Page 108 of Hurry Up And Wait

“Yes, please don’t make it?—”

Something sharp pierced the window behind me, and then a cacophony of noise shattered the peace of the morning. Bowie shouted at us to duck, flinging himself over Riley and dragging me to the ground with them. I cried out as I hit the deck hard. My head bounced off the wood and my vision swam. My gaze strayed to the sight of bright flashes firing rapidly from the passing car. And right behind it was IKE, running flat out toward the car, firing his own weapon. The car took off, peeling down the street to get away.

“Inside!” Bowie shouted, hauling Riley off her feet.

I struggled to sit up, dazed and confused by the events occurring. It was only because Bowie grabbed my arm and hauled me to my feet that I was even moving. But as soon as IKE turned to me, something in my brain clicked into place. My gaze locked with his for only a moment, and then I turned, running into the house behind Riley.

The door slammed behind me, and as I spun, I realized Bowie had locked us inside. Away from the bullets. Away from the man who wanted me dead.

Dead, and yet, not a single bullet hit me. Or Riley. Or even Bowie. Shawn was a cop. He trained all the time, he went to the shooting range and practiced until the cows came home. I knew him. He was a very good shot. And yet…

Yet, he didn’t hit me. That was strange. Either he didn’t want me dead and just wanted to scare me, or?—

“What the fuck was that?” Riley snapped.

I shoved my hair out of my face, shaking my head in confusion. “Someone tried to kill us.”

“Well, no shit! I swear to God, if this is because of Shawn, I’ll go shove my foot so far up his ass, sunshine will go through his mouth and straight out his shit hole!”

I tried to keep a straight face at her anger, but the visualization was almost too much to bear. Laughter burst from my lips before I could choke it back. It didn’t take long for Riley to join in, and before I knew it, we were laying on the floor, each of us holding our sides as hysterical laughter roared through us.

“What the fuck is this?” I heard Bowie mutter.

I rolled over, only to laugh again at the confusion on his face. “You should see your face,” I laughed, wiping the tears from my eyes.

“Fucking hell,” IKE muttered, stalking through the door. “What the hell is going on?”

“I don’t know,” Bowie said to him. “I walked in and found them like this.”

“Are you hurt?” IKE asked.

“No,” Riley said, trying to contain her laughter. “But Shawn’s about to have a gigantic shit hole filled with sunshine.”

I snorted in laughter, clutching my side as the guys stared at us in irritation and confusion. I choked back my laughter and smacked Riley until she stopped laughing. We both sat up, trying to keep straight faces as we stared at the muscular men blocking us inside.

“You realize someone just tried to kill you, right?” Bowie asked.

I nodded, slapping a hand over my mouth as I let out a weird noise, disguising my laughter. It wasn’t logical. Hell, none of this was something we should be laughing about, but I just kept picturing light beaming out of Shawn at all angles. Maybe I just needed to describe it.

“See, Riley said if it was Shawn, she was going to shove her foot so far up his ass that sunshine would go through his mouth and straight out his shit hole.”

IKE quirked an eyebrow at me, his arms crossed over his chest. “And that’s funny?”

Clearly, he had no sense of humor. “I’m sorry. You’re right,” I said solemnly. “It’s not funny at all.”

But Riley squeaked and we both lost it again. Frankly, it was ridiculous to even try to contain our laughter.

“Why can’t we just get the normal ones who are afraid?” Bowie asked.

IKE looked at Bowie strangely. “When are you going to learn that none of them are normal?”

25

KAVANAUGH

I staredout the window on the way to the next town hall meeting, irritated that I was back here…with the senator. Fuck, I really hated him. All I wanted was the information, but I knew he wasn’t about to give it up yet. Not when he could milk me for every second of political gain.

“Is there something wrong?” Olivia asked, squirming in her seat.