Page 10 of Remade
I pointed to my chest. “You wanna know where my friends are?”
Please pick the right side, amigo.
He nodded.
“Where are your friends?” I asked in return.
Cheeks lifted his eyebrows and pointed to the two men who were kind of close by. But what about the other four still holding back?
“They saw Quinn wander off,” Beckett reminded me. “Gesture in our direction. They’ll believe you.”
“They’re over there,” I said, jerking my thumb over my shoulder. “Do you need help? Do you want me to go get them?” I made a move to turn around, and that triggered a reaction.
“No, man—no, no.” He strode forward until only six or seven feet separated us, and he flashed his palms, silently cautioning. The urgency wasn’t lost on me, though. He was very intent on keeping me here alone.
“Great job,” Beckett said quietly. “You made them reveal their cards. They want you alone.”
They weren’t done revealing them either. Cheeks looked over his shoulder and spoke in rapid Spanish, and it was so clear to me that the three men were stressed out. One was a bit warier than the others, and the two speaking—and gesturing—were agitated.
“Hey, guys, do you need help?” I pressed. “Are you okay? Do you want freedom? Do you understand—freedom?”
Cheeks looked back at me, then urged his friend to come closer. The third one too. I nicknamed them Lanky and Bandana.
I repositioned myself to face them head on, and I felt my fingers twitch.
“Freedom,sí?” Cheeks nodded and forced a smile. “America free?”
Uh.
A couple more steps. Two more, and he’d be within reach.
“Nothing’s free here, buddy,” I said.
Nerves tightened my gut, and I felt the familiar rush of adrenaline gathering up strength. It wasn’t ready to surge through me yet, but it was waiting, lurking in the shadows, holding off for the right signal.
“I’m gonna give you the benefit of the doubt because we want the guys in the background to come closer,” Beckett told me. “But so help me God, if you get hurt, we’re gonna have a fucking problem, you and I.”
Would you look at that. He was willing to give me a shot. I’d pay him back in blow jobs.
Wanting to get this started before one of them got spooked, I repeated my last offer. “Look, I’ll go get my friends,” I said, taking a step back.
Predictable, but it worked. The guys gave up on the charade and charged, Cheeks and Lanky reaching me first, with weak fists, poor coordination skills, and zero experience. I sucked in abreath and grabbed Cheeks’s fist, and I twisted it forcefully while I dodged Lanky, only to kick him in the stomach. Lanky flew back and shouted in Spanish, Cheeks cried out and fell to his knees, and Bandana received a fist to his nose, causing blood to spurt out.
I didn’t stop. With a grip on Cheeks’s head, I rammed my knee up into his face, then shoved him backward.You picked the wrong fucking side.Lanky was next; he charged toward me with more fear in his eyes than anything else, and I ducked and elbowed him in the liver, followed by a closed fist to the back of his head when he hurtled forward.
Adrenaline bolted through me like an addictive shock to the system, and it sharpened my senses. When Bandana came at me, I flinched toward him and stomped on Cheeks’s chest, and then I knife-handed Bandana in the throat?—
“The others are running for you,” Beckett said in a rush. “When they’re ten yards out, we’ll intervene.”
“You can’t fucking help yourself, can you?” I growled, shoving Bandana away from me. He went down, hopefully for the last time, but Lanky evidently had one more charge in him. “Beckett, I’ve got this under control.”
Oh! Lanky had a weapon. Fucking pruning shears. He should’ve used them earlier. I let out a laugh, feeling hysterical, and I flew at him.
“You came to play, huh?” I grabbed his wrist tight enough for him to lose his grip on the shears, before I twisted his arm and forced him down on his knees. “Piece of advice,” I said, out of breath. “Don’t come at me with a fucking weapon if you can’t use it.” With that said, I kicked him forward and created a pile of chess pawns that should’ve just asked us for help.
“We’re on our way,” Beckett declared.
I spun around, seeing the other four men running toward me, and I didn’t even think about it. I pulled out Ryan’s gun andtook aim. Thigh…hip… One shot, two shots—fuck, missed. My heart slammed against my rib cage, and I got the third guy in his shoulder.
