Juliet Must Survive | 𝒂𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒚𝒂𝒉.

Chapter 8

Carter instinctively ran inside the hotel, stumbling into the empty lobby. Nobody stood behind the check-in front desk and the lounge nearby was left abandoned, as were the corridors to his left and right, one leading to an empty restaurant and the other to some elevators.

He immediately thought of Lee, who he'd left behind with his old friend Carl in the penthouse at the top of the hotel where he was currently dealing with his client, Isaak O' Day. He'd soaked his pants with wine at the mini-bar, so they'd split up. Carter had promised that he would join them later, but his head was turned by a pretty stranger lurking outside the hotel. Women, his only weakness.

Trish rushed after him, reaching inside her coat and pulling out her pistol. She attentively scanned the lobby, anticipating a swarm of people storming out the elevators at any moment.

Noticing her weapon, Carter came by her side and hurriedly grabbed it by the cannon. "Hey! What are you doing with that, baby?"

Staring at him with unabashed sass and attitude, Trish tried to yank it out of his grasp. "I'm not your baby, old man. Let go!"

"Oh, it's like that?" He tugged with one hand, licking his index and little finger before smoothening his eyebrows like an experienced Casanova. "I'll have you know that this old man could knock yo' daddy, yo' uncle and yo' grandpa out in two minutes!"

She tugged back harder, rolling her eyes. "Yet you can't even pull a gun out of my hands."

"I would if you weren't so damn stubborn, girl! You lift or something?"

As their little tug-of-war continued, another round of gunshots was heard coming from some floors above them, preceded by rushed footsteps. Muffled high-pitched voices screamed while other lower-pitched ones yelled and grunted. The many prestigious 18th century Caribbean paintings that decorated the lobby started shaking all around them because of the commotion.

Highly alerted, Trish rested her finger on the trigger, looking around to see if anybody would be coming towards her soon. Carter interpreted her actions as a threat, so he quickly crouched down, bringing her with him as they both held on to the pistol.

"Ow! Are you crazy?!" Trish almost hit her head against Carter's after his brash movement.

"I ain't dying like this!" He kept pulling at her gun. "No matter how hot it might sound to die by getting shot by some sexy undercover agent. Dang, I really missed this!"

The pressure he applied against her finger caused Trish to accidentally start firing. She raised her gun up to the ceiling to avoid aiming at him, but it made Carter want to take away her pistol even more now. Lightbulbs started bursting and chandeliers began to take damage due to the stray bullets.

Things just got worse when the first wave of guests came out of the elevators, screaming and furthermore panicked by the sight of Trish shooting everywhere while Carter latched onto her weapon. They hurriedly ran past the pair with their hands covering their heads, some already on their portable phones no doubt calling the police.

"Let go already!" Trish forcefully stepped on Carter's foot in the hopes it would weaken his grip, but it only made him curse loudly.

She then heard a bullet whiz past her, right beside her ear. It couldn't have been one of hers since her ammunition lodged itself in the walls or the ceiling.

Turning towards the corridor where the elevators were, she saw an Asian man standing in the middle of the commotion, pointing a leather pistol at her. Looking straight at her, he then pulled out a wallet from his pocket and flipped it open, revealing a shiny golden badge.

"Put the gun down!" He told her, cocking his weapon.

"That's right!" Carter looked back at him with a struggled breath. "You tell her, Lee!"