Page 29 of Ravaged By the Dark

Arek could feel the old ghosts of his past wanting to make an appearance, but this was not the time or the place for a meltdown. He clenched his jaw tight and slowed his breathing. He pictured the kills in his mind, and before shit in his head could go haywire, he stood in a single fluid motion—his mind calm as he stepped out from behind his cover.

With the gun raised, the black mask of the hood was the only thing he saw in the line of sight of the gun.

Bang!

The first bullet found its target. The golden empty case flew back as the gun reloaded for his next shot. With deadly precision, he swung the gun toward the last assailant. The guy holding the camera stared at his buddy’s body falling to the floor. He didn’t even get a moment to turn in Arek’s direction before the second bullet found its mark.

Bang!

The final gunman was now crumpled to the floor in a heap.

The sounds rushed him as the threat passed, and he jerked back a step as the sounds of the room began to increase. The manager turned to look at Arek over his shoulder, and he locked eyes with the man. Hazel eyes locked with his, but there was no fear, just a blank stare. Sirens were getting louder as they neared, and he needed to get the fuck out of here. He picked up the discarded casings and ran for the bathroom.

“Sweet Delilah, meet me at the back door.” Arek placed the cell back into his pocket and slammed into the restroom door. “Renee, it’s me. We need to go now.”

He bent, grabbing the third discarded casing, and stuffed them in his pocket. The last stall door opened, and she poked her head out to look at him.

“What happened,” she asked as she dared to venture further. J.J. clung to her like a little monkey, his face buried in her neck.

“I’ll explain later. We need to go now.” He grabbed the handle to the door, then remembered prints and used his shirt to wipe it down.

Fuck, fuck, fuck!

“Renee, make sure you keep J.J.’s eyes covered.” She bit her lip, worry etched in the lines around her eyes, but she nodded.

Yanking the door open, he guided them out into the hall and past the dead gunman, careful not to step in any blood. He grabbed her hand and jogged the maze of hallways, passed old arcades and piled boxes, to the back door. He used his foot to kick it open, the force slamming it against the brick wall outside.

“Get in the back and stay down,” Arek ordered as he held open the back door.

“How did the Hummer get here?”

“Later, get in.”

Renee jumped in and laid down on the bench seat, holding J.J. to her chest. He jumped behind the wheel and pushed the GPS button on the steering wheel. Little red dots representing the police cars were coming from the North.

Arek turned the truck around and veered his way to the back of the strip mall property. The exit was blocked with a large truck trying to back into a loading dock, but a curb wasn’t going to stop him. The Hummer took the small obstacle with ease, and soon, he was cruising down the highway.

Arek looked in the rearview mirror, and Renee’s eyes stared back at him. Flicking his eyes back to the road, he gripped the steering wheel hard.

If nothing else, today showed him that he should leave Renee and J.J. alone. Dark shit followed him around like a goddamn personal cloud of crap. He couldn’t bring that into her life. He’d do what he could to help her from a distance, but being a part of her life...that was a pipedream.

J.J. was asleep by the time they pulled into the driveway. He helped her out of the Hummer, her body was still slightly shaking, but her eyes didn’t reveal any fear. She was strong. He’d give her that.

“Listen, I got a text from my brother. He said that your issue with the credit card would be dealt with,” he whispered as he walked her to the front door.

“That’s great, I would ask how, but at the moment, I don’t care how he did it.” She paused outside her door. “Listen, thanks for whatever you did at the arcade.”

She didn’t meet his gaze. He knew that she knew he’d killed people, but she wasn’t saying it out loud, so neither was he.

“Renee, if anyone comes around asking about what happened today—”

Renee held up her hand and shook her head.

“I never saw a thing. As far as I’m concerned, I was hiding in the bathroom and then ran out the back door.”

He gave her a small smile.

“I better go. I’m sorry today didn’t turn out the way I’d hoped. Believe me…this was not what I had in mind when I said I wanted to take your mind off…well, everything.”