The First Time is the Sweetest (26 page)

Sabrina nodded and stood up as Jimmy offered his hand. “Watch the glass, Sabrina,” he said, quickly pulling her across the room. She averted her eyes as they passed the man she’d shot. Jimmy saw and squeezed her hand but said nothing. They both knew she’d had no choice. After checking the safety, she shoved the small gun she still held into the back waistband of her shorts and carefully picked her way through the glass to stand near the wall on the side of the broken door where Gabriel waited, out of the line of fire.

“Do we have time to get shoes?” she asked, wincing at a small cut on her foot.

Gabriel shook his head. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. We’ll be lucky if we have enough time to get to the Jeep, and as it is, I can’t guarantee there aren’t more men already out there.” He ducked his head out the doorway, checking for more bad guys. Then he leaned back in and nodded. “Do you have the key, Jimmy?” Jimmy dangled it from his finger. “Okay, on three we run to the Jeep,” Gabriel instructed. “Try to crouch down when you run, Sabrina. Give them less of a target.”

She nodded and sucked in a breath. Gabriel counted, and then they all lunged outside and ran toward the car. She barely felt the rough gravel of the driveway underfoot as another surge of adrenaline flooded her body. She thought they’d made it, but just as they reached the Jeep, a shot split the air.

“Shit!” Gabriel muttered and wrenched open the door. He shoved Sabrina in the backseat as Jimmy crawled into the front through the passenger side door, then over to the wheel where he started the vehicle. As soon as Gabriel jumped in, Jimmy peeled out of the driveway, not even waiting until Gabriel closed the door. Sabrina lurched onto the floor in back, and Jimmy yelled to stay down. She did, hoping futilely that the shooters didn’t also have a car.
Fat chance
, she thought as Gabriel immediately rolled down his window and started shooting at something behind them. Something hit the back of the car just as they got onto the paved section of the road. She wasn’t sure which way Jimmy turned and found that she didn’t much care as long as they got away from the madmen trying to kill them.

“Once we get into town, we should be able to go to the local cops and get help,” Gabriel said, buckling his seat belt and sitting back in the seat. She hadn’t heard any more shots since they’d turned on the paved road.
Maybe they didn’t have a car?
Sabrina reasoned, then felt her heart sink as Jimmy cursed.

“We may not get into fucking town, Gabriel.” He swore again and drove faster. He hated this. Hated feeling helpless, especially when the lives of the people he loved were in danger. He knew the best thing he could do was drive, so he firmed his mouth and gripped the steering wheel harder, trying to drive defensively, throw their attackers off balance.

Sabrina heard another vehicle behind them but didn’t dare get up to see what was happening. Gabriel leaned out of the window again before turning to look out the back of the vehicle. When he reached forward and popped open the glove compartment, she saw him exchange the clip in his gun as she peeked in between the front seats from her spot on the floor.

“What’s happening?” she asked, hoping one of them would enlighten her.

“There are two cars behind us, and they don’t look friendly,” Gabriel explained shortly. Sabrina prayed that the cars he saw were ordinary drivers sharing the road, but felt her heart sink as Jimmy cursed and swerved, sending her crashing against the door.

“Hold on!” he yelled, too late. He yanked on the wheel, and she felt more than heard a shot punch the back window. The whole piece of shatterproof glass fell on the seat, some slivers sliding onto the floor near her as she tried to wedge herself more securely between the rear seat and the back of the front seat.

“Shit, shit, shit! They’ve got semiautomatics,” Gabriel said as Sabrina heard the sound of rapid fire, thankfully none of it hitting the car. Gabriel squeezed off a few cautious shots. “I’m aiming for their tires, but I’m not sure if that’ll stop them.”

More bullets whizzed by, a few hitting the metal of the car while Jimmy tried to drive and duck at the same time. Then, suddenly, a tremendous crash impacted the driver’s side of the car, and they lurched onto the gravel-strewn shoulder of the road. Jimmy cursed, yanking on the wheel, and then they were on the smooth pavement again. He stomped on the gas, and Sabrina crashed into the door again as he tried to avoid what must have been the other car trying to ram them once again.

“Shit! Sabrina, you okay?” Jimmy called back, swerving again.

“Yeah, yeah, just drive, all right? Don’t worry about me!” She ducked as she heard more gunfire. Gabriel carefully aimed and shot a few more rounds, but she had no idea if they were hitting anything.

“Gabriel? Did you get their tires?” Jimmy rasped, yanking on the wheel. Sabrina braced her arm against the backseat and felt glass grind into her skin. She winced, but compared to the risk of breaking her arm if she didn’t hold on, the wounds were minor.

“Yeah, I did, but they’re not slowing down. They’re driving on their fucking rims!” Gabriel fired again. Sabrina grimaced, feeling blood trickling down her arm from the small cuts. Another huge crash shook the car so violently, it was all she could do to hang on as they tilted, then rolled over. She jammed her legs into the space beneath the seats while Jimmy unsuccessfully tried to bring the car back under control. She saw Gabriel lose his gun and Jimmy’s head hit the steering wheel; then Sabrina smashed into the roof of the car and back down onto the backseat as they rolled, then stopped. She couldn’t move for a second, stunned from the crash. Her head ached and numerous cuts and bruises decorated her body, but nothing seemed to be broken.

“Jimmy?” she groaned, moving her head gingerly and poking at his arm. She tried to see if he was okay, remembering how his head hit the wheel, but he wasn’t moving. Then Gabriel grunted as the door on his side was wrenched open. A large man grabbed him by the arm and pulled him out and onto the ground. Sabrina ducked down so they wouldn’t see her, but the door on the driver’s side was broken and another man reached in and grabbed her by the arm, making her gasp in pain as he pressed beefy fingers into her newly opened cut. Jimmy still didn’t respond.

“Who are you?” she asked, but he ignored her question and dragged her around the car, throwing her to the ground beside Gabriel, who lay unmoving. They were on a narrow shelf inside a ravine about ten feet down from the road, the car wedged haphazardly against some oaks.
That must have been what stopped the rolling
, Sabrina thought fuzzily. She didn’t know what happened to Jimmy or if Gabriel was okay. She looked up to see three men glaring down at them. One raised his gun, and suddenly Gabriel went nuts, yelling and kicking the man’s feet out from under him. She blinked, still woozy as the man’s gun slid down the side of the drop-off with a clatter of loose gravel. She still couldn’t move as she watched Gabriel fighting two of the men, and she shook her head, trying to clear it, but everything stayed blurry.
Must have hit my head in the crash
, she thought, just before the third man hit Gabriel in the head with his elbow. She didn’t know if any of the others had weapons, but when Gabriel went down, she felt her heart lurch, then pound, washing away the fog. Everything was suddenly crystal clear.

She realized that Jimmy was either dead or severely injured or he would have been out and helping them by now. Gabriel couldn’t take on three men by himself, especially not after being knocked around inside the car as it rolled down the slope. And most importantly, she had a gun. Sabrina felt the cold metal of it digging into the skin of her back, where she’d shoved it what seemed like ages ago. It was a small miracle it hadn’t fallen out and that the man who’d grabbed her didn’t see it when he dragged her out of the car. None of the men had checked her for weapons, probably assuming a girl wouldn’t be dangerous. Their attention remained on the one threat left: Gabriel. What they didn’t know was that she would do anything to protect him. Rage blew through her. She needed to help Gabriel. She needed to hurt the men who’d possibly killed Jimmy and were about to kill Gabriel.

Carefully, she removed the weapon from her waistband and flicked back the safety. Sabrina was grateful that none of the men heard, and she turned slightly to hide the gun from view, holding it against her leg. She looked around, seeing another car just like the one that crashed into them pulling up and parking on the side of the road above. She needed to do something soon, before more men came down. Two men held Gabriel down while the third one kicked him in the stomach. He groaned, looking dazed as Sabrina silently lifted her arm, braced the gun with her left hand, aimed at the closest man, and shot him in the head. Before the other two could react, she’d shot one in the stomach and the other in the torso. Apparently her aim had improved. All three went down as she sat there, silently letting her arm fall.

“Sabrina! Sabrina, can you hear me? Sabrina!”

She lifted her gaze from the bodies of the men she’d killed to see Gabriel struggle to his knees. He crawled toward her, looking somewhat the worse for wear.

“Are you with me, sweetheart?” He gently took the gun from Sabrina’s hand and shoved it in his waist holster. She blinked at him, thinking that there was something they had to do. “We need to get out of here. Can you run?” Gabriel asked, and she snapped out of it as the world rushed back in all at once. She heard scrabbling coming from the top of the ravine and saw three more men, one of them Patrick, clambering down the slope. Shit!

“Yeah, yeah, I’m here.” Sabrina gripped his arm tightly.

“We gotta run.” Gabriel pulled her up and away from the car.

“Wait! What about Jimmy!” she cried, horrified at the thought of leaving him. Gabriel glanced at her face, his expression tortured as he pulled her around the car and into the brush.

“I don’t know if he’s okay, but we have to go anyway. Patrick saw us down here.”

Sabrina shook her head even as she went with him, unable to bear the thought of leaving Jimmy. Gabriel knew and dragged her faster, looking as broken-hearted as a man could. They stumbled out of the undergrowth and onto a game trail.

“We have to keep going!” he insisted, still holding her hand. Sabrina wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince her or himself. “And if Jimmy is okay, maybe Patrick and his men will be so obsessed with us, they’ll leave him alone.”

She knew he was right. She shook off her grief and began to run with him instead of pulling back, careening down the trail, not even noticing her bare feet anymore. She tried not to think about Jimmy, knowing they needed to get away. They ran. Branches hit the bare skin of her arms and face, but she felt nothing, only flinching when they heard a shot. Gabriel stumbled for a moment before smoothing out again.

“You can’t get away, Gabriel, you faggot!” Patrick yelled, sounding close. Sabrina didn’t break stride. Gabriel clutched her hand tighter and ran until she stumbled on a tree root and fell, pulling them both down. A shot hit a branch above them, raining wood chips in her face. She struggled to clear her eyes and get to her feet, knowing that Patrick and his men were nearly on top of them. Another bullet plowed into the tree next to the trail while Gabriel squirmed on the ground. For a moment she thought he was hit, but then she saw his hands come up in front of him with the small gun she’d used back at the ravine. He sighted along his arms and squeezed off two shots. She looked back down the trail and saw the two men with Patrick fall. The agent ducked behind a tree as Gabriel tried to shoot again, but all she heard was a click when he pulled the trigger.

“Fuck!” he exclaimed. Sabrina flinched, and Gabriel flung the weapon away in disgust. When she looked up again, Patrick stood over them, pointing a very large, very bleak-looking gun at Gabriel’s head.

“I’m going to enjoy this,” he sneered.

Gabriel stared up defiantly. “What, just because your son is queer you think I deserve to die?” he asked contemptuously. Patrick’s eyes glazed over, a fanatical light entering his gaze. Sabrina began searching the ground surreptitiously, looking for a rock, a stick, anything to fling at him to distract him.

“All you homosexuals deserve to die.” Patrick’s arm never wavered as Sabrina closed her hands on a rock the size of her fist. She was lying partially behind Gabriel, so she hoped Patrick couldn’t see what she was doing.

“So, you’re going to let bigotry ruin your career.” Gabriel glared at his former partner. “I don’t believe it.”

“I’m not throwing my career away. I’m fixing it. Everything was going just fine until my goddamn wife divorced me, sucking away all my money to give to that disgusting spawn of hers.” Patrick breathed harshly. “You don’t deserve to live. It’s because of you that I had to start taking money from those fucking druggies. It’s because of you that I lost my son. It’s because of you that my wife divorced me,” he ranted as Sabrina inched her hand out from behind Gabriel.

At this point, any action was better than sitting there waiting for Patrick to run out of steam and shoot them both. She tensed her arm, breathing a quick prayer, then threw the rock at the madman’s face. As soon as it hit, Gabriel launched himself at Patrick’s legs, dragging him to the ground. They rolled around and Sabrina watched in sick fascination, head throbbing, as they wrestled for control of the gun. She was afraid to move, afraid to say anything that would break Gabriel’s concentration when he suddenly, shockingly, crushed Patrick’s hand against a rock, making the gun skitter off the trail. Sabrina dived for it, ignoring the men who were now a lot more equally matched.