But the knife in his hand never made it to my throat. A gun went off. Time stopped.
Instead of blackness taking over me—instead of my brains blowing out of my skull and landing on the asphalt, it was O’Banion who fell forward with half of his face missing. He was dead before he hit the ground.
A succession of guns went off, and the guys who’d been holding me dropped, and I dropped with them. Then, there was nothing but silence.
Shoving the dead men off of me, I crawled over to Godfrey and Luis. Luis had taken off his shirt and was using it to bind Bonham’s still bleeding foot. Johnny Jack’s guys were littered all around us, lifeless and filled with holes that pumped blood out of their bodies.
I looked over at the sound of footsteps and there was Rocco. “Evenin’ boys. Sorry I’m late.”
“You motherfucker,” Godfrey snarled, but when he tried to get up, he stumbled back down with a grimace.
“Easy,” Rocco said, watching him as his men circled around, checking to make sure all of Johnny’s guys were dead. Some of them earned a few more bullets into their skulls.
“They took her, and they have your daughter too.”
My words were a garbled rush, but the urgency in my tone made Rocco’s eyes snap to mine. “What?”
“They have your daughter, and they have my girl!” I shouted, trying to make him hurry the fuck up before it was too late. If Johnny Jack went underground, I’d never find her.
Like he’d just now noticed that Johnny Jack wasn’t here, Rocco looked around wildly. “Which way?”
It was Luis who answered. “North. Only about three minutes ago.”
The longest three minutes of my fucking life.
In the next thirty seconds, half of Rocco’s men were gone, their car peeling out to catch up with Johnny Jack, and Rocco himself went with them. The other half hauled our battered asses into the second car.
“Shit, Kelly. You gotta stay awake, man. Don’t pass out.”
I didn’t realize that I was leaning on Luis with my eyes closed. I was too busy groaning and trying not to puke. Scar. Fucking hell, I should have locked her up somewhere. I was wrong in bringing her here, thinking she’d be safer at my side. So fucking wrong. I got cocky and she was suffering the consequences.
The driver hit the gas pedal to the floor, and we flew down the Savannah streets after Rocco’s car. “Shit man, there they are.”
I cracked open a swollen eye to stare at who was talking. Luis sat next to me, and I could tell the way he held his arm that his shoulder was dislocated. Bonham was bleeding all over the truck, still passed out, and Godfrey was swaying in the seat as he finished tightening Luis's makeshift T-shirt tourniquet for Bonham’s foot.
I saw Rocco’s car ahead of us and then Johnny’s car farther up, in the distance. It was swerving in and out of the sparse traffic, barely maintaining control.
“Does it look like they’re headed for the warehouse district?” I asked. If they got on the highway, it would be impossible for us to catch up to them.
“Take a right here. I know a shortcut. They’re gonna try to enter the highway at the Red Rose exit. We’re gonna cut them off.” I could hear how slurred my voice was and knew it was a matter of moments until I lost consciousness. My skull felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer to it.
I could feel everyone’s weary eyes on me, so I forced myself to sit a little taller. “Do it,” I ordered with a growl. The driver let out a disapproving exhale, but seemed to trust my opinion because he turned the wheel. We hugged each curve of the back streets as I spouted off directions. I could barely see shit as my vision flickered, but I knew these streets, knew my gut. “Take River Street,” I barked. “And hurry the fuck up.”
In my haze, there was one thing I knew for certain. We only had a small window of opportunity. “The moment we hit Main Street and cross the intersection, they should be right there. If we time it good enough, we should be able to clip their car and stop them.”
“Are you fucking stupid?” the driver exclaimed, looking at me through the rearview mirror. “At these speeds, we’ll wreck.”
“That’s the point,” I groaned.
“I’m not wrecking on purpose!”
Luis growled in frustration beside me. Then, without warning, he