Stay Away (The Beocraftian Gambit - Book One)

CHAPTER NINE: INTRODUCING DERIK

A man quickly highlighted from the car, held up a gun, and scurried to where they'd gathered.

"Hey!" he shouted, firing off three rounds to warn them off.

Gunshots echoed throughout the dark street, and they scampered, leaving Kevin to lie in pain on the earthen floor. Aiming in their direction, the man fired. The thug in the black jacket stumbled to the floor while attempting to flee; the bullet had caught his knee. He shrieked, holding the injured knee to stop the bleeding.

In a desperate attempt to flee, he crawled on his knees—wilting, trying to get away. The armed man quickly caught up with him and grabbed his hair, held him up and kicked him hard on the knee. Shady uttered a loud, horrible cry, his knee bleeding.

The armed man grabbed his hair and forced him to gaze up at him. "What's your name?"

"Screw you!" the thug sputtered.

A punch landed squarely on his broken nose, arousing the pain. The thug piped up, spitting out blood.

Holding up his hair, the armed man uttered in a harsh voice, "I will not ask again."

"Shady," he cried in a strained voice. "The name's Shady!"

"Well, Shady, I'm not going to lie," the armed man leaned forward, holding the gun to his head. "This is going to be a really terrible night for you."

He took out a handcuff and bounded Shady's wrist. Picked him up and dragged him to his car, locking him up in the backseat, and then he went back for Kevin. He carried Kevin on his shoulder, reeling him to his car.

Kevin was nearly unconscious, his clothes torn, multiple bruises scattered across his face. Securing Kevin in the passenger seat, he scampered to the driver's door and entered the car, then drove away.

A few minutes later, Kevin came awake, unsure of what just happened. Those thugs had done quite a number on him. He felt sharp pains in every inch of his body. The man handed a towel to him as he steered the wheel, eyes on the road. "Here, clean yourself up. You look like shit."

"Thanks." Kevin weakly took the towel from him and wiped the blood off his face. He groaned as he touched his broken nose. Then he turned to Shady sitting behind. The thug sat quietly, looking straight ahead at both of them, hands bound in cuffs. Judging from his expression, he seemed to be in quite some pain.

That's when Kevin realised that he'd been rescued by the stranger at his side. He returned his gaze to the road ahead, then glanced around the car in admiration. "Fancy car for a cop," he commented, trying to start a conversation.

"I'm not a cop," he said firmly, eyes still on the road. "Just a special agent at a taskforce."

Kevin smiled. "Sorry, my bad. I'm Kevin, by the way, and thanks for saving me back there."

He said nothing.

The conversation wasn't going the way he wanted. "And you are—"

"Name's Derik," he spoke reluctantly, without turning to look at him. "And I wasn't exactly saving you back there."

His brows rose.

"The guy seated back there is a registered sex offender and an armed robber. We had already arrested him a few weeks back, but he escaped from custody, and ever since then I've been tracking him—along with the rest of his gang, until yesterday they assaulted a lady, seriously injuring her. Her dad commissioned me to find them and bring them in once and for all."

Kevin blinked in surprise, quickly realizing who he was talking about. "Natasha?"

Derik finally turned to look at him, equally surprised. "You know her?"