“Get down!” Gabriel cried, grabbing her and shoving her onto the floor before she knew what was happening. Was someone shooting? That must have been what broke the window, she thought vaguely, lying on the floor. Gabriel had his gun out and was making his way over to Jimmy’s side when several more shots rang out. Sabrina crawled under the table. Gabriel crouched down but kept popping up, trying to see out of the window. Jimmy grabbed a paring knife off the counter and was kneeling beside the cabinets under the sink. Sabrina didn’t know what to do. Then she saw a dark shape move behind the old glass on the front door. Shit!
“Guys, incoming through the front!” she said sharply, then remembered the gun Gabriel left on the table. Despite her fear, she reached up from underneath and felt around as several more shots flew inside. Some potato chips fell to the floor as she ran her hand along the table. No, no, not the eggs, not the cookies, wait, gotcha! She closed her hand around the gun just as three men wearing black ski masks crashed through the front door. Jimmy threw the paring knife at one of them, and the intruder went down, the hilt protruding from his eye.
Sabrina flipped off the safety on the gun, checking to see if it was loaded first, then aimed at the door, suddenly grateful that Gabriel had shown her how to use a gun properly yesterday. She still couldn’t really hit what she aimed at, but she could try. She squeezed the trigger as the remaining two men started forward, hitting one in the shoulder to her complete shock. He went down, his gun skittering away. He didn’t move, and Sabrina felt a moment’s remorse, but then Jimmy muttered a “good job” under his breath as he scrabbled along the counter for another knife. She threw him a quick smile. Even though she knew the man was trying to kill them, she didn’t feel particularly good knowing that she’d hurt someone. She stayed crouched down, praying they could get out of this safely, but then more bullets shattered the lamp in the living area.
“Damn it,” she muttered, ducking down even lower as more bullets pocked the far walls with ragged holes. She glanced up and saw Gabriel pop up above the windowsill for a split second to fire some shots just as Jimmy closed his fingers around the chef’s knife on the counter. By now, the last man was really close. She tried to make herself as small a target as possible. He wasn’t carrying a gun, so she assumed he must have lost it in the melee, but he was a large man. He could do a lot of damage with just his fists if he got near her. She squeezed off two more shots, but neither came close to hitting the guy to her disgust. Sabrina figured they would be better off if she conserved the rest of her ammunition in case he got close enough for her to hit him. Surely she could manage at point-blank range?
“Don’t come any closer,” Jimmy said, voice low and angry.
Sabrina contemplated whether or not to try for another shot as she scrunched down on the other side of the cabinets near Gabriel’s legs, savoring the warmth of his bare skin. All the remaining shots seemed to be coming through the kitchen window, but that didn’t stop her from appreciating the warmth of his body. The man in the mask didn’t respond to Jimmy’s warning and kept stalking forward. She could see him grinning through the fabric and shivered as his eyes swiveled back and forth from Jimmy to her. Then, faster than she could process, he leaped forward and the two men were fighting. Jimmy’s face tightened with concentration as he moved, using a few brutal maneuvers she’d only seen in the movies. In a matter of moments, the other man was on the floor, groaning from a deep knife wound in his side. Sabrina shuddered as Jimmy dropped to his knees and violently ripped off the ski mask. Gabriel glanced down briefly, then squeezed off a few more shots as he saw Jimmy had the man under control.
“Who sent you?” Jimmy barked, smacking the floor beside the man’s face with his fist. The man spit at him, and Sabrina grimaced. Disgusting. Jimmy wiped his forearm on the injured man’s sleeve, looking grim.
“Only one left outside now,” Gabriel said in a tight voice. “If he pops out of cover again, I’ve got him.” He didn’t turn around as he spoke. Sabrina looked over near the door at the man she’d shot. He was lying perfectly still. Was he dead? She began to shiver, the adrenaline from the initial burst of violence draining from her body too fast for her to control.
“I don’t care how much you spit at me, you’re going to tell me what I want to know,” Jimmy muttered. He’d grabbed the intruder by the hair and was yanking back on his head, holding the chef’s knife at the man’s eye. The man didn’t look so defiant anymore.
“All right, all right!” he panted. “I was hired by some older guy, name of Patrick.” The three of them froze at his words, Gabriel chancing a look back.
“And what did he say when he hired you?” Jimmy asked menacingly. The man swallowed, his eye following the knife Jimmy circled in front of his face.
“He offered us fifty thousand to kill the three of you.”
Sabrina felt her blood freeze. Gabriel’s partner had paid someone to kill them?
“What about Miltos? You ever work for him?” Jimmy asked, looking even angrier than before, which Sabrina would have sworn was impossible.
“No, no, just that guy Patrick,” the man panted. “I’ve heard of Miltos, but never did any work for him.” His eyes were growing glassy, and she had to look away. Then the man passed out, and Jimmy dropped his head back to the floor in frustration. Sabrina looked at Jimmy, but he just stared back at her. Grim thoughts ran through her mind. Then Gabriel squeezed off a final shot.
“Got him!” He turned away from the window urgently. “We have to get out of here, now. Patrick will have more men coming, especially if some boss higher up in the organization is bankrolling him.” Gabriel was already walking toward the door. He wanted to scream with frustration, looking around at the bloody mess in the cabin. Sabrina was pale, but Jimmy just seemed grim. Gabriel worried about her for a moment, then made himself get moving.
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.