Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 80014 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80014 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
When they began to fire the guns, it didn’t sound the way it did on TV. Not really. It was more of a popping sound, followed by the crackle of glass. The first three shots hit and created concentric circles in the window, like drops of water making ripples in a pond.
That window wasn’t going to hold, and Reno was just starting to react. He flinched, and then he began to turn toward the sound.
He was right in the line of fire.
I lunged at him and shoved him to the floor, a split second before the window shattered. Suddenly, there was searing pain, and I was falling.
Then there was nothing at all.
14
Adriano
At first, I didn’t know what was happening.
Jack was standing with his back to me, trying to explain what was going on, why he’d left. Then he turned around, and a moment later there was pure terror on his face. That was followed almost immediately by the sound of gunfire and a weird, crackling sound I couldn’t place.
In the next instant, he lunged forward and shoved me to the floor—right before the front window shattered. I covered my head as glass rained down on us.
When I looked up again, Jack was face-down on the floor. There was blood, and he wasn’t moving. Oh god.
I yelled his name and tried to go to him, but two men grabbed my arms. I shook them off and punched one of them in the face.
The last thing I saw was a third man swinging the butt of his gun at my head, right before everything went black.
15
Jack
As near as I could tell, I’d ended up slipping, falling, and knocking myself unconscious. When I came to, I was all alone.
I got up and staggered to the broken window. There was no sign of Adriano or those men with the guns. Fucking hell.
My head and my arm were pounding. I touched a spot on my bicep that felt like it was on fire. There was blood on my fingertips when I pulled my hand away.
I took a few shaky steps back into the bar and dropped to my knees. The room was spinning, but I couldn’t pass out again. Not when Adriano needed help.
I pulled my phone from my pocket and called the first person I could think of. Romy answered on the second ring with, “Hey, Jack. Did you and Reno kiss and make up? He called me this morning, and—”
“Romy, I need help. They took Reno.”
His tone of voice changed in an instant, from cheery to dead serious. “Who did?”
“They had to have been Greco’s men, four big guys with guns. I think…I think I was shot.” My arm hurt so bad. Blood was running down my hand and dripping off my fingertips.
“Where are you?”
“Your mom’s bar.”
Romy spoke to someone who was there with him. Then he came back on the line and told me, “I’m on my way, and Mom’s dialing 911. Stay with me, Jack.”
“Okay.”
“Was Reno shot, too?”
I looked around and said, “The only blood I see is coming from me, so I don’t think so.”
“Where are you injured?”
“My arm. It really hurts.”
“Listen to me, Jack,” he said. “I need you to put pressure on the wound. Can you do that? Grab a towel or something and tie it around your arm if you can, or at least press it to the spot that’s bleeding. I’m going to be there in five minutes, and Mom says an ambulance is on the way.”
I struggled to my feet and mumbled, “Okay, I’m up and getting a towel. I hit my head, so everything’s kind of swirly. Hang on, I’m going to put you in my pocket while I go do this.”
I dropped the phone into the pocket of my suit jacket and clutched my injured arm as I made my way behind the bar. Once I found a dish towel, I sat down on the floor and wound it around my bicep. I had to use my teeth to cinch it, but I finally managed to get it tied.
That had taken a lot of effort, and I slumped against the shelves beneath the register. Then I noticed Reno had brought his laptop case with him. It was sitting open on one of the shelves, and his journal was sticking out.
As the sound of sirens became audible in the distance, something occurred to me. The cops probably weren’t going to be able to help Reno. If they knew where to find a criminal like Greco, wouldn’t they have done it already? Adriano’s men didn’t know where to find him, either.
So, maybe it was going to take someone more powerful, someone with better connections, who understood the workings of the criminal underworld.
I pulled the journal from the case and got blood all over the pages as I leafed through it. Finally, I found the information he’d gathered on the Dombruso family. There were addresses and phone numbers to go with most of the names.