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“Hannah!” I screamed again. “NO!”
Hannah looked at the guard, her hands clasped together, begging him. “Please. I don’t want to be a liability anymore.”
“Get up,” the guard growled at her. “Let’s go.”
“You too.” Big Red pulled out his gun and pointed it at me. “Get in the car, ma’am.”
“Don’t do it, Lauren!” Hannah yelled, her voice shrill in the empty parking lot. “She’s just going to use me against you. You were meant for great things. Don’t let her take that from you!”
“Shut up,” the guard said, disgusted. He grabbed Hannah by the shirt, dragged her to her feet, and shoved her back inside the car. He nodded at Big Red. “Get the other one. I’m done with the drama. Let’s go.”
Big Red kept his gun trained on me. He motioned to the other car, and I went, holding my breath the whole time, praying that Hannah kept her mouth shut and stayed alive.
There was a driver waiting inside the car. I hadn’t even noticed him. Where is Levi? I wondered, climbing shakily into the backseat.
Big Red hopped into the passenger seat, and the driver sped off.
Another question pierced my heart. Am I ever going to see Gabe again?
But all thought soon ceased. We didn’t even make it to the freeway. Everything happened at once. I heard something loud, something I couldn’t place. Then the windshield shattered. The driver slumped over, and the car spun wildly in a circle, out of control.
Big Red reached for the wheel, but I felt us slam against something, and the car screeched to a stop.
“Lauren! Get down!” someone outside bellowed, and then Big Red started shooting. I covered my head and hit the floor in the back.
The gunfire went on for what felt like forever. I stayed down in the backseat, cringing. But Big Red suddenly stopped—a spray of gunfire came in through the windshield, and I heard him slump over. I stayed down and kept my hands over my head. It went quiet for a moment, except for my own ragged breathing.
He must be dead. He and the driver both must both be dead.
There was more yelling but no more shooting, so I cautiously sat up. I held my breath, looking wildly around the scene for Hannah. There was no sign of the car she’d been taken in—just a van.
Big Red and the driver were both slumped over in the front seat. I shut my eyes and turned from them, wincing.
The back door opened, and Levi pulled me gently but firmly from the car. “Get in the van. Now.” He waved his team over as he looked at the bodies in the front seat.
Smoke rose from the hood of the car; we’d slammed into a concrete barrier. “Where’s Hannah?”
Levi wouldn’t look at me. “Ash went after her. They had a head start, though. I don’t know if he’ll be able to get to them.”
“Where were you? They almost shot her,” I spat.
He turned to me, his jaw taut, reminding me very much of Gabe. “I couldn’t get a clean shot, and I didn’t want your sister taking a bullet in the head. What the fuck did she pull back there, anyway?”
I wrapped my arms around myself. “She didn’t want me to get hurt. She was trying to sacrifice herself.”
Levi shook his head. The forced gentleness was gone, and he looked infinitely pissed. “When we finally get her home safe, she’s going to hear it from me for that little act. She almost got herself killed.”
“She was trying to be brave,” I said, defending Hannah. If I ever saw her alive again, I planned to smack her. But that was my job.
It had been Levi’s job to rescue her, and he’d failed.
He jerked his thumb at the van again. “Go. We’ll clean up the scene. I want you out of here before the police and the FBI show up.”
I didn’t move. “Why? Aren’t they going after her too?”
Levi’s eyes flashed. “Don’t ask any more questions. Just get in the van!”
A car squealed onto the scene then, and I saw Agent Marks in the passenger seat. He was yelling into his cell phone and gestured at the smoking car. His angry gaze settled on Levi.
