AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ace continued to make educated guesses that her brain couldn’t begin to understand. “He concocted a plan to take the heat off Farrington by having the perfect little professor who’d never so much as jaywalked in her entire life find the dump site.”
“Who in their right mind would ever suspect that pretty little thing?” Dave said with a sour smile. “Our attorney was privy to our situation with Barbara because he’d done the divorce paperwork. David dragged his feet about signing it and tried to brainstorm ways to get you to not only come back but to get you into a situation where you’d stay put.”
Barbra’s head snapped up. “If I had contacted David, he would have hung that over my head every time I wanted to leave. He’d have made me believe I needed him to sort out crap like that for me legally so I didn’t end up implicated or in jail.”
“He didn’t think you were quite that gullible. He thought simply coming to your rescue would be enough for you to fall back in love with him.”
Ace released her and shoved her between the viewing window and his big body. “You’re being awful chatty, old man. It feels like that part of the movie where the evil villain implicates himself by bragging about his evil deeds.”
“That godforsaken woman took everything from me. I want her to understand what her own selfishness did to my David before my men gun her down and drape her over his dead body. We’ll make it look like a suicide. Poor grieving ex-wife feels guilty for all she put her husband through and can’t stand the thought of living without him. I’ll make sure it gets written up correctly in the newspaper.”
Seeing the two men reach into their jackets and pull out handguns with silencers on the end, Barbara felt sick to her stomach.
Ace pulled out his weapon with one hand and used the other to yank the man standing in front of the door away and send him spiraling into the second gunman. “Run, Barb. Get Ryder, quick,” he urged.
Something in her chest fractured at the idea of leaving him in danger, but she knew she had to get help. Edging out the door, she made a run for it. The long hall seemed twice as long when Ace’s life was hanging in the balance. Hearing a strange thudding sound, she pushed herself to open the door leading to the reception area. Taking one look at her, Ryder came barreling through the door.
“It’s been David’s dad behind it all. They’ve got guns. Ace needs you. Door at the end of the hall,” she rushed out as he burst past her.
Without a word, he ran full speed down the hall as he pulled his weapon.
Turning to the shocked woman behind the reception desk, Barbara spoke slowly. “You have two shooters in the building with guns. They have silencers on the end. Doctor Reynolds Senior is making them kill my friend. Take your cordless phone and get out of the building. Call 9-1-1 for an ambulance and the police. Do you understand?”
Nodding, the woman grabbed the phone and ran for the front door. Barbara took off back to the room. It was a stupid thing to do, but she had to know if Ace was okay. Halfway down the hallway, she saw Ryder drag Ace out then crouched at the door and kept firing into the room. Ace’s eyes were closed, and he was bleeding onto the floor.
Fear as cold and sharp as ice sliced through her chest, catapulting her into action. Scrambling forward, Barbara dropped to her knees beside Ace.
Ryder ground out roughly, “Give me his gun and his back-up. Stem the bleeding. I’m not sure how serious it is.”
Ducking when a bullet ricocheted off the metal frame of the window, she shouted, “We’re getting shot at! It’s pretty serious.”
Without looking back Darkness muttered, “I meant his injuries, not our situation.”
Ignoring him, she was already tearing open Ace’s clothing. He’d taken a bullet in the leg and another in the arm. There seemed to be a grazing type injury along the side of his head. She seized his gun from his hand…or tried to. The moment she tried to pull it free, Ace’s eyes shot open.
“You’ve been shot. Stay still,” she told him.
Forcing himself into a sitting position, he muttered groggily, “I’m fine.”
Ryder’s singsonging voice rang out. “Rise and shine, buttercup. We got a fuckin’ shoot-out on our hands.”
Tearing at her shirt, Barbara tied a thick band of material around his leg as he shot through the window. “You shouldn’t be here, Barb. Get the hell out,” Darkness instructed.
Ryder spoke up. “Do not leave. They’ve been trading out men through the back. I think Old Doc Reynolds left already. If she goes out alone, they’ll have her.”
Ripping another piece of her shirt, she tied it around his arm.
The gunshots died down as sirens approached. Ace looked down at her. “You didn’t faint at the sight of my blood.”
“It’s different when the blood belongs to someone you love.”
A small smile tipped his pale lips. “You did real good, angel.”
“I’m not sure what I’m doing tying bits of cloth around your wounds. I guess I saw it on television or something.”
“I meant thanks for running to get help instead of arguing. You really saved my life.”
Darkness turned on him, pointing a now grubby finger in his face. “Look, you stupid fucker, I’m the one who saved your worthless life, not your fancy pants professor who ran for help.”
