Chapter 10
804 Words
We had everything set up. If everything went according to plan, even though that rarely happened, everything would go down smoothly.
I sat on a chair on the deck of Grey's boat, biting my lip and waiting. Grey had left to make a fake trail that Luke and I supposedly left back to the boat, and Luke was setting up cameras in case we needed them.
"And there we have it," he told me as he sat down in a chair beside me with a long weary sigh. "Now all we need to do is wait."
I reached over and grabbed his hand. "I'm not sure how much longer I can do that. My nerves are stretched to the breaking point."
Luke's ringtone cut through the air just as I finished my sentence. He answered it quickly, a grim smile on his face. "Alright. Text me when they get close." He hung up and slipped his phone into his pocket again. "Grey said they've begun to pick up the trail."
My breath hitched in anticipation, and I began to fiddle with my hands, wringing and picking at them.
Minutes later, Luke's phone buzzed. "That would be the text message," he told me as he got up. "Time to make ourselves less of a target."
I nodded and allowed him to slip his shoulder under my arm and help me to the stern of the boat. We waited a few more minutes before the footsteps sounded softly on the deck.
Luke's eyes met mine, and, for a moment, time stopped. His eyes searched mine, holding a calming reassurance in them. The message was clear even as he placed the gun in my hands- he was making sure I was up for this, making sure I knew I wasn't alone in this. I gave him a small nod, and he gave one in return.
The moment was broken as Luke turned away and glanced beyond our hiding place toward the bow of the boat.
"Julie," a voice called, sending shivers down my back. I hadn't heard my birth name in a long time. "I know you're here. Come out, and we'll make this easy on you."
I swallowed hard before forcing my voice to work. "Pietro is dead. Why come after me?"
"I know revenge is cliche, but sometimes... the cliche... is the reality." I knew from the way he was talking that he had realized where we were and was closing in on us.
Luke and I exchanged a glanced before standing from our hiding place, guns pointed at the three men who were just meters away. "Stop right where you are," Luke growled.
We were at a stand off, but there were three of them and two of us. I felt unease creep up on me. This was not how it was supposed to go. Where was Grey?
The air crackled with tension, and I could almost feel it when the men made up their minds. I could tell Luke did too by the way he tensed.
Before their guns were halfway up, Luke was jerking me against his chest. The next thing I knew, cold water enveloped us. I could hear the muffled gunshots through the water.
Luke pulled me up again on the other side of the boat, holding me tightly to keep me above the water with him.
A wave of dizziness washed over me, and I knew it probably had something to do with my gunshot wound. I glanced down into the water and saw wisps of red pulling away from my side and into the current.
"Luke, I'm bleeding again," I whispered quietly.
Luke's eyes widened, and I knew he hadn't been thinking when he pulled me into the water with him. "The police should have intervened by now." His voice was desperate. "Why haven't they?"
I felt myself slowly slipping from Luke's grip.
"No, Riley! No!"
My head went under.
Seconds later, I could breathe again as he pulled me back up. "Just a little longer, okay?"
I nodded my head tiredly. "I'm so... cold."
Before he could reply, the men were on our side of the deck, staring down at us with dark grins. Their guns came up again.
"This is for Pietro," one of the told us.
The sound of guns firing filled the air. I waited for the pain, waited for Luke to cry out. It never happened.
When I glanced up at the boat, all three men lay either motionless or groaning on the ground.
"This is the police!" a voice boomed.
I let out a long sigh of relief. We were safe.
- Writer
