I fought the wheel and wrenched it back into place. Above the roar of the engine, I could hear more crack-crack-cracks of gunfire, along with the wail of sirens. Dobson wasn’t wasting any time dispatching his men to hunt me down.

So I put my foot back down on the gas, blew through the red light at the end of the block, and made the sharp turn toward the Pork Pit.

*  *  *

The restaurant was only a few blocks away, so it took me less than five minutes to get there. I didn’t know if I had enough of a head start, but I didn’t waste any time trying to hide my stolen car. Instead, I parked it right in front of the Pork Pit and left it running so I wouldn’t have to hot-wire it again. Besides, if the cops found it before I was done inside and I had to ditch the car, I could always go out the back and disappear into the alley and the maze of side streets behind the restaurant.

I didn’t have time to be subtle, so I put my hand against the panes of glass in the front door and then froze and shattered them with my Ice magic. I hated desecrating my own restaurant—Fletcher’s restaurant—but I didn’t have a choice. Time was the most important thing right now. Not feelings.

I reached through the opening, turned the lock, and stepped inside. Then I sprinted through the storefront and shoved through the double doors. The back of the restaurant was pitch-black, but I’d long ago memorized the layout, so I was able to slap on the lights with no problem.

I went over to the freezer in the back and dragged a black duffel bag out from behind it. I stopped long enough to open the top, feel around in the bag until my hand closed over a knife, and slide it up my sleeve. The second thing I rooted around for was the burner phone tucked away inside. It took the phone far too long to light up and even longer still for my bruised, bloody, damp hands to punch in his number, but I managed it. He answered on the first ring.

“Gin!” Owen’s worried voice filled my ear. “Is that you?”

“It’s me,” I said, zipping the bag back up and slinging the strap over my head and across my chest.

“Where are you? What’s going on? I’m at the police station. There’s been some sort of explosion, and now the cops are yelling and running around everywhere.”

“I’m at the Pork Pit,” I said, opening one of the double doors and peering out into the storefront. “I busted my way out of the station, and the cops are searching for me.”

I paused a moment to listen, and the wail of sirens got closer and closer and louder and louder. Too risky to go back for the car now, not with the cops so close. Besides, it would be too easy for them to track me from behind, shoot out the tires, and close in for the kill. Out to the alley it was, then.

“What do you need?” Owen asked. “Tell me how to help you. Whatever it is, I’ll do it. Finn, Bria, Xavier, Silvio, and I are still at the station, but we’re going to the parking lot right now. We’ll get there as fast as we can.”

His words warmed my heart and brought a smile to my face as I unlocked and opened the back door, ready to step out into the alley and make my escape—

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Bullets slammed into the doorframe, and I saw three cops standing in the alley, guns up, firing at my location.

I cursed, ducked back inside, and shut the door. The cops had already blocked off the back of the building, but I didn’t want them getting inside, so I threw the locks and toppled a metal shelf full of ketchup bottles in front of the door for good measure.

“Gin?” Owen asked, his voice sharpening with worry. “What’s that noise? What’s happening?”

I didn’t have time to answer him as I shoved through the double doors and ran back out into the storefront. Looked like I’d have to risk using the car after all.

Outside, the street was still clear. My heart lifted. I was going to make it out of here after all—

Madeline Monroe stepped into sight.

I hesitated, just for a second, but that was long enough for Emery Slater to appear beside her, with Jonah McAllister and Captain Lou Dobson on the other side. Behind them, blue and white lights flashed, and several police cars screech-screech-screeched to a halt at the intersections. Even if I could have taken out Madeline, Emery, Jonah, and Dobson, there was no way I could get past the cops at the ends of the blocks without getting pumped full of bullets.

Trapped—I was trapped inside the Pork Pit.

14

“Gin?” Owen asked again, his voice louder and more worried than ever before. “What’s going on? What’s happening?”

“Madeline’s outside the restaurant,” I said, my voice calm, even as my mind churned and churned, trying to think of a way out of this. “The cops have the Pork Pit surrounded.”

Owen sucked in a ragged breath. “Gin”—his voice came out as a low, agonized whisper—“tell me that you can get out of there. Please, please tell me that.”

More and more cops arrived, stopping their cars at both ends of the block and cordoning it off, the blue and white lights on their vehicles spinning around and around. Some of the cops took up positions behind their cars, using the open doors as shields, while others jogged down the street and out of sight, no doubt to further block off the alley behind the restaurant.

“I’m sorry, Owen.”

He let out a choked cry, the anguished sound piercing my heart, but I forced myself to tune him out and to concentrate on the most important thing right now—staying alive.

Madeline stepped up to the front door of the Pork Pit. Still clutching the phone to my ear, I approached the door from my side until only about five feet separated us. We stared at each other through the empty space where the glass had been.

“I knew that you’d come straight here.” Madeline shook her head as though I’d disappointed her. “So predictable, Gin. I expected more from you.”

“Let’s see, I took out five inmates all by my lonesome, escaped your bull pen of death, and busted out of the police station,” I drawled back. “I think that I’m doing pretty well so far, considering that you and your proxies haven’t been able to kill me yet.”

She shrugged. “It’s only a matter of time now. We both know that. The entire restaurant is surrounded. There’s no escape for you, Gin. Not this time.”

Through the phone, I could hear Owen cursing Madeline for all that he was worth. Yeah. Me too.