Page 50 of On the Chase
When she blinked her eyes open again, she saw the man’s grinning face. Dropping her head, she ran her frantic gaze over her front. She wasn’t hit. The first emotion that flowed through her was sheer exhilaration, but then reality returned with a thump.
If she hadn’t been shot, then whohad?
Twisting around, her eyes found Jules first. The other woman was openmouthed with shock, her gaze ripping over Grace’s body, down to her feet and then back up again, with such a look of amazed disbelief that Grace knew Jules thought she’d been shot, too. There were no holes in her, though, and no blood. She quickly sought out Sam and Ty and Dee, but they were all upright and wound free.
No one had been shot. Grace took a gasping breath, her first in what felt like hours. Blood rushed to her head, sending sparks across her vision, and she swayed. Jules grabbed her arm, as if to help hold her up, and Grace straightened, trying to breathe normally.
Then anger roared through her, and she tried to surge forward, to tackle theassholewho’d scared her so badly, but Jules’s grip tightened, holding her back. The man with the gun laughed.
“That’ll bring him running,” he said.
“Who?”
“The cop.”
“Which one?” Grace spat out, furious. Jules might be able to physically restrain her, but Grace still had control of what came out of her mouth.
“The one who’s going to pay for my retirement in Mexico.” The gunman grinned again, showing off teeth that were brown around the edges.
The rage was back. This motherfucker was planning to kill Hugh. Without thinking, without considering the pros or cons of her nonexistent plan, Grace just acted, lunging forward and tackling the guy.
She’d forgotten the gun until it went off again. It roared too close to her ear, making the world fall silent, but she couldn’t stop now. She took him by surprise, and her momentum carried them to the rock face behind him. They smashed against the unforgiving surface, and he grunted as they connected.
The surprise wouldn’t last. Grace knew she had to be quick and thorough. Despite her too-fast heartbeat and shallow breaths, her thoughts were clear. She had to take him down before he recovered, because he would shoot her. There was no question. He would kill her and throw her off the cliff, and then he’d kill everyone else there.
Grace couldn’t let that happen.
She clawed at his face, driving her fingertips into the soft parts of his face, his eyes and nose and cheeks, making him scream. A remote, strange part of her regretted her new post-manicure style of short nails. She couldn’t help but imagine how much damage she could have accomplished with the talons she used to sport.
It wasn’t enough. He was recovering from her surprise attack. She could feel the strength in him, the intention of destroying her, and she had to stop it. Reaching down to his right hand, she grabbed his gun and twisted, hard.
There was another scream, and a tiny, bloodthirsty part of her was glad that she’d hurt him. The rest of her was shrieking, terrified and amazed that it had worked. His fingers loosened, and she was able to rip the gun out of his grip. As soon as Grace felt the give, as soon as the weapon was in her possession, she scrambled back, toppling onto her butt while keeping the gun pointed at the wannabe killer.
It felt wretchedly good, having the same power he’d taunted them with. She could shoot him. She didn’t want to, but now she was the one with the ability to end his life, rather than him taking her life or the kids’ lives or Jules’s life. It filled her with heady power, and she gave him a grin—a ferocious, terrifying grin—taking pleasure when he flinched back.
“Turn over on your stomach and put your hands behind your back,” she ordered, hating how her voice got squeaky at the end. She’d watched Hugh and Theo handcuff the biker, so she knew the basic position he needed to be in. The only problem was how to secure him without any restraints. “Hey, Tio?”
“Yeah?” She wasn’t the only one with a trembling voice.
“In this situation, is there anything we could use to tie up this guy?”
“I have a belt.” His answer was quick and sounded steadier. “There’s our shoelaces, too, and our clothes and—”
“Perfect.” She gave the stranger another grin, showing all of her teeth. “This is what you get for coming after a science nerd.”
“Hey!”
Ignoring Tio’s protest, Grace kept her gaze locked on the guy. He was looking too cocky for her peace of mind. The guy was planning something. “Over on your stomach.”
“Come on, pretty—”
“On your stomach!” she said again, louder. If he didn’t obey, she might have to shoot him, and she wasn’t sure if she could do that. She hoped desperately, for all of their sakes, that she wouldn’t fail them when it mattered. However, there was no way of knowing if she could do it until she actually pulled the trigger and put a hole in another human being.
He made a big show of slowly starting to turn, but then his muscles tensed. It was happening. The man pushed off the ground, lunging toward her in the same motion. Her finger tightened on the trigger, fear and horror zigzagging through her.
He crumpled to the ground.
Grace stared. She hadn’t pulled the trigger. She’d been about to, but she hadn’t actually shot him. She was sure of that.
