Shields

Chapter 19: Blackmailed

I looked across the car again at the policemen. They were still shooting at the unprotected group that had come to help us, but amazingly, only one of the men in the group had an injury, and he was still fighting.

I looked back at Lyss. "Seriously, how are they doing that?" I asked.

"I told you, I can explain later. Right now, we have to get back to the group and disengage before I go over my time."

My mind raced to figure out who this girl was and what she was doing, but I got up with her and Narian and we sprinted for the group.

Bullets whizzed around us as we entered the battlefield, but nothing hit us directly. Lyss hissed in pain once and Narian cried out quietly seconds later, but afterwards, the bullets missed completely.

As soon as we got close to the group, I started to fire back, feeling slightly more secure now that I knew nothing was going to hit me.

I ran out of bullets quickly and since I hadn't had time to lug around a big toolbox, I'd left my extras in the alleyway. It would have looked weird for me to have weapons on my person anyway, since I was trying to blend in. Now though, I kind of wished I'd taken the chance. It probably would have gotten me caught sooner, but it would have been easier to fight my way out.

Lyss grabbed the machine gun strapped to her back and started firing at the police. "Disengage! We don't have much time left," she yelled.

As soon as they heard the command, everyone stopped firing and ran in unison back the way they'd come. A couple of people helped the person who'd been wounded carry his gun and we quickly piled into a military car.

The driver stepped on the gas, roaring out of the back alleyway and onto the road it connected the main highway to. Narian looked at me. "Wait, we're just going to go with them."

I peeked out from behind the rough cloth covering the back of the car. Houses and other cars whizzed by quickly and I estimated that we were traveling at sixty-five miles per hour at least. "Too late to back out now," I said with a shrug.

Cop cars zoomed out behind us and started weaving through traffic recklessly toward us. I looked at Narian. "Got any bullets left in your gun?" I asked her.

She shook her head. "They were full magazines, but I emptied it pretty quickly out there. It was like a mini-war out there."

"They call that a battle." I grinned and she grinned back.

"Technicalities," Lyss interrupted. "What do you need with a gun now? The fighting's over."

"I know the fight's over, but this is a car chase and your guy doesn't seem to know much about shaking a tail."

"He's new at this; we haven't gotten there yet with him. But that doesn't answer my question."

"I want to blow out their tires so they can't chase us," I deadpanned.

She eyed my skeptically. "We're driving at least sixty to sixty-five miles per hour. You aren't going to be able to hit their tires."

"Bullet's travel fast. I'll just predict where the tires will be in the next few seconds and shoot that area."

"That's impossible. If you managed that feat, I'd eat my hat," Lyss scoffed. She handed me the gun though, clearly curious to see if I actually could shoot out their tires.

I'd better not miss. I really want to see her eat that hat of hers. I thought, suppressing a laugh.

I examined the gun for a moment and looked down the scope. The picture it showed was amazingly clear and I let myself smile for a moment. The police cars were getting closer, though, so I started shooting.

Three cars spun out, crashing into each other and a couple of bystander's cars. The other two kept coming, speeding up.

When I handed the gun back to Lyss, she was gawking at me. I almost reached up and shoved her hat into her open mouth, but since the rest of her team was watching me, and she appeared to be the leader, I decided not to. "What do you say to that?" I asked her, keeping my face completely void of expression.

"I am not eating my hat." Lyss blurted.

Narian burst into fits of giggles next to me and gradually, the rest of us joined in, Lyss included.

When I'd finally calmed down enough to talk, I said, "You'll have to shake the last two cars before we get to your base."

The mood went serious again and Lyss clicked a button on her walkie-talkie. "Gavin? Now is a good time to give Rex a crash course on shaking a tail. We've got two cops still on us and we need to lose them."

The walkie-talkie crackled and Gavin's voice came over. "Aye-aye, captain," he said jovially.

I imagined him saluting and then cracking up, but didn't say anything.

Narian poked me. "Maybe you should check back with Brikan, Dem. He's probably wondering where we are."

"Right, I'll do that," I said, clicking the earpiece to transmit. "Brikan, are you still there?"

No one answered for a moment, and then a low, threatening voice spoke. "We have your three friends. Turn yourself over by tomorrow, Demetriot, or we'll cut off a piece of them for every day you delay. Don't try to rescue them either, or we'll kill them all."

I didn't reply. I was so stunned that I just sat there silently while the stranger terminated the connection. Finally, as the message sank in, I yank the earpiece out of my ear and threw it as hard as I could with an angry yell of frustration.

The quiet conversation of the car stopped abruptly. Narian touched my arm gently. "Dem?" she asked nervously. "What happened?"

"They have him. They have him and Achmetha and Harry, Narian, and it's my fault." I felt defeated, completely crushed. I couldn't defeat Julius with him using all of the people I cared about and threatening them. I may not know Harry, but he was a good guy, at least, and willing to help, and I couldn't just let them kill him slowly; him or Achmetha, much as I disliked the guy.

"So we'll just rescue them. That's what we've always done, we can do it again." She was trying to comfort me, but she just didn't understand. I couldn't live like this, looking over my shoulder at every turn, constantly having to run off and rescue my friends and family.

Julius had stepped over the line and struck me right where it hurt most. I would have been lost if I hadn't been found by Brikan, and likewise, I'd be lost if they took him away from me. When I thought I'd lost Narian, I'd almost lost myself. I'd wanted to lose myself. If I was the cause of three people's torture, I couldn't live with myself.

I forced a smile for Narian's sake. "Yeah, we'll just rescue them." Except that we don't know where they are, how much they're guarded or how to get them out. And if we attack, they'll kill them. I couldn't let them all die, even if I didn't like Achmetha very much. I'd caused this, and I intended to fix whether it cost me my life or not.