Prisoned - Marni Mann Page 0,66

felt?

I had to reach him. Warn him. Grab his hand and pull him back inside his apartment.

The headlights turned off. The light was suddenly gone.

Another warning.

I was running out of time.

“Paulie,” I gasped, trying to find my footing, my legs not wanting to move as fast as the rest of me. My breath came out in huffs. “Come back here. Come back—”

There was noise. More than just the sound of the engine. This was a grinding, like the window was rolling down and the tracks needed to be greased.

Oh God.

Something poked out of the open window. It was thin. Circular. Dark. It got longer and longer.

The barrel of a gun.

“Paulie…no!”

Why wasn’t I moving faster? Why couldn’t I find his hand?

“Kyle, get back.”

I heard him so clearly. I knew how close I was to him.

Just a few more steps.

I finally saw his hand, close enough to reach. I clasped my fingers around his thumb. “Come on, we have to go.”

He turned a bit and then pushed me back with both hands. “Get out of here, Kyle.”

I stumbled. I tried to catch my balance, but I slammed into one of the cars along the curb. “Paulie—”

The car with the gun had almost reached him.

“Paulie, get down!” My shoulder ricocheted off the door, and I fell to the ground.

Paulie didn’t listen. He stayed right where he was, his body facing the car. The gun was pointed directly at him.

He didn’t say another word. He didn’t duck; he didn’t try to hide. He didn’t reach for his own gun, the one I knew was tucked in the back of his jeans. He just walked toward the car. And then he went completely still.

He knew.

Somehow, Paulie knew…and he did nothing.

My arms wrapped around my stomach as I cowered against the side of the tire. My whole body tightened. I held my breath, and I waited for the sound. I waited for the explosion. Whoever was about to hurt Paulie was going to come for me next.

No witnesses. Not ever.

Not in The Heart.

This was the end…for both of us.

BANG.

Paulie fell to the ground. It felt like the pavement vibrated underneath me, but I knew it hadn’t. I covered my head with my arms. No breath. No air. Through the small space between my forearms, I saw the blood start to pool out of the side of his body.

Where was the second shot? Where was the pain in my chest?

“Paulie,” I cried. “No.” It came out as a whisper. “Paulie. Paulie, stand up. Paulie…”

He didn’t move. Didn’t twitch. Didn’t cry out. There was silence, except for the sound of the engine idling, and stillness, other than the growing puddle of blood.

“Get up, and get in this car, Kyle.”

That voice…I knew it.

Why wasn’t I dead? I should have been. I should have been slumped against the car that I was leaning against, my blood flowing into the street to meet Paulie’s.

The window rolled down even more, and the set of eyes that stared back…

No. This wasn’t happening.

Not with that voice…not with those eyes.

“Kyle, get in this car right fucking now.”

“I…can’t. I ca-can’t mo-move.”

I couldn’t leave. Paulie needed me. He needed me to call the police. No one else around here would do it. If they had heard the sound of the gun, they would back away from their windows. They wouldn’t come outside. They wouldn’t check to see who’d been shot. And if they happened to see something, they wouldn’t tell the police. They wouldn’t tell anyone. That was how it worked around here. So, I needed to stay. I needed to pound my hands on his chest and breathe into his mouth and do something to get him moving.

“I’m not going to ask you again. Get in the goddamn car.”

“No—”

“Don’t make me come out there and get you.”

I’d heard his threats before. I’d seen the results of the people who didn’t listen to him. But until now, I didn’t know that The Heart had sliced open his chest, ripped his heart out, and left him soulless.

It sounded like, if I didn’t get off this pavement and get into his car, I’d be joining Paulie.

I pushed myself off the ground, my knees wobbly, my feet unsteady, as I ran to the passenger door. He opened it from the inside, and as soon as I reached the doorway, he pulled me in. My shoulder smashed into the console; my head banged into the middle armrest. He didn’t wait for me to be seated before he shut the door and