by A. J. Macey
“Hunter!” I heard shouted back at the house, even with the distance we’d put between the Phantoms and us.
“Almost there,” I told her, hoping to give her that final boost of adrenaline to make it to the car. Bursting through the treeline, there was a small tan sedan parked off the road. Hopping behind the wheel, I jammed the key into the ignition just as a loud bang sounded, smoke wafting into the air from the house. Chloe gasped between her panting breaths but said nothing as she buckled her seatbelt. I peeled away from the side of the road.
“Now what?” she asked in a tiny, raspy voice, still trying to catch her breath.
Now what, indeed.
14
Chloe
My body buzzed with adrenaline, the sensation making me nauseous, but I kept the urge to throw up at bay. Hunter sped through the empty streets, to where I didn’t know, his focus rotating between the road and the rearview mirror.
“Ugh, fuck,” he ground out, on his third pass of vigilant watching.
“What?” I asked, my voice sounding shaky to my own ears. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw two cars quickly approaching us. My stomach dropped when I saw several men in the vehicles. I instinctively knew who they were but couldn’t stop the question from tumbling out. “Is that the Phantoms?”
“Yes. Looks like they had an inkling about the getaway car. One of those wasn’t out front of the house. Fuck!” he shouted, punching the steering wheel. The sharp sound startled me, and I jumped, the movement earning an apologetic grimace. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay,” I murmured, barely able to speak as I saw the cars finally catch up to us. “Now what?” I asked for the second time in the course of five minutes.
This time, Hunter had an answer. “Going to do what any good brother would do. Call his family.” He flashed me a confident grin, the sight settling me a little.
That’s right, we’re not alone.
He dug his cell out and put it on speaker.
“Yeah?”
“Theo, get Sam and Liam, gather as many Kings as you can find,” Hunter instructed in a hard tone. “Hold on, Chloe.” He twisted the wheel abruptly, the tires squealing to accommodate the sharp turn. I bit back the cry as my throbbing shoulder smacked into the passenger side window.
“What’s going on?” Sam demanded. I wasn’t sure if he had been with Theo when we called, or Theo found him quickly, my focus on Hunter’s evasive driving maneuvers.
“Phantoms found us,” I explained while Hunter swerved in and around cars on a random main road. “They’re chasing us now.”
“How many?”
“Where are you?”
“Goddammit!”
Several voices shouted and spoke, putting me more on edge, but I took a deep breath and tried to answer the questions. “Two cars full, I’m not sure how many people.”
“There were ten who rolled up to the safehouse, but I set it up, so the gas on the stove blew. There’s a different car following us now, but I recognize one,” Hunter took over, explaining where we were since I had no clue.
After another sharp turn, I felt my body wind tighter. Adrenaline was still pumping but fear slowly clawed up my throat. We could only hold them off for so long before we got arrested for speeding and reckless driving, or they caught up to us.
“Chloe,” Hunter called, pulling me from the anxiety spiral that had taken hold. “They’re meeting us at a location that belongs to the Kings... well, it’s more complicated than that, but we’ll be alright, okay? It’ll be evenly matched, possibly the Auckland Kings outnumbering them.”
Nodding, I tried to swallow the rest of my worries, not having realized I’d been muttering to myself.
“Then what?” I asked, needing to know what was about to happen.
“Then? We fight.”
Oh God.
Hunter
Chloe’s face paled even further, a sickly green tinting her tan cheeks, but she didn’t say anything, only nodding that she understood. If I could have, I would have dropped her off or done anything to keep her away from what was about to happen, but with the Phantoms on our ass, I knew it wasn’t possible.
Praying the plan worked, I took us away from the bustling street, where people were heading out for lunch or back to work, toward the location my family had picked. The more I wove around cars and took abrupt turns, the more distance I put between us and the Phantoms. Every spare moment I could get, I would take gratefully. I took a deep breath to center myself. If we wanted this to go well, we needed time to get out of the car when we arrived without them shooting at us.
“What’s the plan when we get there?” Chloe asked softly, the tone low but steadier. When I glanced at her, she was no longer trembling or looking sick as she eyed the cars behind me with a steely determination.
“Hope our firepower and fighting skills outweigh theirs,” I answered honestly. Releasing the steering wheel with one hand, I reached over and snatched up one of hers. She intertwined our fingers and held on tightly. “We’ll get out of this, okay? Remember when I said I couldn’t promise forever?”
“That’s supposed to make me feel better?” she exclaimed, eyeing me as if I’d lost my mind.
I chuckled despite the intense cloud weighing on us. “I can’t promise forever, but I can certainly promise it won’t end today. Got it, Short Stuff?”
“Alright, I’ll trust you... though mainly because there isn’t much of an option otherwise,” she muttered with a soft chuckle. I hated the cold, cynical note to her laugh, but I’d rather hear that over panic. “How long until we get there?”
Glancing at the clock and where we were, I did a quick calculation. “About ten minutes since I have a few more turns to take to lose them for as long as possible.”
We lapsed into silence, the stifling quiet tense as I zipped through side streets and around buildings. The only thing that cut the tension was Theo calling to let us know they were in place. Hanging up, I stuffed the phone into my pocket, readying to jump out when we got there, but I had one more thing to do.
“Short Stuff, I want you to stay as close to me as possible until I find a place for you to take cover, okay?” I instructed, earning a silent head nod. “Can you open the glove compartment for me?”
“I assume you want the gun?” she said dryly, seeing the dark weapon among the white-and-cream papers.
“You’re a smart one, Chloe,” I teased, trying to keep the worry I could see tightening around her eyes at bay. “There’s a pocketknife in there, too. I want you to keep that on you. Can you do that for me?”
“As long as you let me keep it when this nonsense is over,” she countered, passing me the gun and taking the small, folded knife and wrapping her fingers around it tightly.
“You can definitely keep it, Short Stuff.” I laughed, feeling the adrenaline pump faster through my system when I saw the rock quarry up ahead. “But for now, get ready to jump out and run to the front of the car, okay?”
She took a shuddering breath and nodded, bracing herself against the center console to push off, her free hand wrapping around the handle. As soon as I came flying into the quarry, I whipped around a mountain of gravel and threw the car in park as soon as I saw Sam and my brothers, ready and waiting for the battle with the Phantoms.
Here goes nothing.
15
Chloe
The car came to a squealing stop, and I didn’t hesitate, jumping out of the car despite the pain in my shoulder as I shoved the door open. When I got to the front of the car, Hunter grabbed my arm with one hand, the gun clutched in his other. He didn’t slow, practically dragging me along until we reached a small alcove behind a large pile of gravel and rock.
Adrenaline was flowing through my system, dulling the sharp pain from my bare feet on the sharp rocks and debris. Theo reached out, taking me from Hunter, who I could tell didn’t want to leave me, and settled me in the corner of a formation of stacked stone.
“Stay here, Short Stuff. I’m going to chec
k on Liam and Sam,” Hunter explained quickly, kissing me before running off to one of the other quarry mounds.
“How is that my brothers both fall for the girls they’re supposed to be watching?” Theo questioned, his brows drawing low over his eyes as he looked from Hunter to me. “When the hell did that happen? Last I checked, you two wanted nothing to do with each other.”
I shrugged, unsure of how to explain, but I tried my best. “After the incident at the airport, and as for how it happened… that’s a good question. All I know was he didn’t take well to me, almost being taken very well, and one thing led to another…”
“Okay, yeah, I got it,” Theo cut me off, waving a hand in the air. “Well, I’m glad he has someone, just… don’t get yourself killed today, okay?”
Gulping the lump that formed at his words, I nodded. “Wasn’t planning on it.” My smartass response earned me a halfhearted glare from Hunter’s older brother, but the sound of cars approaching pulled his focus.
The sound of my heart rate racing in my ears deafened everything around me, but as soon as I heard the shouting and gunshots, the temporary lack of sound disappeared. I was trembling where I was crouched, unsure what I was supposed to do or what was happening.
“Theo!” I heard someone shout. I thought it might have been Sam, maybe Liam, but I wasn’t sure, too panicked to pick up on the nuances between them.
“Stay here. Do not move,” Theo commanded sharply, sprinting around the edge of the gravel and out of sight. From where I was hidden, I couldn’t see much other than the rest of the empty quarry. The fight was going on behind me, but I wasn’t dumb enough to sneak a peek and draw attention to myself.
“I know she’s here,” I heard a familiar voice snap. “She was in the car with him. Find her.”
My vision dimmed when I realized it was the man from the alley, the one who’d cut me. What do I do? I thought frantically, unsure when Theo or the others would be back. I didn’t want to be a sitting duck, but if I ran, they’d probably shoot.
Before I could make a decision, it was made for me. The burly man stepped around the stone wall where I was hiding and pointed his gun at me.
“Ah, there you are,” he hissed, a crazed smile growing. “Come on, let’s see just how badly the Auckland King bastards want you.”
Hunter
“Fucking hell!” I shouted, ducking behind one of the massive rocks.
“Why is it when you two get put in charge of shit, it ends in a gunfight?!” Sam hollered from where he was taking cover. Liam waved a hand, clearly unaffected by our current situation, and if Chloe hadn’t been here, I wouldn’t have worried too much, either.
“A few are breaking off!” another Auckland King announced, but I couldn’t figure out who from the chaos reigning around us.
“Liam, you’re with me!” Sam hollered, darting over to us. “Theo!”
“You can’t take him away from where she is!” I hissed, glaring at Sam as if he’d lost his mind.
“He’s only a few feet from her. It’s just to watch our backs while we go after those assholes.”
“Ah, fuck, looks like another few are going to the left,” Liam relayed, eyeing the rest of the Phantoms who’d arrived. “If we’re going to go get those bastards, we should go now.”
“Fuck, go!” I huffed, looking over to where Theo now crouched in Sam’s abandoned spot.
“Covering them?” he questioned, pointing to Sam and Liam as they readied to run.
“Yup!”
“Let’s light ‘em up!” Theo shouted, both of us shifting up out of our hiding place and firing.
The adrenaline helped me focus—the fear for my brother, who I almost lost two weeks ago, and the man who was like an uncle to me overshadowing the worry for myself. I would protect my little brother and Sam, no matter the cost, but in the back of my mind, it was no longer just about my family.
“Clear!” Sam signaled with a loud shout, telling us we could go back to kneeling behind our barriers.
“Wait…” I murmured when I realized once we got them across the barrier and taken care of a few men in the main quarry area, it was abnormally quiet. I could still hear the other Auckland Kings who had come with Sam and my brothers, fighting a ways down, but it was closer to the entrance, not where we were.
Where we were was slowly quieting—too much so. Looking around the side, I found no one else waiting for us when I knew there had been at least three or four more who didn’t follow Sam and Liam.
“What is it?” Theo questioned.
“Chloe,” I breathed, knowing he couldn’t hear me. Scrambling up, I darted to where he was and around the rock formation where I’d stashed Chloe… and came face to face to the man she’d pointed out as one who mugged her in the alley. The knife at her neck was cutting slightly into her skin as he held tight to her.
“Stop right there, Kings,” he hissed. Two of the other men who’d been with him stood off to the side, eyes darting between the two of us and the one who held Chloe. It took everything within me to not fire, but I was barely holding back, seeing red at the fear in her eyes from being trapped in his grip.
Chloe was mine, and I’d be damned if anyone hurt her.
“What do you want?” Theo questioned diplomatically, but the cold and stony tone wasn’t lost on me or our Phantom foes.
“Oh, you know… just retribution for everything!” he screamed. Both Theo and I slowed our movements, stilling as we watched the man. It was clear he was slowly coming unhinged if he wasn’t already. His gaze practically glowed, his smile crazed and lopsided as he jerked Chloe around.
“For what? We didn’t do anything,” I challenged, willing to test him, hoping if I stalled him long enough, Sam, Liam, and the others would come and assist.
“No? Your little whore here took everything from me! First, my brother, yeah, bitch you know the one. The one who you saw in the alley?” he directed his statement at her, yanking her so she would look at him out of her peripherals. “He may not have been true blood family, but he might as well. High in the Phantoms, destined to be the new right-hand man to the new dickhole in charge until one little fun side job got him killed.”
“You weren’t supposed to be in the alley,” she murmured, somehow her panicked and quiet words audible to everyone.
Come on, Liam. Sam. Anyone! Hurry your asses up! I pleaded, trying to come up with a way to handle the two men nearby and save Chloe, but with it being the two of us, there was no physical way without one of us getting injured.
“No, we weren’t because of a big ass move they’re making, some kind of… takeover bullshit. Keep our heads down, that was the goal, but what was one more little robbery? That’s right, NOTHING!” he shouted, spittle flying from his lips with each word.
“So, you got your brother shot?” I challenged, turning his focus from Chloe to me. I ignored her pleading gaze, fear for me bright in her warm brown eyes.
“Not only that, but I got kicked out! At least for the time being. Same with the others who followed today, too tired of their rules and bullshit. The Phantoms never laid down and hid, no matter what big game they were playing, so why should we fucking start now—”
Everything happened at once.
Chloe grunted as she elbowed the Phantom holding her hostage, her free hand coming up to grip the wrist that controlled the knife. As soon as she had him distracted, Theo and I aimed, taking out the other two before they could so much as raise their weapons. The several gunshots were deafening, but I didn’t care. My only focus was on Chloe wrestling the crazed man for the knife. Sprinting forward, I planned to intercept him. She jumped back as soon as I neared and tackled the man to the ground. Instead of him fighting me, he was choking on his own blood, sputtering against the dirt.
“What the…” I started, then saw a wound to his ribs bleeding profusely. I refused to tear my eyes away from him, wanting to be sure he was truly gone before I got up. As soon as he relaxed, exhaling his last breath, I glanced over
at Chloe.
My bloodied pocketknife was clutched in her trembling hand.
“Holy shit,” Sam exclaimed, as he, Liam, and the other Auckland Kings ran up as the dust settled. “How is it you two both picked up women with enough balls to murder a Phantom?”
I rolled my eyes, shoving off the ground and pulling Chloe into my chest. Her petite form was shaking so hard, I thought she would crumble, but I held tight.
“I’ve got you, Chloe,” I whispered against her ear. “I’ve got you.”
“I know you do,” she murmured back, finally hugging me in a nearly painful grasp.
From now, for as long as I could.
A Day Later
“So… guess it’s time?” I questioned quietly, stuffing my hands in my pocket. I watched Chloe shift off the bed, packing her new backpack. Her smile was sad, echoing how I felt but wouldn’t show.
We’d been resting at the Auckland Kings’ manor since the showdown. Inspector Murray and Liam’s contact, Inspector Carter, who was working on his case, were tackling what happened. The story was it was a Phantom’s shootout gone wrong, leaving us clear from unwanted attention.
Giving Short Stuff a pass to go home to America.
“Yeah, flight leaves in a few hours, and I want to make sure I have enough time to get through security and all that,” she murmured with a small shrug. “You know it’s not goodbye forever, right?” Her question felt like a red-hot poker, pressing on the raw spot since everything went down. She was right, of course, but it didn’t make it any easier. I’d just found her, someone I truly cared about, and she was leaving to fly halfway around the world.
“You know I’ll text and call you constantly, right?” I teased, trying to shuck off the weight pressing down on me. “Maybe I’ll even send you some sexy stuff… you know, if you say please, Short Stuff.”