Page 68 of Sapphire's Gem
“Or she’s the experiment at least,” Sparrow added, and I stared at her.
“That’s where you’re going with this? Making me the guinea pig?”
“Yup. You have a habit of sticking your foot in your mouth, and if you can manage to have a relationship with your hot temper, then there’s hope for everyone.”
Sparrow nodded her head at Belladonna’s statement. “You’re our test dummy.”
“Dummy is about right,” I muttered.
Hayden
Bullets flew past my head as Cassidy dragged his way to cover. I fired a clip over my head, making the gang members scatter. This was a clusterfuck.
“Cassidy, you okay, man?” I called softly.
“One to the thigh,” Cassidy replied as he yanked his belt off and made a tourniquet out of it.
Shit, that was bad news.
“Give yourself up, cop!” a gang member yelled.
“Isn’t that what we’re meant to say, you idiotic asshole?” Cassidy shouted back.
I raised my eyebrows at him. That’s what he was going with? At least eight gang members outgunned us, and although we’d called for backup, it hadn’t arrived yet.
I saw movement and fired in that direction. Someone yelled and hit the floor hard. They didn’t move again. One down. I had one clip left, and who knew what Cassidy had? My partner was pale and sweating.
“Ten thirty-four, officer down. Repeat, ten thirty-four, officer down.” I spoke into my radio for the second time. It had to have been four minutes since I last called in.
“Received, Detective, back-up on route, ETA five minutes.”
“We’ll be dead by then. Tell them to get a move on,” I snapped. How the hell was the ETA still five minutes?
Bullets whizzed over our heads. What had been a routine check had turned into a fight. We’d been called to a warehouse where security had seen some suspicious activity. It had been a quiet day, and we’d been closest, so we’d answered. We’d walked straight into an ambush.
Around eight gang members had turned and faced us before pulling their weapons and firing. Cassidy had taken a round to his leg as we dived for cover.
“Put your weapons down, you’ve not killed anyone yet!” I bellowed.
“Says who?” one of the gang members bellowed back.
“Just come out, cop, we’ll make it quick,” one asshole laughed.
“Shit,” I muttered. Very faintly, I heard the wail of sirens.Yeah, put your foot down, guys, before you end up identifying our bodies.
Cassidy blinked, and I saw his eyes begin to close.
“Hey, stay alert,” I called. I scrambled to my feet, ready to dive across to Cassidy. If he was beginning to black out, he was defenceless. No fucker would be killing my partner today. I aimed above my head, fired three shots, and launched myself to where Cassidy sat propped up. Luckily for him, Cassidy had got the better cover. Bullets hit around me as I scampered across to him. One hit me in my ribs, and I grunted. I was sure I took a second, but I had to get to Cassidy.
I reached him as I felt a bullet wing wide of my head. My ear began stinging, and I cursed. Cassidy blinked at me and weakly shoved his gun at me.
“I’ve got two clips.” Those were the last words he said as his eyes closed. A sharp pang cut through my chest, and I checked his pulse. It beat against my fingers, and I breathed out a sigh of relief. I shoved Cassidy behind me, noting the blood still coming from his leg, and gasped as my ribs screamed in pain.
I saw movement, aimed, and fired. There was a yell in reply, and a gang member stumbled into view. He raised his gun as I fired mine, and his shot went wide. He fell backwards with a bullet in his head.
The sirens got louder, and by the sound of them, there was more than one car.
“Run!” someone ordered. I grabbed Cassidy’s gun and fired mine. I wanted to trap them here so they could be arrested, but I did hear footsteps. A third gang member came into view, and I shot him at point-blank range. He stumbled, and I saw his leg collapse under him. Another member appeared, shooting wildly,and I flung myself over my partner. My body shook as a bullet hit me in my back, and I spat blood.
