eyes. Nora twisted her fingers and burrowed deeper still, bringing Tina’s attention back where it belonged.
CHAPTER 4
They walked up the sidewalk toward the witness’s home. Kelli looked around. Everything was tinted different shades of red, from the color of blood to a darker crimson, even the sky and grass.
Travis bumped her shoulder. “There’s this new bar, The Armory, that just opened. You wanna go tonight after work?”
Kelli smiled, nodded, and tried to ignore the weirdness around her. As they got closer, her guts churned—not a good sign. Something was way the fuck off. Her heartbeat slowed, but the sound echoed like a base drum in her ear. Kelli tried to push the feeling away, but as they climbed the stairs, it went up a notch.
It hurt to breathe. She knew there was a reason, but she couldn’t quite remember. The thought was there, just out of her reach. All of this was way too familiar. She had to warn him. “Travis…I—”
Gunshots rang out from inside the house. It sounded like the Fourth of July. Or a battlefield.
They both pulled their weapons, hunkered down to avoid the windows at all cost. Travis watched her. She mouthed, “Call it in.”
He nodded, and did just that.
“ETA five minutes. There’s a car in the vicinity,” Travis whispered.
Kelli scanned the nearby houses. Thank Christ no one came out to be nosy. “Find some good cover. We’ll wait for backup.” Kelli watched as he jumped the hedge, leading to the neighbor’s house. She could barely see him through the thick greenery. He continued to waddle toward their car.
Kelli started to do the same.
The sound of running footsteps made them both move faster. They needed to find cover. Now. Then, everything happened in slow motion. Someone was shooting at them, and Kelli watched helplessly as a bullet caught Travis and sent him flying face first into the concrete. Blood as black as pitch pooled around him.
He didn’t move.
Rage and fear gripped her and propelled her forward. Kelli could almost feel the hot breath of the shooter rippling down her neck. She ran and laid down suppressive fire as she moved toward the car. White-hot pain seared her upper thigh, and she dropped to the ground. She stared at her leg. Black liquid oozed from the wound. Kelli’s body flooded with adrenaline and gave her just enough energy to drag herself across the lawn. She tried to get to cover…to get to Travis. Before she could make it, someone grabbed her injured leg. Kelli nearly blacked out from the pain. One man kicked her gun away as another pulled her back toward the house. Kelli yelled and cursed in defiance.
Behind black masks, they laughed as she struggled.
Then, they stopped. She glanced up to see a nine millimeter pointed at her head. Fear lanced through her but the rage overpowered it. “Do it!” she yelled. “They’re gonna take you down so fucking hard—”
The sound of approaching sirens cut through what Kelli thought was her final fuck you .
“We need to go. Now,” one of them yelled. They released her and ran toward a car across the street. Kelli pulled herself up only to be launched backward once again as a bullet slammed into her chest.
Kelli awoke with a gasp and tried to sit up in bed. The dull ripple of pain reminded her that her body was shit. She looked around the room to get used to being back in reality. It was nice and boring…all white and sterile. Perfect, which was just what she needed after coming out of that fucked-up Salvador Dali-esqe dream. Her hands shook as she wiped sweat from her forehead. Her pajamas were wet and clammy and stuck to her body. Kelli closed her eyes and waited to get off the tilt-o-whirl. When she opened them again, there was still a little tremor left in her hands, but it was a big improvement. Kelli inhaled as deep as she could and for once appreciated the hospital tang in the air.
Sounds filtered in through the open door. For some reason, the noises calmed her. It was a
Learning to Kill: Stories