Read Online Avenger by Su Halfwerk - Free Book Online

promises he made, he kept.
    Luke shook his head slowly. “What happened to freeze or I’ll shoot?” Despite the bravado, his heart hammered faster. Sully was one Boss who should never be crossed.
    Barney approached with steady, lumbering steps, his Beretta aimed at Luke’s leg. The pistol wasn’t Barney’s toy of choice, his favorites were stacked in a chest back at his special playhouse, where his playmates were dragged in and carried out—invariably not breathing anymore. Shooting the leg was a viable option for Barney. It would serve two purposes, slow Luke down and keep him alive long enough to become a plaything for a couple of hours. If he were lucky and lasted a couple of hours.
    Luke glanced behind him quickly to measure the distance to the opposite building. Sweat slid from his forehead into his eyes, it stung. The weather wasn’t on his side, the air was leaden with water.
    He faced forward again. Barney had slunk closer, shaking his head at him. “You won’t make it.” His words were clipped, his puffy face red with exertion, but those beady gray eyes hadn’t lost their focus.
    “I won’t make what?” Luke pointed with his chin at Barney. “Say, aren’t you getting cooked in that suit?”
    A clamor sounded behind Barney and he swiveled his head to see its cause. His partner’s head just cleared the edge of the roof when Luke turned around and rushed the ledge. It wasn’t a far enough run to build the necessary momentum, but it had to do. The alternative wasn’t sunny enough.
    With a leap, Luke kicked off the ledge and launched himself at the other building, a smile spreading his lips. He would make it, it was closer than he thought. He might be forced to waste some time scrambling up the other side, but he could do it.
    A popping sound reverberated, a slug whirred by his arm. A miss. Another bullet was fired, this one bit, sliced, wedging itself in his flesh. The scorching fire in his torso twisted his airborne-body and forced him to lose the little steam he had and pummel downward. That trip to the ground took ages, but his life didn’t flash before his eyes. His heartbeats went crazy, loud and resonating through his aching body.
    He almost welcomed the end of the plunge, a hard smack against the pavement that jarred him to the core. And even though several bones crunched, there was no pain, just some pressure building in his neck and back.
    In this awkward and pain-free position, Luke wondered how much Hope was paid for delivering him. Hope, the reason for his downfall.
    ****
    As they reached the hospital, Pru said, “I don’t understand why we have to come here again.”
    Luke glanced at her sideways. “Because I want to ask questions that can’t be asked at night. I already explained that. What’s wrong with you today?”
    “Nothing.”
    Earlier, when she’d thought she was helping him through his nightmare, he’d awakened with a heart-wrenching sigh of one word. Hope. Then he’d propelled himself from the bed, away from her, and to the floor.
    Was“Hope” an optimistic expectation or a girl’s name?
    She’d asked him if he had a nightmare, and he denied it, which should’ve been end of story. Yet, Pru couldn’t help the sadness that had swarmed her heart at the utterance of that single word. The more she thought about it now the more “Hope” felt like a name. No one screamed “wealth” or “luck” in his sleep, did they?
    Now, he studied her for a while without responding, and then sighed. “You don’t have to go in if you don’t want to.”
    She was acting like a kid, Pru reasoned. After all, she wasn’t his keeper, he could call any name he wanted. And besides, he was helping her out. “I appreciate what you’re doing, I even appreciate your departure from black to blend in with the visitors.” She eyed his beige button-down shirt and blue jeans meaningfully.
    With a curt nod, he mounted the steps and pushed his way through the sliding doors. Without pausing