“Can I ask why?” She mentally crossed her fingers hoping he was the type of killer who liked to brag about the superiority of his reasons for murdering.
“Nope. And that’s enough questions.” He jabbed the gun further into her temple and Naya felt her luck waning. “I’m going to enjoy killing you.” He said, just as they got to his truck.
Suddenly, the glass of the cab door shattered, a bullet had whizzed by their heads. Naya instinctively ducked.
“Freeze!” Came the order, just as he was about to shove her in the back seat. He slowly spun, keeping Naya as a human shield although the cab door was already protecting him.
There were two officers standing in the middle of the road. Naya could see their squad car parked not too far away. They must’ve turned off the sirens as they had gotten closer.
Naya didn’t recognize either of the officers, and she guessed this might be their first situation like this. They couldn’t shoot Trevor without shooting her, but she couldn’t move with the gun to her temple. And if he removed the gun from her temple for even one second, she would react to get her weapon back.
“Put down the gun Mr. Carlson.” One of the officers called out. “Let Ms. Largusa go, and then we can work this out.”
“My name isn’t Carlson. And I’m not stupid. I know she’s a detective and I’m not interested in going to jail for life.” He tightened his hold on her arm and Naya felt her recently dislocated elbow protesting.
“We can make a deal. But you need to let Ms. Largusa go, now.”
Trevor clearly didn’t like this situation at all.
“Back up or I shoot.” He threatened as he cocked the pistol. Naya made eye contact with the cop who hadn’t spoken and raised her eyebrows hoping he noticed the signal. He raised his eyebrows back. Okay, he understood.
She blinked three times to indicate that he had three blinks before she acted. She wasn’t sure this was going to work, but she knew she was out of time and that Trevor had no mental attachment to her whatsoever. He was merely trying to save himself right now.
She blinked once. She blinked twice. She blinked a third time.
Then with all her might, she pulled herself downwards, her arm howling at her in pain. Almost simultaneously, she heard the gun fire. From where she wasn’t sure. Then her world went black.
CHAPTER 32
KEVIN
One minute he was just sitting there thinking about how much his life had changed the past twenty-four hours. The next thing he knew, Atlas was screaming on the phone as the office broke into a flurry of activity.
He sat back and watched, trying not to get into anyone’s way, but at the same time, he wanted to know what Atlas was saying and what was happening.
“Black truck? That’s him. Turn your sirens off. NOW!” Atlas screamed. “Do NOT let him know you’re coming. Naya may become expendable.”
He hung up the phone and grabbed his keys, noticing Kevin looking at him with a stricken look on his face.
“They’ve spotted her. I’ve got to go as backup. Don’t leave. Once the scene is safe, I’ll have an officer bring you.” He stormed out of the office before Kevin even had a chance to agree or disagree.
He could feel the panic seizing his chest as he thought about what Naya was possibly facing at that moment. But deep inside he knew she could handle it. She was stronger than him emotionally, she had shown that this past weekend. She would keep her head clear under pressure.
Suddenly, Atlas was back in front of him.
“Come on. Let’s go.”
Kevin stood and followed Atlas towards the door without hesitation. “Wait, what happened? I thought you were going to go help?”
Atlas shook his head. “There was a standoff. But it didn’t go well. We’re going to meet them at the hospital.”
He felt as if someone had punched him in the gut for the second time that day. “And Naya?”
“She’s been shot.”
Kevin felt all the breath leave his lungs and he felt like he was about to collapse, but somehow, he was able to make himself sit in the passenger seat of the car just as he felt he was about to faint.
“Is she…is she okay?” He whispered as Atlas started driving, lights and sirens blaring.
“She’s alive. I don’t know her condition, but they have her in an ambulance on the way to the hospital.”
Kevin wasn’t reassured. And he didn’t think he would be until he saw her for himself. The two of them didn’t speak for the rest of the ride.
When they arrived at the hospital, a bigger one than the one that they had brought Vance to a couple weeks ago, Kevin stood as slowly as possible. Taking deep breaths to keep himself calm.
Atlas power walked from his side of the car, almost to the doors already, and motioned for Kevin to follow. His expression was more somber than Kevin had seen before.
They walked to reception, where the emergency room seemed far too quiet for having someone who had just been brought in with a gunshot wound. Kevin didn’t know what he was expecting, but the movies certainly hadn’t prepared him for how normal this all seemed. As if they were just calmly coming to the hospital to visit someone who had gotten a routine surgery, not a life-or-death situation.
Atlas spoke to the receptionist in
