Page 121 of Veiled in Brick

“Why didn’t we think of any of this before?” Liam groaned from the seat in front of me.

“We pulled an all-nighter,” I told him. “Got run off the road and shot at already, I’m pretty sure none of us were thinking straight.”

“How likely is it that Cas actually gets him to her place and when we get there, we can surround him from all sides or some shit?” Liam offered, “Tackle him and tie him up with kitchen twine, I dunno.” I clenched my jaw, and it seemed that the rest of the group did the same. Liam threw his head back, thumping it on the headrest. “Yeah, I didn’t think so.”

“Ah,” James muttered, “not to mention—she’s about to show up at her place under the guise that it’s moving day.” He waved the hand that wasn’t holding the wheel in front of his face in a jazz hands motion. “And when they walk in the front door, nothing will be boxed.”

My stomach sank. “God dammit.”

The car began to bounce from the texture of the gravel beneath us, and the promise of being closer to the rapidly unraveling situation was one that we couldn’t avoid.

James groaned, “Shit.”

We all followed his line of sight to the side of the road up ahead. Cassie’s Jeep was parked—or, more likely, had been quickly redirected into whatever grass resided on the side of the road. Wet, muddy divots in the ground leading up to them, the tires appeared to have slid to a quick stop. The passenger and driver’s doors were ajar, hinting at a rapid exit on both parts.

“Okay,” I said in an exhale, “okay-okay, um—split up; we need to split up—”

Liam looked to me quickly. “I’m not leaving you on your own.”

We all swayed with the change in direction of James’ steering as he led us to the side of the road.

“No one’s splitting up,” James stated. The crunch of gravel dissipated beneath us, he thrust the gearshift into park, and as we all rapidly moved to exit, he twisted to face us all. “We stick together, stay quiet, and listen, yeah?”

Everyone nodded, and we sprang out of the car. By the time that we reached Cassie’s, my heart was in my throat. We all glimpsed the footprints in the muck from the driver’s side, and as we passed them, a second set was clearly trailing them, both leading into the woods.

“Fuck,” Liam cursed in a hoarse tone, and our steps all quickened as we entered the trees, listening intently for any clue of direction.

The sun had risen by now, the sky a bright blue, but the thick of the forest kept the vibrancy of it all obscured from our view. Forced to rely on our ears, we stuck together in a pack, our steps pressing as quietly as they could into the grass below. Luke walked on the left side of Claire, his arm braced in front of her as if he were readying himself to order her steps to stop. Liam was in front of me, a hand reached toward me ensuring that I was both keeping pace and remaining with the group as it brushed against my waist. James’ rushing steps were to our right, his eyes peeled for any sign of disturbance. Our breaths shook with every tree we passed—every twig that snapped under our feet. It was the only thing that rang in our ears—the only focus that pulled our attention—until James’ head whipped to the right, and he took off.

We all jogged to catch up, Luke cursing his brother in a rapid whisper for abandoning the group, only for us to find him crouched at the bottom of a large-trunked tree. Cassie sat beside him, legs bent beneath her, her dark eyes wide as she nodded at whatever James was asking her. A grip on either one of her upper arms, he glanced up and down her body frantically and then appeared to relax. He held out a hand, Cassie took it, and by the time we were reaching them, he was helping her to her feet.

Liam’s touch finally left my waist, and he stomped over to his sister. After he took a single, large, cleansing breath, he asked, “Are you okay?”

“Thanks,” she muttered to James, he gave her a curt nod, and then she looked to Liam. “I’m fine—”

“Good—are you fucking insane?” Though his voice remained hushed, his admonishment was biting.

“Liam,” I called to him, but he held up a hand to stop me.

“You could’ve gotten yourself fucking. Killed.”

“I made a call,” she retorted with narrowed eyes. “It was a bad one—”

Liam questioned quickly, “What happened?”

“Long story short,” she rattled off, “I was wrong, he did know who I was. He flashed me his gun thinking I’d be a good hostage or some shit, so I pulled over and booked it.”

“Guys,” Luke interjected nervously, “how about we just get out of the goddamn woods and back to the car?

I pointed at him. “Yes—that. Let’s just camp out at the station until they open.”

James muttered, “Where is he; where did he go?”

Cassie shook her head. “No ide—”

BANG!

A bullet hit the tree to my right, and bark went flying. Wooden shrapnel in the air, all of us dove to the ground with arms covering our heads and those closest to us. Claire was huddled beneath Luke, her hands thrown over the back of his skull. Liam squatted down in a crouch, his gaze frantically darting between me and Cassie as he was too far away to guard either one of us. James and Cassie had folded into each other, each of them attempting to press the other further toward the ground.

---