Page 154 of The Friend Scheme

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Two figures appear in the doorway.

It’s Luke. And Dad.

Luke’s dragging Dad out. He’s limp. They reach safety, and both of them collapse against the alley wall. I run over to them. Luke’s clothes are steaming, and he’s coughing a lot. But I check his body, and he seems uninjured.

Dad’s mostly okay, too. He looks like he might be in shock, as he’s not moving much, and his stare is fixed on a single point on the ground.

I’ve never seen him look like this.

I wonder if he got hit by the same shock that I did, before Cassidy pulled me out of it.

“Dad, are you okay?” I ask.

“He got trapped in the bathroom,” says Luke. “I had to put out a fire by the door. There was an extinguisher under the bar.”

Luke’s an actual hero.

I turn my focus back to Dad. He still looks out of it.

“Just breathe,” I say, trying to keep my voice as even as possible.

He takes in a few deep breaths. That seems to break him out of hisdaze, and he faces me. I’m expecting him to be mad, but honestly, it’s relief I can see in his features.

He waves a hand. “Stop crowding me.”

He’s going to be fine.

We got so lucky.

And then it hits me. The Donovans. They’re the reason I almost lost my father and my brother. Now that I know Jason isn’t a member of the family, I have no sympathy left for them.

I think I might hate them.

“Everybody down!” shouts Vince.

Just as he says that, I notice headlights at the end of the alley farthest from us. It’s a sleek silver car, blocking our path.

The headlights turn off.

What are they doing?

Has someone come to help us? If so, why are they blocking the alleyway? And why would Vince tell us to get down?

“Run!” shouts Vince.

Everything goes still.

The window lowers. It happens in slow motion.

Other people figure it out a second before I do.

Everyone around us scatters. I see the nozzle of a gun poke out of the window.

Luke grabs my wrist and pulls me into a stumbling run toward the other end of the alley. We go as fast as we can, running close to the wall. I turn back and see Dad right behind us.

I hear the gun first.

Then I feel it.

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