Trickster [Aidan Hunter series book 1]

Chapter 1

HENRY

~~~~~~~

Wind brushed past as I raced down the street. The sound of my breathing flooded my ears. Adrenaline coursed through my veins. The people along the sidewalk made it difficult to run, which was troublesome when being chased by gunmen in black SUVs.

"Out of the way!" I yelled as I ran.

Three SUVs were hot on our tail. I wasn't the only one trying to escape them though. My idiot of a partner, Aidan, was right in front of me. Judging by how hell-bent the bad guys were on killing us, I'd say we pissed them off big time. Or more like Aidan pissed them off.

Their line of sight was obstructed by the civilians, and vehicles lined up along the sidewalk. We couldn't exactly rely on them to avoid the gunfire.

We reached a crossing but slowing down was out of the question, so we increased our pace. Gunshots sounded close behind us. The enemy vehicles were gaining on us. We ducked as we plunged across the crossing, dreading one of those bullets to hit us. They hit the vehicles nearby and screams of alarmed civilians filled the air.

As we crossed another road, a car screeched to a halt merely an inch away from Aidan.

He showed his hand to the driver. "Whoa!"

"Are you out of your mind?" the driver yelled.

"All the time!" Aidan answered.

Moron.

I showed a hand to the driver as I passed by. "Sorry! Ignore him."

More shots fired our way. One of them ripped the sleeve of my shirt. I should've been feeling lucky I wasn't killed but apparently, that wasn't my main concern anymore.

"You kidding?" I panted, glancing at the torn fabric. "We need to shake these guys off."

"I'm trying," Aidan said.

I looked back only to catch a glimpse of how close the enemy vehicles were. A man armed with machine guns leaned out the backseat window and fired at us in short bursts, mindless of all the civilians around.

"Get down!" I yelled.

Some people rushed into the buildings nearby for cover. Others ducked behind cars or the tables in the patios outside cafés. The gunfire shattered the windows of the cafés and diners.

We arrived at an intersection. As I turned left around the bend, Aidan went right. It took us a second to realize we'd split, but we couldn't get back to each other. Our pursuers had already caught up.

"Shit," I grumbled, ducking near a wall.

I pulled my gun out. I wanted to take out the driver of the first vehicle. A window of a few seconds was all I'd get. But it was all I needed. There was a good chance they'd kill me first. There was also a good chance I'd miss my intended target and they'd still kill me.

The odds were fantastic.

The first SUV swerved right and took off after Aidan. The second one approached the bend. I leaned out from behind the wall and fired several shots at the driver's window, successfully hitting him at the fourth trigger. The vehicle lost control and veered off course. It skidded into the middle of the intersection, smashing into another car.

I took out the tires of the third SUV when it appeared. It lost control as well, ramming into the other one.

The wrecked SUVs caused an obstruction. Vehicles screeched to a halt at the sight of them, thus causing all traffic to slow down. It was a gigantic mess but I had to stop those gunmen somehow.