Before he could do as Maddy commanded, Andre stepped forward with his hand outreached. “Wait Maddy. I’ve supported you in everything that you’ve done, and I was willing to help you rough him up, but this is going too far. You don’t have to do this. ”
She tossed an annoyed glance his way before snapping back on Mason. “Don’t you dare!”
But that split second of distraction and Andre having a change of heart was all that Mason needed.
“Now Carly!” Mason shouted, dropping to the floor.
At his command, I jumped up from the bed and shoved Maddy as hard as I could. I cringed, thinking the gun would go off, but Maddy let out a cry of surprise and flew across the room, the gun falling out of her hands.
Mason jumped to his feet and rushed forward to grab me as Maddy made a desperate scramble to retrieve the gun, but Andre beat her to it.
He picked up the gun and pointed it at us, causing Mason to shove me behind him, using his body as a shield.
“Shoot him!” Maddy yelled at Andre as she climbed to her feet.
“Don’t do it man,” Mason urged, holding his hands up in surrender. “She’s just using you.”
I held my breath, thinking the worst, when without warning, Andre turned the gun on Maddy.
Maddy’s eyes widened with surprise and she took a step backward. “What the hell are you doing?” she demanded.
Andre ignored her and gestured at the exit with one hand while keeping the gun on Maddy. “Get out of here, you two,” he ordered us. “Before the cops get here.”
Relief flowed through me as Mason pulled me toward the door, but before we could take two steps, Brian stepped in our path.
“You can’t leave,” he told Mason. “You’ve got to stop this, son. You can’t keep running. You need to stay and face the consequences of your actions.”
“I did what had to be done to expose the Mayor, Dad. Maybe one day you will realize that. Now move.” Mason looked like he was prepared to remove his father by force.
Brian shook his head. “I’m going to make you stay here until the police get here—”
Andre pointed the gun on Brian. “Move,” he said flatly. “Now.”
Glowering, Brian stepped out of our path.
“Hurry!” Andre yelled as Maddy suddenly moved toward him, her eyes on the gun. He turned the gun on Maddy and she froze. Then he began alternating pointing between her and Brian.
Not needing any further encouragement, Mason pulled me along.
“You both are going to regret this,” Brian said sadly as we passed. He looked like he wanted to pursue us, but he obviously didn’t want to to take a chance Andre might shoot him. “It’s not fair to you or to Maddy!” he yelled.
As we reached the door and opened it, ready to flee down the hall, Andre called out.
“Razor!”
Mason paused, and we both tossed glances over our shoulders. Maddy was fuming, glaring at us with hatred, while Brian was eyeing us with disappointment.“Yeah?”
Andre grinned and saluted Mason with respect. “I always thought you were one bad ass hacker.”
A slight smile played across Mason’s handsome features. “Thanks.”
Then we turned and walked out.
* * *
The faire was still going strong when we made it back to the street and Mason and I quickly blended into a crowd of revelers. The only problem we had now was getting to the meeting place in time and finding someone who could patch up Mason’s head.
“You did a great job back there by shoving Maddy on cue,” Mason complimented me, holding his head where he was hit by Andre as we slowly moved through the crowd.
Mason shook his head. “If you hadn’t done that, the crazy bitch would’ve shot me, I’m sure of it.”
“You might be right, but I could see hesitation in her eyes.” I motioned at his head. “We’ve got to get that patched up,” I said with concern.
“Not before we get the hell out of here. This place will be swarming with cops soon, if what Dad said was true.”
“Are you sure?” I asked. “That wound looks bad.”
“I’ll be fine,” Mason said firmly. “We can’t afford to linger for too long.”
We walked in silence for a little before I asked, “What do you think Brian is going to do?”
“He’ll probably wait until the cops get there and tell them what happened.”
I tried to be optimistic. “Maybe he will, maybe he won’t.”
Mason snorted with derision. “He just wants to see me punished for something — for anything.”
“But you know what? I think he knows now, deep down, that what you did was right. I just have that feeling.”
Mason frowned. “I don’t know about that, but maybe. Before I would’ve said no, but he did at least seem to care that I might get shot.” There was hope in Mason’s voice as if he saw there could be a reconciliation in the future and it made me feel more than a little happy as we continued off into the night.
Epilogue
Several Weeks Later