I nearly had to remind myself how to breathe while Joey hurried to find a car we could steal. The early morning air was chilly and I was shivering in my baggy T-shirt. Joey had pulled me through three rows of vehicles, both of us constantly ducking at the sound of bullets screeching passed us. Numerous windows had been shattered and some of the glass shards had landed on us. I had several bloody cuts on my right arm, as did Joey.

He yanked on every door handle he passed, hoping Marty had forgotten to lock one, but it seemed the car salesman had all his bases covered.

"What are we going to do?" I frantically asked Joey.

The Cadillac sped across the street and over the median, barely missing T-bone collisions with four sedans. The vehicle lurched up onto the grassy hill in front of Marty's Car Mart, flattened a bush, and plowed into the red Ford Focus. The impact shoved it into the Ranger parallel to it. Cadillac Man forced his way between two more vehicles, the Cadillac's push bumper effectively shoving two smaller cars out of its way. Now covered in bullet holes and beaten up from collisions, the Escalade looked like it had been through hell and back.

"Joey-" I started to whisper.

He shushed me with a hand over my mouth. We were hunkered down behind a white Tahoe and we could practically hear each other's hearts thundering out of our chests.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Cadillac Man taunted, scanning over the car lot.

He'd dawned a ski mask, probably to avoid being caught on Marty's security cameras. It made him look like someone who would hang out with Freddy Krueger.

"There's nowhere to hide, Jessica," he laughed. "I'll find you. I'll shoot up every car here, if I have to, but I will find you."

I tugged at Joey's shirt sleeve, pleading with my eyes for him to get us out of there. Surely, he had a plan! He was Joey! He always had a plan!

He leaned real close to me, whispering in my ear where no one else could hear us. "The traffic noise is just loud enough to mask any sounds we'll make getting out of here. Follow my lead."

Joey shrunk down closer to the ground, where no one would be able to see us through the windows of the vehicles we were passing. I mimicked every move he made as we crept toward the backside of the lot. Joey would wait for Cadillac Man and his two partners to look a different direction, and we'd rush passed the gaps between two cars.

We finally made it to the edge of the lot. There was one more vehicle and a row of shrubs between us and a neighborhood about fifty yards away. The plan was to make it to that neighborhood and either find a car there, or find somewhere to hide in someone's backyard or house.

"Come on now! We ain't got all day, you little bastards!" Cadillac Man yelled.

"Yeah! Stop wasting our time, Officer!" Another man shouted. "Give us the girl!"

"Joey, they're looking over here," I whispered, tugging at his sleeve again. "They're going to find us!"

He shook his head. "Keep quiet."

There was a metal wheel lock lying on the cement beneath the car in front of us. Joey reached under and grabbed it, eyeing the narrow row between cars we'd just sneaked through. He grimaced like he was unsure of himself, but gave a good underhanded toss. The lock hit a truck roughly six car lengths away.

We breathed a sigh of relief when the armed men turned back in the direction of the noise, thinking that's where we were.

"You won't get away making noises like that," Cadillac Man laughed. It was an awful sound.

He then began shooting out the windows of every car he passed, shouting obscenities to us. He would shoot first, and then look to see if he'd hit anyone. I was glad that lock had just happened to be there. It was a great diversion.

Joey motioned for me to follow him. While the men's backs were turned, we made a run for it, ducking down behind the last vehicle before the line of shrubs. I tried to steady my heart with a hand plastered to my chest. I looked to Joey. His eyes were determined. He didn't look scared at all. I noticed he kept palming his hip, probably out of habit, reaching for a pistol that wasn't there. In the rush of trying to escape the motel, he hadn't stashed a gun in his waistband.

We had three revolvers in the blue backpack Mike had given him. Joey eyed it, debating whether or not to risk the sound of the zipper gaining the men's attention again. He frowned, deciding against it, and peeked around the car. They were still far enough away. We had just enough time.

Joey waited, making sure no one could see him, and once he felt like he wouldn't be caught, he sprinted as fast as he could and bounded over the shrubs. One of Cadillac Man's buddies turned around, likely having heard something. He scowled, glancing over everything in sight, but quickly turned back.

Police sirens in the distance signaled to everyone that we didn't have much time.

"Shit! The cops!" said Wise Guy Number Two. "Let's get out of here, man! We can get them later!"

"No." Cadillac Man's firm, raspy voice boomed. "We'll finish this now. Get out here, you pieces of shit!"

I tried to swallow back the massive lump in my throat but it was no use. I felt like walls were closing in on me. In a tiny gap in the bushes, I could see Joey waving me over. If I was going to get out of there, now was my only chance.

I took one last look at the men in black jackets, and dashed toward the bushes. Ten feet felt like ten miles. I was running in slow motion. I was running out of air. I was never going to make it in time.

I leaped over the greenery like a gymnast bounding over an obstacle. I was safe. I was in the clear. I was-

"Over there!" I heard one of the men shout.

I realized my shoelace had caught on the leaves, making a loud enough rustling sound to alert them. My foot was still on top of the bushes, visible to them, as I tried to get my bearings and pick my face up off the ground.

Joey yanked at my leg hard, jerking my shoe free. The rest of my body landed in a heap on top of him and he quickly shoved me off, grabbing my hand and dragging me alongside him toward the neighborhood.

"Follow them!" Cadillac Man shouted. "I'll catch up!"

The other two men chased after us while Cadillac Man ran back to the Escalade. I crossed my fingers that the police would reach him before he had a chance to tear out after us.

Joey and I climbed over a chain link fence into someone's backyard. One of the men following us got his pant leg hung on the fence, slowing them down by a few seconds.

We leaped over the gate to the front yard and darted down the sidewalk, looking for anywhere that would provide shelter. In the distance, we could hear more sirens, and Joey pulled me down behind someone's SUV when we saw a police car turn the corner, combing the neighborhood.

"Nice way to start the morning, huh?" I whispered sarcastically against Joey.

"Eh. I usually get in a bit more cardio than this," he shrugged.

I looked at him incredulously. This wasn't enough running for his liking? How in the hell-

"Follow me." He nodded to the front of the vehicle.

As the squad car passed by, we inched our way around the front of the SUV, successfully staying out of sight.

There were no footsteps or yelling from the direction we'd come. I wondered if our stalkers were also laying low until the cop was gone.

"What about this car?" I asked, leaning against the SUV's grill.

He shook his head. "Too obvious. We have to wait."

Wait? Why the fuck did we have to wait? Hadn't we waited long enough already? Those men would be catching up to us soon enough, and I had no doubt they'd check behind every car, expecting us to be hiding there.

"Okay. Let's go," Joey breathed.

I followed him to the next driveway, and the next, and the next, pausing behind each vehicle we came across.

Finally, we saw them again. They were on either side of the road, scanning every driveway and glancing over fences. It was only a matter of time before they saw us dashing from driveway to driveway.

"Joey-"

"Shh." He shook his head. "We're fine."

He had a bizarre definition of fine.

The man on the north side of the road jogged across the street to talk to his cohort and Joey used that as his chance to get us to another shelter point.

There was a large air conditioning unit on the side of someone's house. It was surrounded by tall, decorative bushes that the sidewalk bowed around. Joey pulled me inside the group of bushes with him and we cowered down out of sight once more. The twigs snagged at my shirt and scratched at my already bleeding cuts from the broken windows. I grimaced at the godawful fire it ignited in the nerves there.

The air conditioner kicked on and I nearly jumped out of my skin. Joey clasped a hand over my mouth again.

"It's okay. We're okay," he tried to convince me.

"And how do you propose we-"

"Quiet," he silenced me at the sound of footsteps coming closer.

My heartrate kicked up again, if that was even possible. The sun had cast a warm glow over everything. Luckily, we were on the west side of the house, where the light had yet to reach. Our dark clothing helped to conceal us behind the greenery.

I could see a man's black boots as he cautiously slunk toward the fence a few feet away, scanning over the backyard. I held my breath until I felt like my head was going to explode. My heart was pounding so loud in my chest; I was sure the man could hear it. It was so loud; it was going to lead everyone right to us. I may as well have been waving a banner with a big red bullseye on it!

Joey flashed me a look that told me to be as still and silent as I possibly could. Yeah, tell that to the thunderstorm in my chest!

The man stood there for what felt like forever. He was texting someone. Probably Cadillac Man. The second man wasn't in view.

His boots coming closer to the edge of the bushes made me grip Joey's arm tighter. This was way too close for comfort. He was going to see us.

I watched through the leaves and pink blossoms as Wise Guy slid his pistol back into his waistband the same way Joey did. He took one last look around and stalked off toward his partner. We could hear them talking a minute later. I could barely make out their words, but I did catch one saying "didn't find anything."

Once they'd moved on to the next house, I was finally able to release the air I'd been holding so tightly in my lungs. It flooded out of me in a whooshing sound and I rested my head against Joey's shoulder, trying to regain my composure.

He simply sat there, seemingly unfazed, as usual. It was the cop in him. It had to be. How else could he keep his calm so well?

"What do you propose we do now?" I asked, still gasping for fresh air.

Joey looked at me with pain in his eyes and I realized he'd been holding his breath, just as scared as I was. He leaned his head back against the cool brick wall and closed his eyes for a long time. He looked hardened, yet vulnerable at the same time.

What is your story, Joey Cavannaugh? I know there's so much more to you than what you're willing to tell me.

"It's after seven," he mumbled, his eyes still shut. "People will be going to work, school, whatever, soon. We'll wait here and snag a car once a few people have left."

"And then?"

He turned his head to look at me, sighing sleepily. "And then we'll get you into protective custody."

"Oh..."

I frowned at my shoe where the shrubs had torn my laces. I attempted to retie them to busy myself. I needed something else to focus on so I wouldn't dwell on Joey leaving me in a few hours. I wasn't ready to let him go. He'd knocked down most of my walls and built up trust in their place. I didn't want him to leave me with a bunch of people I didn't know, police or not. I only wanted Joey protecting me. Hell, he'd done a stellar job of it so far! I doubted anyone else would care about my safety half as much as he did. How could I be expected to be okay with this?

"Something on your mind?" Joey asked.

He reached up to brush my hair behind my ear and I nuzzled into his hand, wanting to memorize the feeling of him in every way possible. I didn't have much longer. I needed to make the last couple hours with him count.

You need to tell him how you feel about him, said the voice in my head.

"A lot," I muttered, staring a hole through the ground.

"Want to talk about it?"

I didn't have an answer for that. On one hand, I wanted to shout from the fucking rooftops how I felt about him. On the other, I wanted to scream bloody murder and demand that he be my protective custody. Neither option seemed appropriate.

"No," I finally answered. "Maybe later."

He nodded. "Fair enough. Hey, why don't you use me for a pillow and try to rest a bit. I'll keep an eye on everything."

I didn't say anything. I just nestled against him and closed my eyes, wrapping my arms around his bicep.

After a while, I felt Joey's arm move. I opened one eye to see what he was doing. He had the blue backpack open and he was making sure each pistol was loaded. I spied the notes on Richard Lux and my fingertips itched to get ahold of them again.

"Hey," Joey said softly, nudging me.

I blinked a few times, sitting up straight. "Hmm?"

He handed me one of the revolvers. "Remember everything I told you about gun safety."

I looked at him like he had three heads. I wasn't ready for this! It had been a massive confidence booster to do target practice yesterday, but I wasn't ready for the big leagues. This was too much, too fast.

"Joey-"

"Don't point the damn thing my way." He frowned, adjusting the gun in my hands. "Jess, you can do this. I know you can. You'll have to give it back to me before I transfer you to protective custody, but until we get there, we've still got these rats searching for us. I'd feel a lot better if you had a pistol, too."

Was he implying that I needed the extra layer of protection in case something happened to him?

No! Nothing was going to happen to Joey! He gotten us this far! He was going to get us back to Boston, safe and in one piece!

"But-"

"Damnit, Jessica! Don't argue with me!" he snapped. "Just do what I say. You're a good shot. You'll be fine."

I groaned and rolled my eyes, but decided against any further argument. I wanted my last little bit of time with Joey to be civil – happy even, if that was possible. I didn't want to think back on our last day together and remember us fighting over something stupid.

"Can I thank you now?" I piped up.

Joey looked confused. "What?"

"You said I could thank you if you got us out of there alive," I reminded him. "You did. So thank you. And... not just for that. For everything."

He shook his head. "You don't have to thank me. I'm just doing my job."

"No you're not," I told him, running my hand up and down his arm. "It's more than that. For both of us."

There was a flash of regret on his face when I said that. He didn't have room to argue. I knew he felt the same way I did. What had started out as him simply trying to help a citizen in need had turned into something far more complex. We'd both let our guards down and feelings had developed. There was no denying it. But what would happen now that we were going to be separated? Would this be the end of any romance between us?

I made up my mind that once I met the people with witness protection, I would demand that Joey stay by my side until this mess was over. He'd made it pretty clear that that wasn't an option, but I didn't care. I was going to try my luck. I'd make them listen to me.