The Love Of Money - Episode 173
30-07-25 (04:05)
"All clear," Chloe called out.
"Still clear," John responded.
"Let's move!" Chloe sald and disappeared around the
corner. Jon waited around the other corner while John
backed up to us again and ducked under me again. We
started hobbling down the hall and passed two fresh
bodies; one of them had a hole in his head Just above
the right temple, while the other looked like he'd
suffered several shots to the chest. The second one
stared up at me with lifeless eyes as we passed by,
and it suddenly dawned on me that before this trip, I'd
never seen a dead body outside of a funeral. Now, I'd
seen... what... eight ten? Losing count of something like
that wasn't a good sign.
Just behind us, we heard someone shout, "Hey! Stop!"
When we didn't, there were a few shots fired.
"Fuck!" Chloe swore. "Move it!"
We did just that. I hobbled along beside John as quickly
as I could, glancing behind us when I saw two men
open fire just as we turned another corner. Drywall
exploded as the bullets ripped it into sheds, sending
plumes of fine dust through the air behind us.
Ahead, I could see a set of double doors up ahead and
what looked like a pool of crimson spread across the
floor in front of it.
"John! Pick him upl Move!" Chloe said. "Emily, can you
carry her?"
"Yes!" Emily exclaimed, looking panicked.
"Then fucking carry her!"
John let out a frustrated groan and said, "Get on my
back, sir!"
"Oh, Christ!" said but didn't hesitate to do as he
suggested. I could barely walk, let alone run.
I glanced over my shoulder to see Emily taking a page
out of John's book and hauling Natashya over her
shoulders before following on our heels. In the low
light, my sister's startlingly light grey eyes almost
seemed to reflect the moonlight, wide with fear as she
raced behind us.
Chloe and Shea were running behind us, but at a
slower pace, taking time to look behind them. Sure
enough, a man peered around the corner a few
moments later, and Shea fired off a couple of rounds.
Then she tossed down the gun and said, "I'm out!"
Chloe tossed her a gun and fired off another round at
someone else. That was all saw as John hit the glass
double doors and sprinted toward a dark SUV. As soon
as he reached it, he threw open the back door, tossed
me in like a duffel bag, and then disappeared around
the driver's side.
Treating Natashya with more care, Emily ran past me,
opened the back passenger door, and helped her friend
gingerly crawl into the back seat before climbing in
after her. She spun around and gripped the back
headrest as she stared at the doors of the building
where' we'd just escaped, waiting for the others.
The engine fired to life, and John called out, "I have my
orders! We've got ten seconds. Twenty tops. if they
aren't in here by then, we're leaving!"
"What!?" Emily said.
"What!?" I exclaimed.
John didn't respond. We all waited in silence, listening
to the sound of the motor purr and several more shots
from within the building.
And then the gunfire stopped.
A heartbeat or two passed, and John said, "We have to
leave, sir"
"The fuck we are," I called from the back, eyes fixed on
the double doors. "I'm not-
The doors opened, revealing Chloe, Shea, and Jon as
they sprinted toward us.
A silhouette appeared behind them, and Jon took a
shot, forcing whoever it was out of sight.
"Get in!" Chloe bellowed, her blonde hair flying wildly
behind her as she closed in on the SUV. Jon passed the
back of the SUV and jumped in the front passenger
seat. As soon as Shea and Chloe dove into the back
with me, John floored it. The back wheels flung gravel
high into the air as our getaway car quickly picked up
speed and moved out of the warehouse parking lot.
"Gun!" Chloe barked, reaching out one arm as Jon
handed her one of the rifles he confiscated. She turned
around and brought the weapon to bear just as three
more men ran out the front door, looking like they
were about to open fire. Chloe fired several shots,
causing them to dive for cover.
After leaving the drive and disappearing behind a fence,
we heard a few more shots go off, but nothing hit us,
and in a few moments, we left them far behind. Chloe
reached up and shut the door to the back of the SUV,
leaving the interior eerily quiet after being subjected to
so much chaos.
I'd propped myself up on my elbows, watching the
entire affair, and as soon as it seemed safe, I dropped
back and inadvertently found my head in Shea's lap.
She leaned against the back of the rear seat, gingerly
pulling the collar of her shirt down her shoulder to
examine her bullet wound, and I looked up at her.
"You okay?" asked, my voice a little hoarse.
She glanced down at me, and a smile graced her
pleasantly plump lips as she ran her fingers through my
hair. "I'll be fine. This isn't the first time I've been shot"
I glanced at her wounded shoulder and said,
"Something tells me you're not just a masseuse."
Her smile deepened, and she let out a small "hmm."
Then she said, "Who do you think referred me to Erin?"
She glanced at Chloe.
I looked at my bodyguard, who had pulled out her
phone and was tapping away furiously at the small
screen. I had so many fucking questions for that
woman.
Unfortunately, they would have to wait. Suddenly, I felt
an overwhelming sense of exhaustion overtake me. I
could feel every muscle in my body, and more than half
of my skin felt like it was on fire from all the welts I'd
received. I'd been captured for three days. How much
of that had been actual sleep? Before I could even
guess, I nodded off, noting somewhere' in the back of
my mind the whisper of asphalt under tires and the
distant sound of police sirens.
I'm not sure how long I was out, but when my eyes
fluttered open, I was no longer staring up into Shea's
exotic features or Chloe's soccer mom good looks.
Instead, I was looking up into a set of piercing blue
eyes under the shaggiest pair of eyebrows I had ever
seen. He looked more like Albert Einstein and less like
the Victoria's Secret models I seemed to surround
myself with. I blinked at him, and he looked down at
me and huffed, his bushy, iron-grey mustache fluttering. Don't forget to leave a Comment 
