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In paradise.
When he slowed down seconds later, I glanced through the windshield. Someone in dark clothing was walking quickly down a sidewalk, constantly glancing over his shoulder. At least I thought the person was male. The fact he’d had a hoodie on when it was at least ninety degrees outside didn’t let me confirm my suspicions or calm my nerves.
Maddox shifted the gear into fifth, throwing me one of his infamous looks that screamed I needed to remain calm and hold on for dear life.
I gripped the dashboard with one hand, the edge of my seat with the other, taking shallow breaths as he sped down the street.
Wind whipped through the open roof, the crowds of people meandering into the street making it next to impossible to make headway.
“What are you doing?” I finally asked.
“Finding out what the fuck we’re dealing with.”
“What if that’s nothing?”
“There’s only one way to find out, Zoe. Just hang tight.” He continued to speed through the streets until he was finally heading away from town. I was shocked the person had made significant headway, pushing his way through the crowd of people on the sidewalks.
There was no doubt the person was running from something or someone. I couldn’t breathe from the pressure on my chest, the fear that refused to abate. What if we had been found? Would we easily be able to get off the island? Where would we go? I couldn’t think straight, constantly looking over at Maddox.
Suddenly, he picked up speed, racing through a yellow light, looking over my shoulder toward the sidewalk.
The person who was running was right there, trying to get past some construction debris. Snarling, Maddox jerked the steering wheel to the right, slamming on the brakes then throwing the gear into park. “Stay right here. I mean right here.” He jumped out before I could say anything, keeping his weapon low and in both hands.
I watched as if in slow motion as he threw the person against the aging brick wall of some residence, slamming the person threetimes in rapid succession before yanking the hood away from the guy’s face.
The person trying to escape was a male, but he couldn’t have been more than sixteen or seventeen. I realized he’d been clutching something against his chest, dropping it after being almost assaulted by Maddox.
“What the fuck?” Maddox exclaimed. “Who are you?”
The kid was obviously terrified, shaking his head several times. Maddox proceeded to pat him down with one hand while he kept the weapon in plain sight with the other. “Who are you?”
When the young man spoke, it was in a language I couldn’t understand. I realized seconds later that it was in Russian, which Maddox spoke fluently. I wasn’t certain whether to feel relieved or even more terrorized than before. Maybe I really had succumbed to a taste of madness, imagining the person I’d believed to be there threatening me.
They continued conversing and I couldn’t shake the ugly feelings, constantly looking from one side the street to the other. What if I was wrong? What if… The man’s laugh filtered into my brain and I placed my hands over my ears.
Maddox finally shoved the weapon behind his back, nodding to the kid before heading back to the Jeep. I stared at him as he jumped in, shaking my head.
“What?” he demanded.
“You accosted that kid.”
“He was running.”
“So what? Kids run. They’re in a hurry.”
He started the engine, his grin returning. “Maybe so but that kid had also stolen some pretty pricy medications from the pharmacy.”
“And you just let him go?”
Shrugging, he pressed his foot on the accelerator. “He needed them for his sick mom.”
“And you believed him.”
“Call me a softie.”
“I’ll call you gullible.”
“You can call me the Boogeyman. Muah!”
