Page 131 of Every Broken Piece
Holy crap. They shot Pax.
The man behind me wraps his leg around my ankle and yanks my leg out from under me. I cry out as my face bounces against the cold pavement.
I roll onto my back, but my backpack hinders me. I kick out, landing a blow to someone’s knee.
“Shut her up,” the man with the gun says.
The third man backhands me. My head whips to the side as pain explodes in my cheekbone then I’m yanked up by my arm.
Pax is curled on his side, clutching his leg, his hands covered in blood that's seeping into the pavement.
So much blood.
Too much blood.
This isn’t good. This is so bad.
The man with the gun points it at Pax’s head and turns beady, familiar eyes to me.
“Your choice, Theresa.”
Bad things happen, Theresa.
Only two people call me Theresa. Sandra and Ryan Carter.
“Please don’t.” I can barely see through my tears but I’m not above begging. I sink to my knees to plead for Pax’s life. “Please,” I whisper.
“Come with us quietly and I won’t shoot him.”
He’s supposed to be in Chicago. Hardwick promised he was in Chicago.
My butt lands on my heels and I hang my head in defeat.
Gabe.
I’m so sorry, Gabe.
“I’ll go,” I whisper. “Just don’t shoot him. Please.”
“No,” Pax grounds out between clenched teeth. “Tess.”
I won’t let them hurt Gabe’s son. I’ll end this now. No more running. No more hiding. No more being used by my mother. Just, please God, let it all end and save Pax.
I lift my head to glare at Carter. “I’ll go.”
I think of Gabe sitting at the restaurant waiting for us. We should have never dared to reach so high. I should have never allowed myself to hope.
“I don’t have your money,” I say to Carter.
“No, but your boyfriend does.”
I lift my chin. “I won’t let him give you the money.”
He steps closer, tips my chin up further with the muzzle of the gun. It’s still warm from the shot he fired at Pax, and I flinch. “You don’t have a choice, Theresa. Neither will he.”
He jerks his head, and the men drag me toward the van.
I struggle against their hold as terror locks its claws into me.
