Page 46 of Ride Hard
Sliding down the aisle in front of me, I padded past a row of motor oil, transmission fluid, and other assorted tools and puncture repairkits.
“Where is she?” a man’s voicehissed.
Peering around the corner, I stifled a gasp as I saw a knife at Chaser’s throat. One of the men had him boxed in, the blade pressed against a very sensitive vein. He was unable to move without causing one hell of a scene with his blood as the maincharacter.
There were two of them. They both came in here together, so where was the otherguy?
If Chaser had just given me the fucking gun when I’d askedhim…
“There’s mygirl.”
I cringed as a slimy male voice purred behind me.Shit, shit,shit.
I only had a split second to react. Grabbing a bottle of transmission fluid off the shelf, I heaved it over my shoulder. The man behind me let out anoomphas the heavy container smacked him right in the face. I spun on my heel, grabbed another bottle of something, and swung it with all the strength I couldmuster.
A gallon of motor oil collided with the man’s face, and he stumbled to the side, smashing into the shelving. Bottles flew everywhere as I glanced over my shoulder, checking forChaser.
The commotion had caused the other man to falter, giving Chaser enough time to disarm him. He twisted and grasped the knife, and before I could take a breath, he slammed it home. The blade sank into the man’s chest, and hedropped.
Chaser’s gaze met mine, and he shouted, “Down!”
Like we were in some kind of coordinated stunt in an action movie, I ducked as he reached behind his back and pulled a gun. One shot rang out, echoing loudly in the small space, but one shot was all ittook.
Twisting my head, my mouth fell open as I saw the man I’d smashed with the bottle of oil fall onto his back as blood erupted from hischest.
Gasping, I looked up at Chaser, not quite believing what had justhappened.
He stared back at me for a moment, then his lip curled. Striding across the store, he moved behind the counter and grasped the attendant’s shirt. I scrambled after him, wanting to get as far away from the dead bodies aspossible.
“Mister,” the attendant wailed, the porno magazine falling to the floor. “Take what you want. Take whatever, just don’t hurtme.”
“I don’t want to hurt you, you pussy,” Chaser said with a snarl. “Those men were trying to rob my girl and me. You saw it. It was self-defense.”
I emerged from behind the shelf, my hair falling into my face. The attendant glanced at me, and Inodded.
“Where’s the security footage?” Chaserasked.
“O-outback.”
“Take me.” To me, he said, “Staythere.”
He dragged the poor attendant from behind the counter, and a moment later, the sound of breaking glass and plastic echoed through the open door. I cringed, watching as a sliver of blood inched its way underneath the shelving from the oppositeaisle.
“Sloane.” Chaser was beside me, his hand curling aroundmine.
“What did you tell him?” I asked as I practically ran behind Chaser in an attempt to keep up. Damn, his stride was long. “I hope you didn’t hurt the guy. He was just doing hisjob.”
“That was a really fucking stupid thing to do,” he exclaimed as we stood by thecar.
“Saving your ass wasstupid?”
“I had it undercontrol.”
“No, you didn’t,” I shot back. “You told me to stay in the car. You know where they checkedfirst?”
I raised my eyebrows as his skinpaled.
“I could’ve run, you know,” I continued. “I could’ve hidden like a scared little baby, but I came afteryou.”
“Get in thecar.”
He didn’t have to ask me twice, but I wasn’t done with him. Not by a longshot.
Chaser slammed the door as I clipped my seat belton.
“A thank you would be nice,” I exclaimed. “Thanks for being smart and getting out of the car, Sloane. Thanks for beating that guy’s face in, Sloane. You were a real help, Sloane. Man, you were right when you said you can take care of yourself,Sloane.”
“Shut the fuck up!” Chaser exclaimed as the car shot out onto theroad.
“I guess they call this character development,” I drawled. “I don’t know about you,though.”
