Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 86629 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 433(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86629 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 433(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
My phone starts buzzing.
“I bet that’s Sinead,” I say, taking it from my pocket again. “Probably gave you a text and decided to call the actual boss.”
“Right, since you’re so important.” Marcus flips me off and taps at his screen.
But it’s not Sinead’s number on the display.
Instead, it’s Colm.
Panic fills me when I answer.
“Sir, it’s me.” His voice is strained and something loud is happening in the background.
I sit forward and grip the seat in front of me so tight my fingers turn white. “Is that gunfire?”
“There’s an attack. We’re doing our best to repel them—“
“An attack?” I snarl the words and look at Marcus. He’s gaping at me in alarm. “What the fuck is happening?”
“They’re through the gates already. We’ll hold them off, sir, but we need more—“ Gunfire erupts. Close this time. There’s a scream and the line goes dead.
Fuck. FUCK.
“What the hell?” Marcus asks.
“Driver, break every fucking law you can. Get us home immediately.”
The driver nods grimly and slams down the gas.
I start making calls. Angie first, Rowan, Dad, even Danielle. None answer. I’m losing my fucking mind as I try Deck, but I go straight to voicemail.
“I’m not getting anything either,” Marcus says, taking out his gun and checking to make sure it’s loaded. “Any idea how bad?”
“Didn’t sound good.”
“We headed into a firefight?”
I dig my fingers into my scalp. “I don’t know and that’s the problem. Angie’s there. My wife. My fucking baby—my whole family—“
“Connor, listen to me.” Marcus leans over, grabbing onto my shoulder. “I already called all the lieutenants. At least three crews are speeding to your place now. We’ll beat them there by a couple minutes at most.”
“They might not have that much time.”
“They will, brother. You have to stay calm for them.”
I breathe in through my nose. He’s right, I know he’s right, but the thought of Angie lying sprawled in her own blood is like a knife in my skull.
How is this happening? How the fuck did the Gallaghers get in?
If Colm called, that means they’re already at the home.
Oh, God. Oh, fucking God.
“We got this, brother,” Marcus says again and I focus on that. My best friend is a businessman. He’s the legitimate side of the operations. But we came up together, and I know he’s always been good in a crisis.
There’s nobody in the world I’d rather have watching my back.
“Almost there,” the driver says as we roar down the street.
Ahead, half the wall is blown to pieces, the front gate smashed and twisted.
Bodies are scattered on the drive. Blood splattered on the trees.
The driver slams to a halt. A truck’s overturned ahead of us, a corpse hanging from the front window.
“We go on foot.” I leap from the car. Marcus goes with me. When the driver tries to follow, I tell him to stay behind and to direct whoever else shows up.
“Together,” Marcus says, gripping his gun.
For my family, I think, as we hurry through the ruin of the wall and into the trees ahead.
Angie
The man comes to a staggering halt. I throw my hands up. I’m not sure what I plan on doing, if I’m going to punch him, bite him, or bleed on him, but a groan of pure relief wrenches from my throat as Colm rushes to help.
He’s covered in blood. It’s smeared on his shoulder, down his side. His right arm hangs limp and he’s got a gun clutched in his left. “Ladies, I got you now,” he says, snarling through his teeth. “Men came in through the back. We don’t have much time.”
“Mom and Dad are in the safe room. We have to hurry.” Rowan starts toward the doors.
Colm helps get my mother up. He hefts Mom over his shoulder, carrying her like a bag. “Both of you, stay behind me.”
He goes first toward the stairs and onto the main landing. I follow, forcing Rowan behind me. She holds my hand, her palm slick with sweat.
“We’ll be okay,” I tell her, trying to be reassuring. She needs to stay calm right now. “Colm will handle this. We’ll get to safety—“
We rush across the open area at the top of the steps and gunfire erupts from down below.
Rowan screams. I pull her forward, yanking us both to the floor. Colm grunts and blood sprays as his head explodes in a shower of gore, brains, and skull matter. His corpse falls under the weight of my mother, both of them slamming to the carpet.
“Mom!” I scream, crawling forward. There’s shouting from down below and more shooting. “Mom! Oh, god, Mom—“
I reach their side, slithering through blood-drenched carpet. Mom’s motionless. I roll her onto her side and her eyes find mine, a goofy smile on her face.
“Some movie,” she says.
Blazed as hell. Somewhere in outer space.
“You shouldn’t have taken more,” I whisper, pulling her against me. I look back and Rowan’s still lying on the floor, covering her head.