Page 51 of Atlas
I’d taken a stack of cash from the safe, and without taking my eyes off the Buick, I reached into the bag and pulled out a hundred-dollar bill. “Here.”
“Thanks, man, I’ll stay here and wait for you. Maybe you can…” I didn’t hear his suggestion as I’d already left his car. With my heart in my throat, I walked as far in the shadows as I could.
I could hear Niklavs screaming and shouting in the car further down the street, and then the car door was kicked open, and he got out. I felt the dark side of me stretch his claws when I saw the gun in his hand. He moved with aggression, ripping open the passenger door with the tinted windows. I saw Jolene’s feet kicking at him, but he still reached in and pulled her out by her hair.
A siren grew in volume and made me look up just in time to see a police car pass the street we were on.
Jolene was still fighting Niklavs, and I couldn’t wait any longer. With him focusing on her, he had his back to me. I’d never attacked a man in my life, but I wouldn’t stand by and see an innocent murdered again.
Niklavs growled with pain, before hissing. “You fucking bitch.” And then he raised his gun and swung it against her head.
I jumped him from behind and knocked him over.
Jolene lay limp on the ground when I fought the man. My only advantage was that I’d surprised him, that I was taller, and that I had years of suppressed fury to take out on him. With his being a former professional boxer, it was never a fair fight, but in my state of rage and with all the adrenaline pumping through me, I kept fighting even though I felt him hit my face and my body.
My knuckles hurt from hitting him, and when he managed to get on top of me, he was dripping down on me with blood from his nose and eyebrow.
His eyes were crazed like he was on drugs, and he kept hitting me until a loud gunshot sounded that made him stop with his fist raised mid-air.
“Get off him.”
Niklavs raised both hands and moved slowly back.
“Get down on the ground, or I’ll shoot you.”
When Niklavs moved, I saw the Uber driver with a gun in his hands, pointing it at Niklavs. His eyes were wide, and his hands were shaking.
“Stay down,” he shouted, his voice sounding more confident than he looked.
Jolene was still passed out. Calling her name, I crawled to her. “Jolene, wake up.”
“About fucking time,” the Uber driver exclaimed when a police car came speeding down the road.
From there on, everything went fast. My consciousness was slipping away; I made out the voices of a female police officer talking with the Uber driver, who explained what I’d told him and what he’d seen. Paramedics arrived and took Jolene from me. Someone shone a light into my eyes and asked me questions that I couldn’t answer. And then I was lifted onto a stretcher and brought into an ambulance as well. Only Jolene wasn’t there.
“Jo,” I muttered.
“What was that?” The paramedic next to me leaned in.
“Where’s Jo?”
“Was the man’s name Joe? He went with the police. You broke his nose and his eyebrow, but it wasn’t enough for him to have to go to the hospital.”
I didn’t care about Niklavs and tried again. Every word hurt, but I pressed them out. “Jolene. Where is Jolene?”
“Try not to speak. Your friend is on her way to the hospital.”
“Is she alive?”
“As far as I know, yes. The Uber driver helped us identify your bag, and we found your passport, so we already know your name and address. No need for you to speak. I can tell it hurts.”
I felt myself slip, and his voice grew distant.
“Stay with me. We’re almost at the hospital.”
CHAPTER 12
Concussion
