The alley mouth was just ahead. It would spit me out onto the sidewalk. I could turn left, head toward a more densely populated section of the city. I had to hope those bastards either wouldn’t follow me there, or wouldn’t kill me in front of witnesses.
As I reached the end of the alley, someone stepped out from the shadows.
A single scream tore from my throat. I threw up my hands in self-defense. The duffel flew from my grasp and scattered bottles on the ground.
Rolan caught me as I barreled into him. He grunted, but held me until I came to a stop. “Easy girl,” he said, pushing me aside and dropping to one knee.
Bandana flew into the alley behind me. He barely had time to open his mouth as Rolan squeezed the trigger and put a bullet in his head. Blood splashed onto the wall behind him as he dropped and the deafening pop of the gun set my ears ringing.
“Come on.” Rolan grabbed my wrist and tugged me away.
“Wait. The pills.”
“Fuck the pills. We’ll get the rest.” He pulled me onto the sidewalk and I stumbled after him.
“Where’s Owain?”
“Nearby.” He took out a cellphone and tapped at the screen. He must’ve sent a text, because he slipped it back into his pocket. “I was on duty when they went in.”
“There are two more inside with Sander. Please, you have to help Sander.”
“Fuck Sander.” Rolan pushed me toward a boxy black sedan. “Get in. I’m taking you somewhere safe.”
“But, wait, they’ll get the pills. And Sander’s still in there.”
“Get in the fucking car,” he growled.
I ripped my hand away from him. “Those pills are money in my pocket. You don’t give a shit if we lose them, but I do.”
“Wait,” he said as I turned to head back to the alley.
I knew I was being stupid. There were plenty more pills to sell and my cut of what was lost back in that alley wouldn’t amount to all that much. But my ears rang and my hands shook, and I kept thinking over and over that if I couldn’t sell the pills then this would all be for nothing, and Sander was still in there, and I couldn’t abandon him, and—
A car came screaming to a halt behind me as I reached the mouth of the alley.
Bandana’s corpse lay in a spreading pool of blood. Nose stood over him, gaping down at his dead comrade. He turned to stare at me and raised a gun.
I saw it all in slow motion. Nose couldn’t be older than twenty. Acne covered his right cheek, and a scar ran down his left. I wondered how he’d gotten it, how he ended up in that motorcycle gang at such a young age. He looked like a baby with softness still in his cheeks.
The gun he lifted was too big for him. The silver barrel was long and polished. I wondered how many times he’d fired it and if he was a good shot. A snarl ripped across his lips as his other hand came up to grip the handle. He fell into a firing position and I took a single step backwards. That was all I had time to do as Nose took aim at me.
He wanted to kill me. He was going to do it. He wanted revenge for his dead friend and I couldn’t do anything to stop it.
I was stupid. So, so stupid, and I hated myself for it.
Nose pulled the trigger a split second after something slammed into me from behind.
I heard the gun go off at the same time I heard a grunt of pain. I felt the wall smashed up against my shoulder and I let out a shocked breath. Owain was there, big and angry, a red gash on his arm. He spun, dropped down to his knees, and fired off two shots. Nose staggered back as red bloomed across his chest. Nose fired wildly and the bullets ricocheted off the alley floor as he staggered back then fell on top of Bandana’s corpse.
Owain stood and moved forward. “Stay there,” he said.
I gripped the corner of the building and stared as he walked down the alley with his gun ready like a predator.
Rolan appeared at my back. “I told you not to move,” he said. “You fucking asshole.”
“I couldn’t leave them.” The words felt weak coming out of my lips and I wished I could shove them back in.
“He’s going to blame me for this.” There was an edge of fear in his tone.
Owain stood over the bodies and fired his gun one more time before turning. He ducked to the left as gunshots rang out from inside.
The third man.
“Owain!” I yelled and took a few steps forward.
“Stay there,” he said, voice angry, and ducked down then fired into the room. He fired five times then moved into the room. Three was a long silence then one more gun shot.
He came back out a few seconds later and tucked his gun back into his waistband as he walked toward me. His eyes burned with a strange, cold anger.
“Clean this up,” he barked at Rolan. “Make sure Sander’s alive and has his story straight.”
“Got it.” He walked off without another word.
Owain stood there staring at me, his hulking body tense, his eyes cold and dead.
The eyes of a killer.
“Get in the car.”
There was no discussion. I didn’t bother trying to argue. I let him lead me away, back into the street. I got into the passenger side and leaned my head back as he got behind the wheel and drove back home.
13
Owain
I managed to keep
