The Killer Secret

17.

I followed Travis as he weaved his way through his guests and grabbed his sister by the arm, pulling her out of view.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He asked roughly, ushering her to the same spot where he and I fought earlier.

"Oh, big brother. Such the dramatic." Tammy looked unfazed by Travis' murderous stares and glanced at me. "How do you put up with him?"

I looked away from her, folding my arms to keep warm. I was upset too for the performance she had just put on. Taylor had found us and Tammy averted her attention to my sister.

"What do you think?" She asked and Taylor applauded.

"You were great. I think they bought it."

Travis and I looked at each other in confusion, then turn to face the two women standing before us.

"Can one of you explain what's going on?" Travis said. He was clearly not in the mood for any more antics tonight. "I thought you faked your death to become invisible and now you just exposed yourself to the entire town."

"I'll explain later, big brother, but first we need to get out of here before-"

Tammy was cut off by a single bullet cutting through air and embedding itself right above her head. We all ducked, scrambling out of  the way as another one flew right past my arm.

"We need to move."

Tammy was calm, given that someone just tried to put a permanent hole between her eyes, and ran towards her car.

"Now!"

I spotted Liam, on my way to the car, and called for him just as another bullet hit the ground near Tammy's foot. Taylor was already in the driver's seat with the car engine running.

"Come on! Hurry!" She yelled as we ducked another bullet. Liam shot back in the direction of the shooter, ducking a few return shots.

"Get out of here!" He yelled at us as soon I closed the door behind me and Taylor sped off quickly.

I looked back through the rear window to see Liam fall to the ground. He was shot. "Liam!" I yelled for him as we disappeared around the corner.

"We need to go back!" I fought against Travis' hold on me. "We can't just leave him out there!"

No one said a word and Taylor sighed, shaking her head and turned the car around. She parked by a nearby tree and Travis got out, staying low. From where I sat, I could hear the grunts from Liam as Travis struggled to drag him towards the car. I ran to where the two men were, dodging a few bullets on the way.

Travis yelled at me to get back in the car but all I ignored him, falling to my knees where they were.

"Liam!" There was blood seeping through his side, where he was shot, and I swallowed the vomit that was threatening to come up.

"Kayla, it's just a graze," he said, grunting in pain. A bullet hit the ground right by my ankle. "You need to go."

I shook my head as another bullet cut through the air. "I'm not leaving you." Travis looked annoyed with me, grabbing my arm. "I'm not leaving him."

He sighed, running his hands through his hair. "Fine. Help me get him to the car."

Taylor held the door open for us and slid into the driver's seat after Liam, Travis and I got in. The shooting had finally subsided as we sped away, leaving a storm of dust behind us.

Tammy turned around to face the three of us. "Hang tight. It's going to be a long drive."

- - - - - - - -