Page 94 of His to Burn

My jaw dropped. I looked at him and saw the spark of amusement in his eyes.

“Jerk.” I let out a quick smile and allowed the moment of banter to ground me.

Briefly.

I stood next to him, my heart hammering as he reached for the doorknob, his body angled just enough to avoid the line of fire.

“You gonna disarm the alarm?” I asked.

He shook his head. “No. Noise adds to the chaos. We can use that.”

I nodded, and then braced as Jack opened the door.

The alarm shrieked—as loud as anything I heard since we left the courthouse. And just like Jack predicted, it sent our attackers into a tailspin.

I spotted four figures and heard a gruff yell. “Find that and turn it the fuck off!”

Jack was already on the stairs, and as I followed, gunfire erupted.

“Watch out, Asia!”

Jack’s voice was calm but also commanding. I used it to keep the fear and adrenaline from overtaking me.

I ducked and spotted two more figures in the distance. On instinct, I took aim.

“Don’t waste your ammo,” he said. “Just move.”

“We can fight them,” I said.

We were outnumbered, but walking away from the judge’s stash—and leaving our transportation seemed like a worse option.

“No. The place is gone,” Jack said.

“Okay,” I replied, though I felt anything but.

The judge’s house got farther and farther away, and with every step, relief and absolute terror warred in my chest.

“Right there. Stop.”

I was so caught in my thoughts that I didn’t notice the three men approaching.

But Jack did.

One moment I was staring; the next I fell toward the ground.

I braced myself to soften my fall, heard three softpopsand looked up in time to see them fall, one, two, three.

“Let’s go,” Jack said, low, urgent.

I didn’t hesitate, anxious to put as much space between the judge’s house and us as I could.

About a half hour and two or three incredibly fraught miles later, Jack said, “Where are we going, Asia?”

Like I had any fucking idea.

But I couldn’t say that, so instead I racked my brain, again sifting through my memories of the judge’s neighborhood, searching for a safe place.

“Up ahead. Mile and a half. There’s a body shop. It’s set off the road. Quiet. We can stay there for a bit,” I said.