“Fucking hit her!”
I turned at the knob and it was locked.
Locked.
I cut around to the side of the house and looked in the window.
There was Winter, circling around with some guy twice her size. Another guy leaned against the couch, smiling, calling out orders.
The dining room table was flipped over and moved.
I was about to punch the window when Winter leapt forward. She threw a punch and hit the guy in the face. His head bobbed, then he burst out laughing. Winter clutched her hand and slipped back, wincing in pain.
“My turn!” the guy yelled.
“Come on, Kyle. Make it fast, so we can get down to business with this little slut.”
I pushed at the glass. The window was locked. If I jumped at it though, it would break. If I got a good enough head start I could dive through the damn thing.
Or I could just go around to the front door and knock. Work my way in. Shoot the door. Break it down. Something.
As I debated, I saw Winter’s eyes. Those stunning blue eyes were filled with hurt and fear. I blamed myself. If I hadn't left, this wouldn’t be happening.
Winter took another swing and missed. She stumbled forward and the guy stood there. I saw his hand moving before Winter knew what was about to happen. With a solid backhand, he cracked Winter’s jaw. She was off her feet and I ran backwards. There was no other choice now.
I ran forward and jumped, tucking my head, leading with my right shoulder. I hit the window and it exploded. I sailed through the broken glass and landed down on the floor in a roll.
“What the fuck?” someone screamed.
I kicked up to my feet, already assessing the room. Winter to my right, on the floor, holding her jaw, crying. I wanted to console her, but I couldn’t right now.
The guy who had hit her - Kyle - looked shocked. His eyes went from the window to me. He was the weaker of the two. I dove at him, burying my same shoulder into his gut and drove him back into the wall. We hit with a thud and I pushed off him. Three punches later, he didn’t know what to do with his hands.
“Shoot him!” he screamed.
Well, that gave that away…
I grabbed Kyle and turned with him.
A second later, a gun went off. I felt Kyle’s body jerk as he took the bullet instead me. His mouth fell open, his eyes wide and already going dead. I walked Kyle backwards and threw him to the right.
The other guy still had a gun pointed, like he didn’t give a fuck he just killed someone. I jumped at him and knocked the gun out of his hand. He swung his foot up and kicked me in the stomach. As I started to hunch over, I threw a right and got him in the face. He went over the couch. I scrambled to catch my breath and went after him.
He was back up on his feet, stepping back.
“Who the fuck are you?” I asked.
“Fuck off,” he growled. “You have no idea what you’re up against here. Stay the fuck away from it all.”
I moved fast and gave a one, two right and left combo. I sent the guy back against the fridge. His nose squirted blood. He started to inch down. I went at him and then felt something grab my leg.
It was Kyle, slowly dying, trying to make a last stand. I turned and stomped my foot on his jaw, feeling it crush like a soda can. All I could see was him hurting Winter.
I lifted my foot again.
“Tripp!” Winter’s voice screamed.
I turned just in time to see the other guy slashing a piece of the broken window at me. I turned, offering my shoulder rather than my damn throat. The glass cut me, but I managed to swing my left hand at him, hitting him in the mouth. The glass was stuck in my shoulder, the pain white hot. I fell forward and put my right hand to the fridge.
The guy jumped at the broken window and was gone. I watched him crawl, climb to his feet, and run.
There was no use chasing him.
I turned and saw Kyle on the floor, dead. I looked at Winter. She slowly rose to her feet. She was shaking, in shock.
“Stay there,” I said.
I grabbed the piece of glass and pulled. It hurt worse coming out than it did going into my shoulder. I screamed and then threw it to the floor. I ran to Winter and scooped her up. She buried her face in my shoulder - my non wounded shoulder - and she cried.
I turned so her back faced the carnage in her house.
It was worse than anything I could have ever imagined.
The guy on the floor had his hand stretched out. Palm up. On his forearm was a tattoo. A pretty damn obvious tattoo. A skull. Under that? X.
Skull X.
That’s who had come here to attack Winter.
That meant one thing.
It was time to go after them.
It was time to find all the truth and give Aldo what he wanted.
Because all I wanted was Winter. Once and for all.
“We’re out of here, darling,” I whispered.
Fuck, I really loved her.
~
I opened the door to the hotel room and went in first. I checked the room and it was all clear. I had a bag of clothes and Winter had a bag of clothes. That was it. We were two people on the run, but at least we were together.