Not You It's Me (Boston Love #1) - Julie Johnson Page 0,130

shove her in the trunk, and be done with it!”

I try to tune them out as I hug Winnie closer and begin to edge along the wall. Thankfully, his cries have died down to a low, steady whimper that calls little attention to us. My steps are small, hesitant, as I move ever closer to the car.

“And what are we going to do with her friend and the fucking baby, huh?”

“More to bargain with!” Ralph is getting defensive — his face is red with rage and his hands are shaking by his sides. “We can get an even bigger trade, for the three of them.”

A phone starts to ring. I hear rustling, as someone pulls it from their pocket, and a second later, Ralph’s angry voice shatters the silence.

“Why the fuck is Brett calling you?!” he barks. “You told me you weren’t working with him, anymore, Vanessa!”

“I’m not!”

“Then why is he calling you?” Ralph’s voice gets louder, crazier, with each passing second. His very, very small brain is only now putting it together that Vanessa has most likely double-crossed him — and he’s not happy about it.

“Just calm down,” Vanessa says, but even she sounds shaken at Ralph’s sudden turn toward crazy-town. “We’ll sort this out, Ralph, you just have to trust me—”

“Trust you?” His words are a little hysterical, now.

I edge closer to the car.

“What was the plan?” he continues. “Pin the kidnapping on me, while you collect all the money and get off scot-free?”

“No, of course not!”

I angle my body, so my back is to them and my front is facing the car. If anyone’s getting shot when I make a run for it, it’s not going to be the little boy in my arms. My eyes catch on Chrissy’s, through the back window, and I see hers are full of pain and fear. Heart pounding in my chest, I dart a glance back at the kidnap-twins and see Ralph advancing on Vanessa, until she’s pinned against the wall.

By my guess, there’s about twenty feet of space between us.

How long does it take a bullet to travel twenty feet?

Not long, that’s for damn sure.

Still, when I see him turn fully away, so all his attention is focused on the cowering blonde before him, I know it’s now or never.

Pressing one last kiss to the top of Winnie’s head, I push off from the wall like a shot and race for the car as fast as my legs will carry us.

***

We’re halfway there when I hear Vanessa cry out.

“Ralph! Stop her!”

Shit!

I hear a muttered curse, the sound of pounding footsteps, and the unmistakable rapport of a gun firing in my direction.

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

Searing pain grazes my shoulder, causing me to stumble. I’m nearly blind with agony, but I force my feet to keep moving, one after another. The welcome clicking sound of the gun running out of rounds reaches my ears.

Thank god.

We’re almost there.

A final burst of hope shoots into my bloodstream, like a needle of adrenaline straight to the heart, as I fly across the pavement faster than I’ve ever run in my life.

“Gemma, you fucking bitch!” Ralph screams. “Stop!”

I don’t.

We’re nearly at the car when the front door flies open. I see Chrissy, legs still in the backseat, half-lying on the center console, and I practically toss Winnie into her waiting arms. My ass isn’t even settled on the front cushion when my hand hits the shifter and my foot slams down on the gas pedal.

“Gemma, you bitch!”

Ralph sprints for the car, head on, and I swerve around him at the last second.

“Hold on!” I yell, just before my hands tighten on the wheel and whip it all the way left. The U-turn is so sharp I think we might flip — but eventually the car rights with a squeal of tires and the smell of burning rubber. I press the pedal flat to the floor and blast past my rat bastard ex, who’s still screaming like a crazy person.

Probably because he is a crazy person.

“You okay?” I yell to Chrissy, as we race up the ramp toward daylight.

“Just peachy!” she yells back, doing the final buckle on Winston’s car seat.

“Winnie okay?”

“He’ll be fine.”

“Fetus okay?”

“Let’s just say, it’ll have a great story to tell about its day of birth.”

“Damn straight.”

I look back in the rearview and see the Mercedes slam to a halt next to Ralph. Vanessa’s at the wheel, steaming mad, from the looks of it, and as soon as Ralph jumps in, she peals out after us.