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“Why would someone want t-t-to hurt me?” She sniffles.
“Mr. Baines--”
“What?” Her eyes widen.
“Let’s just get you to my place and then we can--” My words are cut off when we’re rammed from the back and sent careening off the interstate and into the median.
4
MARGARET
Iscream and cover my face with my hands. The sound of metal crushing and glass breaking has me trying to push farther back in my seat. Not that there’s anywhere I can go. I open two fingers to peek out, needing to see what’s happening. I don’t look for long before I’m screaming again and covering up. Mr. Black jerks the car to the right off the median. My stomach drops with the car.
“You okay?” I hear him ask. “Babe, are you okay?” he asks again.
“Am I okay?” I shout back. We murdered someone in my hallway, there’s a hit out on me, and I’m currently in a high-speed chase with no end in sight. I want to yell these things at him, but I know now’s not the best time.
“You’re shouting, so I’ll take that as a yes.” He pushes down on the gas, speeding up even more. I look in the side mirror to see two cars coming up fast behind us. Wait. Did he call me babe?Not the time, I tell myself. But I could die in the next few minutes, so I allow myself a few seconds to enjoy him calling me that.
“That car is catching up.” I’m sure he already knows, but I have to say it anyway. I feel helpless, and I need to contribute in some way. I watch as he pulls his big gun back out. Oh no. Not again.
I know I should be scared, worried, and all that other good stuff, but I can’t help but stare at his side profile. I always thought he was gorgeous. Even though he was always so serious when I saw him. But now I’m seeing him in an entirely different light. He helped me kill someone. All because he thought they were there to hurt me. That thought does something funny to me.
The black car races up beside us. My window is busted out. My eyes meet the other man's dark gaze as he starts to lift his gun, too. I scream, because that’s all I think I can do.
“Sit back,” I hear Mr. Black order me. I don’t exactly listen. Instead I kinda sorta panic and throw my pandacorn as hard as I can out the window. It hits the bad guy right in the face. He swerves to the right. The black SUV behind him runs into the back of his car. It tries to turn, screeching sideways. A semi comes and hits it dead on. I watch in shock as everything seems to happen in slow motion.
The other car is still drifting to the right with the driver trying to get control of his car. “Oh, God.” I cover my mouth with my hands so I don’t scream again as the other attacker runs into a giant concrete divider before rolling off down the hill. I turn back to look, but all I see is smoke.
“He might be okay, right?” I swallow hard. “He could survive that sort of--” A loud boom cuts off my words, and I turn toward the sound. Fire and smoke shoot up from where the car went down the hill. Okay, maybe he’s not doing so well after all. I turn back in my seat. I can feel Mr. Black looking over at me.
“Sorry?” I cringe when I finally break and return his glances. “I think I killed them.” The dismay in my voice can’t be missed.
He checks the rearview. “They might be alive.”
I don’t believe him. He’s trying to make me feel better. I shouldn't care, because they tried to kill me first. Mr. Black keeps racing down the highway. I still can’t believe this is happening. How is this my life?
Mr. Black cuts across four lanes and exits off the highway before turning into what looks like an industrial area.
“Where are we going?” I finally ask.
“To my place and then a safe house.” He turns again into an alleyway. I scream, thinking it’s too narrow, but he fits in it, just barely. He comes to a halt outside of a building. “I need you to stay put. You hear me?”
I nod. He places the gun in my lap. I push it off and it falls to the floorboard. He reaches down and picks it back up. “Safety is off. Anyone comes near the car, you don’t hesitate. You pull the trigger until the hammer clicks on empty. Lights out.”
I don’t want to make anyone's lights go out.
He reaches over and squeezes my hand. “I need to hear you say you’ll stay put, babe.”
“I’ll stay put.” What other option do I have? He’s keeping me alive.
He gives me a long look before he starts to get out of the car. Then he stops and turns back to me. His hands come to my face, cupping it as he pulls me in for another kiss. It’s soft like the last one. I didn't think anything about Mr. Black could ever be soft. It’s over as quick as the last one, then he gets out of the car running inside. My fingers graze across my lips where he’d just kissed me.
Then I come back down from the clouds and stare at the gun I’m holding. It’s heavier than it looks. I turn it and look at it from all angles. The only gun I’ve ever seen close up is a Nerf gun. I jerk my head up when I hear glass shatter from above somewhere. A second later, something hits the ground in front of the car.
“No.” I shake my head. That is not what I think it is. I scream and lift the gun when the driver's door opens.
“It’s me.” Mr. Black steals it from my hands before I even know what he’s doing. It’s kinda cool. I wonder if he’ll teach me all of these skills he has. He sets a crate between us.
