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He seemed all put out by that, but he was heading back down the aisle. Fucking idiot.
“Take him and run.” I looked at Winston as I came around that endcap.
“But you—”
“Now. Winston. You can have the possibility of me getting hurt on your conscience or both of us. Save Rip. Run.” I indicated the other aisle and said, “That way. Go!”
He dropped his snacks, picked up Rip, and started running with him. I felt the tears fall as I lost sight of them. I picked up a box of maxi-pads and wiped my eyes as I headed back to my fate. I was holding a bottle of cough syrup, and a box of pads. It seemed like the way to get shot, right? A white trash girl on the rise, gunned down in a supercenter by a drugged-out rich guy. Dressed like I was probably trying to seduce him.
Kipper was chewing on something he had already opened when I looked at him and asked, “Where’s Rip?”
He blinked, looked at me. “What?”
I looked at him and said accusingly, “Your son, right? He said he wanted candy and was going to you. You were just right there. Where is he?”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” he shouted.
I threw the cough syrup bottle at him and the pads next. He had his arms full and all that dropped. It was like everything went into slow motion. I saw everything falling and I took off toward the front of the store as fast as my legs would carry me. I was running, knocking things over, dodging in and out of people, and so afraid to look back. In movies, they look back, and the monster is right there within reach. I got past the entry and felt the hard pavement, hearing it as my feet slapped against it. Then I saw the SUV and realized Kipper’s car was gone.
I looked back. I don’t know why I looked back, but I looked back. And that was when he pulled the trigger.
Chapter Fifty-Four
Apollo
The emergency room was not really part of my whole merge this group into a single unit, but nothing about this night went as planned. I should have talked to her first. I realized that the moment Tituss asked that question, she wasn’t prepared to answer. That while I had asked for her loyalty, I had forgotten to commit mine. Then, like three sulking assholes, we sat there to teach her a lesson.
Lesson fucking learned. The moment Winston saw her get out of the car at the supercenter, saw that kid with her thanks to that hoodie, he texted. Between locating her phone, because I am a possessive dick like that, but Dane was too. Hence, she already had that app in the contract. Winston was on the down low, one of my spies around this campus, so it was easy enough to find her.
I didn’t understand why she came here other than maybe she thought she would give that kid to someone other than his uncle before they left that building. Risky, smart, stupid. She didn’t call the cops because of the conversation at the restaurant. I knew that. I had said how police involvement often ended in more bodies missing. She was loyal to me. Very. Also to them and most of all to that kid.
I was sitting next to her on the hospital bed and looking down at her when her eyes opened. It took her a minute to adjust, and when she saw it was me, she smiled, but I could tell she was expecting them. At least Tituss. He would be back with drinks any moment. I smiled and said, “You sure know how to keep it interesting, Harper Harrington.”
She frowned and closed her eyes. “My head hurts.”
“I bet it does. Your leg probably hurts worse, but you haven’t noticed it yet.” I tapped on the cast.
She hissed some sort of sound and said, “What happened?”
“You fell in the parking lot at the supercenter.” I shrugged. She was running and then she looked back at Kipper. Fortunately, she was still trying to run, so her uncoordinated effort to turn while in a zig-zag pattern caused her to get too close to the shopping cart return bin, where she promptly ate it and passed right out once her head smacked the concrete.
“He shot me.” She was feeling around for that wound.
I snickered. “You wish.”
Her eyes snapped open, and she glared at me. “Asshole. He fired and—”
“Missed.” I titled my head. “You were impressive though, zig here, zag there. Those true crime books really came in handy, huh?”
“Why are you here, Apollo?” she closed her eyes and sighed.
“I thought you’d ask about Rip, to be honest.” I knew that was a real dick move, but I wanted to see her eyes open again. When I got to her, she was unconscious. Her leg broke in at least two spots I could see, and blood was gushing from that bruised, skinned-up knot she now sported. I had feared Kipper hit her with that shot too. She was already a bit emotional, but that had a tear rolling. I didn’t understand why. “Hey, what is it?”
“I know he’s okay. I just—”
“You saved his life.” Dane had stepped into the room just in time. “Right, Rip?”
I wasn’t sure when he would let that kid out of his sight again, but no time soon, and I understood why.
