Fuck. I launch myself out of the water, my bad leg almost going out under me. My muscles don’t want to cooperate. Where I felt light like I could float a moment ago, the ache in my thigh and back gone, now my body feels heavy and awkward.
Perfect timing, goddammit. I stumble as I get out, barely manage to catch myself before I fall on my face, and grab my shorts to pull them on.
“Storm.” She’s right behind me, reaching for her clothes. “Gun?”
“Not here. Bedroom and bathroom. I’ll get them.”
But she’s already running, pulling on her blouse. “Got it.”
Shit. Move it, Storm.
Shorts still unbuttoned, bare feet slipping on the wet floor, I take off after her. Wondering if they’re here for her or for me.
Wondering how the hell anyone found us out.
The rooms flash by until I reach the bathroom. As I expected, she remembered best where the bedroom was. My SIG winks at me from under the sink. I rip off the tape keeping it glued underneath and check the magazine.
Full. I always have them ready. My uncle taught me that. He taught me a lot of things I didn’t want to learn.
Always be ready for the worst. Never trust anyone. Know you’re always on your own. Fight for your life.
But as I run through the house searching for her, waiting for more shots to ring, my one thought is to make sure she’s safe, that she’s okay. Because she has turned my world upside down, upset my rules, and there’s no going back.
“Ray, where the fuck are you?” Bedroom’s empty, and so are the other rooms on the floor. I grab my cell phone from the closet and keep looking. “Ray!”
A boom rattles the windows, glass shatters.
Downstairs.
Hell. I curse my uncooperative leg as I almost tumble down the stairs in my rush to get down and make sure she’s okay. I shouldn’t have told her where the gun was. No idea what I was thinking. I hope she doesn’t shoot herself in the foot by the time I reach her.
A crash and something whizzes past, slamming into the wall by my head. A bullet. Welcome to the party, Storm. I jump the last two steps and roll on the floor, coming up with my gun pointing at the nearest window. I release the safety of the SIG Sauer, scanning the place.
The broken window is to my left. The dining room. Nothing’s moving. Sunlight spears through the many windows, illuminating the sunken living room and the kitchen to my right. Raylin could be anywhere.
And so could our attackers.
Fuck my luck. This wasn’t supposed to happen. We were supposed to have more time. I still haven’t told her about myself. Man, the timing really sucks ass.
When seconds trickle by and nothing happens, I take a risk and get up, then run into the adjoining room. It’s the TV room where Ray rode my cock to the soundtrack of Spiderman, and fuck if the sight of the sofa doesn’t get me hard, even in a situation like this.
“Ray!” I move on to the study, my uncle’s papers still scattered on the desk. I swear to God, if anything has happened to her I’ll raze this place to the ground until everyone is dead. “Come on, Ray.”
Can’t panic. Not now.
A noise outside has my feet moving. I lift my SIG and inch back into the hallway. A slender silhouette is hiding behind the folded sliding door, the light glancing on a gun.
The gun swings in my direction. Dark eyes flick to me and widen. “Storm.”
Thank God. I struggle to hide my relief as I join her behind the door. “Hey. How are things down here?”
“Two shooters, I think. One in the front, one in the back.”
My assessment exactly. “They don’t know where we are. As long as we don’t shoot…”
She nods. “For now.”
Yeah. Because if we don’t get help soon, we’ll have to show our hand. “I’ll make a call.”