Page 85 of Barristers & Bones

“Corner of Cottage Grove and Maryland. Tell them it’s Luna Cross!”

She stopped, and I hoped like hell she’d make the call. I didn’t take time to slow down or look back. My little ballet flats stayed on my feet, but I could feel every hard slap on the pavement as I sprinted down the wide sidewalk.

I slid my phone into my back pocket as I ran, and untucked my shirt. Scanning the area, I approached the arterial road going past the school. Maryland Parkway was a six-lane street that cut through the working part of downtown Las Vegas. It went through North Las Vegas, down past the University, and connected with the airport. I wondered what the kidnappers’ plans were.

The metal tracker on my collar thumped rhythmically against the hollow of my throat as I ran, and my gasping breath seemed so loud. I hoped Milo had notified Roman, but I knew the clock was ticking. I’d dragged Alexa into danger, and now time was running out.

The intersection came into view, and I slowed my pace, gazing around frantically as I drew near. Feet slapped on the pavement behind me, and I glanced back to see Milo maybe twenty-five or thirty feet behind me. Then I heard a series of short honks and turned to see an oversized black SUV pull up to the curb in front of me. I held up my hands to show they were empty, and the back door swung open.

“Luna, God damn it! Stop!” Milo yelled as I dove into the back seat. A large man with a ruddy complexion and bad teeth held the door open, and when my torso was inside, he tried to shut it but my legs were still in the way. I knelt on his lap, grinding my knee in his groin, and grabbed the back of the front driver's seat. Then I brought up the flashlight taser Fenn had given me and simultaneously pressed the switch, shoving the taser into the driver’s neck.

The man underneath me punched my side and tried to shove me off, but the damage was done. The SUV had started to speed up when I tased the driver, but now the vehicle swerved toward the curb and jumped up onto the sidewalk, coming to a rolling stop.

Alexa sat in the back passenger seat behind the driver, and she pivoted around, brought her legs in front of her, and kicked the man underneath me in the face and chest. He wasn’t buckled in, and he had to grab the door frame to keep from falling out. Milo came running up to the side of the vehicle, saw the man’s hand holding onto the frame, and tried to drag him out. I heard faraway shouts and what sounded like sirens in the distance.

The man yelled, and another smaller man sitting in the front passenger seat pulled his gun up and swiveled toward Milo. Alexa screamed at Milo to duck as I moved my arm over and pushed the end of the flashlight taser into the other man’s shoulder just as his gun went off. But I moved a fraction of a second too slow, and I watched in terror as blood blossomed on Milo’s shirt.

Chapter 27

Luna

Pandemonium erupted when Milo went down. I tased the man underneath me almost as an afterthought and then tugged Alexa out of the vehicle. Our exit wasn’t graceful, but I wanted her out of that SUV and away from those men.

Milo lay on the ground, groaning and clutching his right shoulder. A red stain quickly spread over his white shirt as I stared down at him.

Alexa knelt beside him, but her hands were still incapacitated. “Luna, stay with me. We have to stop the bleeding.”

The buzzing in my ears lessened, and I came back to myself and dropped to my knees. “Yes. Okay, stop the bleeding,” I chanted. Ripping off my shirt, I rolled it up and pressed it hard against his wound. Less than a minute later, the police found us and the EMTs arrived seconds behind them. Someone eventually freed Alexa from the zip ties on her wrists, and a bystander kindly handed me an extra-large blue t-shirt with Pescadero Pool Care scrawled across the front. It smelled a little like stale sweat, but I was glad to have it.

An hour later, I still wore the t-shirt as we sat in the hospital emergency room, waiting to hear any news about Milo’s condition. I looked down at my hands and vaguely realized I had blood under my fingernails. Alexa and I blearily watched the local news on the TV mounted to the wall as we waited. They mentioned the shooting but didn’t have any relevant details.

A doctor walked out and looked around. “Milo Carlson’s family?”

I raised my hand. “Here,” I lied.

She walked over and stood in front of us. “He’s out of surgery and we’re monitoring him. He’ll live, barring infection and complications, but it’s going to be a long recovery. Mr. Carlson is lucky the bullet didn’t nick his artery.” I nodded and thanked her.

The doctor took off, and the emergency doors slid open. Fenn walked in and his lip quirked when he saw us, but I could see the worry in his eyes. “Lou, have I taught you nothing? You runawayfrom the bad guys, not to them.”

Roman and Gideon strode inside a few seconds later, and Roman stalked over and stood, looming over us. He stared down at me, the tips of his expensive Italian leather shoes almost touching my small black flats. “Milo called and said he was chasing you. That you ran away from him. Why?” His low voice didn’t fool me when I could see the vein on the side of his neck pulsing angrily.

I felt emotions rise where minutes ago I’d been numb and heartsick. They’d tried to take Alexa, and she had the split lip, lacerations on her wrists, and bruises to show for it. She opened her mouth, but I squeezed her hand and slowly stood. He didn’t move, so I carefully pushed him back a couple of feet.

Craning my neck, I gazed into his worried, angry face. “Milo is going to be okay. He’ll need a lot of recovery time, and he… lost a lot of blood.” I swallowed and Roman glanced down at the oversized, blood-stained t-shirt I wore.

“What happened?” he asked.

Gideon said nothing but watched Fenn carefully. Fenn folded his arms and kept an eye on Roman, but he didn’t interfere.

“They grabbed Alexa.” Tears filled my eyes. “We were studying together and she went to the student center for a smoothie. I shouldn’t have let her go alone… no, I should have stayed away from her.”

“It’s not your fault,” Alexa murmured beside me.

I tipped my head back and willed the tears away. Then I told them about getting the text and running. Gideon’s phone rang, and he stepped away to take the call.

Roman’s cold eyes scanned my face. “You ran away from your bodyguard and dove into their vehicle,” he repeated.

His eerie calm worried me. “You said if they ever got their hands on me, they’d probably gang rape me and slice me up before they dumped my body. I couldn’t let them do that to her.”

---