Hustle (Book 1 in The Hunted Hearts) - SYTYCW Winner #action #comedy #romance

Hustle | Chapter 11

Copyright 2013 All Rights Reserved

Hustle By Claire Chilton

11

The Hit

Jacob paused in the stairwell, panting as he stared across the poolside. He watched Ellie leap over a barricade and land on the pier ahead of him. He clenched his hands into fists as anger flooded through him.

She fucking did it again. She stole from me again!

He boosted himself over the railing and landed on the pier several feet behind her. He intended to follow her, but he froze when he heard what sounded like gunshot. He automatically ducked and hit the deck, glancing up just in time to see her get hit and topple over the edge into the sea below.

A mix of emotions clouded his mind, anger, fear and concern. He jumped to his feet and raced towards the end of the pier, dodging bullets.

Who's shooting at us?

He glanced back over his shoulder to see Bill running down the pier towards him.

"Why are we shooting at her?" he shouted.

"We're not!" Bill cried, rushing to his side and dragging him behind a wall for cover.

"Then who is?" Jacob peered over the wall after a bullet whizzed over it, noticing a flash of reflected sunlight near the hotel gardens.

The people who had been lounging by the pool were screaming and running inside the building as constant gunfire shot across the pool area towards the water where Ellie had fallen in.

Jacob tensed his jaw at the idea that she might be dead. Anger expanded inside him, the kind he hadn't experienced since his father went missing. She was a pain in the ass, but she was his pain in the ass. He wasn't going to let her get away, so dying certainly wasn't an option for her.

He turned to Bill. "Can you take the shooter out?"

"Yeah, if I double back. What are you going to do?"

"Save her ass again," Jacob muttered.

"I'm starting to think you like her." Bill grinned.

"Don't start thinking for yourself now."

"Hey! I think just fin—" Bill began to protest.

"Go!" Jacob interrupted. Now wasn't the time for bickering. "And don't do anything stupid." He patted his friend on the shoulder. Bill was the closest thing to a father he had left, but he was confident that he could handle a dangerous situation.

Bill nodded and hunched over before hurrying down the pier towards the hotel foyer.

Jacob stared at the end of the pier, counting the seconds it took for Bill to get to the shooter.

How long can she be underwater and survive? Did the bullet hit her? Is she dying out there?

Images of her body floating on the surface of the water caused his heart to burst in his chest.

Please don't let her die. Please don't let her die....

It occurred to him, while he watched Bill stealthily creep up on the shooter, that his feelings for Ellie were more than just revenge. But since she'd just played him again, he was finding it difficult to rationalize what he was feeling.

Once the shooting stopped, he hurried down the pier. Her blood had splattered onto the weathered boards. When he reached the end, he looked down in horror as the dark red liquid sank into the grain of the wood.