God, Bowen!” Remi cried, launching herself into my arms.
Relief, pure and unmatched, washed through me. She was alive, breathing, talking, safe. I pressed my lips to her hairline, the desire to kiss every inch of her warring with the need to get the fuck out of there.
“No!” Aaron yelled, stealing my attention.
My heart stopped as Mark lumbered to his feet, groggy from the hit but still sharp enough to clock where Remi and I were standing.
Aaron dove toward him, but Mark batted him off like a rag doll.
My gut told me to help him, but in the moment, I selfishly had only one priority. After scooping Remi off her feet, I took off running. With a burst of adrenaline, I cleared the door as a gunshot rang out, the sound deafening in the silent space. Remi screamed and it was a dagger to my heart. I prayed she hadn’t been hit as I continued to race through the desolate dining area, dodging the few overturned tables and barstools that remained.
Another shot rang out as Mark roared behind us, “I’m going to fucking kill you two!”
As I ran, two and too had very different meanings.
Jesus. Please don’t let that mean Aaron was already gone.
Sobbing, Remi dug her fingers into my arms as she held on tight while I clutched her small frame against my chest. With my lungs screaming for oxygen, I burst through the front door. The hot Georgia sun blinded me as I shouted to the officer who was jumping from his cruiser, “He’s behind me! He has a gun!”
Two more police cars skidded to a stop, their doors flying open. As they leapt out with their weapons drawn, I made a beeline for my truck.
“Police!” the officers shouted. “Drop the weapon.”
I didn’t pause to look over my shoulder to see if Mark had followed me out into the daylight. I rushed to the back of my truck and dropped to the ground, Remi still firmly in my grasp.
“Are you okay?” I breathed as I angled my head back just enough to see her. “Talk to me, babe. Did he hurt you?”
Her face was streaked with tears, bruised, and battered, the moisture still rolling down her cheeks, but she shook her head. “I…I think I’m okay. I—” Before she could finish the thought, the shouting of the police caught her attention.
“Put the weapon down! Stop or we’ll shoot!”
Around the bumper of my truck, I watched in slow motion as Mark lifted his gun, the metal of the barrel gleaming in the sun, and aimed at the police cruisers, the officers barricaded behind their open doors.
“Mark, no!” Remi screamed, her arms outstretched as she lunged, desperate to save the man who had been her best friend.
“Don’t look!” I barked, hooking her around the waist and dragging her back in toward my chest. It didn’t matter that the man had held her hostage and terrorized her for the past two hours. He was still Mark Friedman to her, and I’d be damned if I was going to let her watch as he took his last breath.
