Captivated with Them (Dirty Twisted Love, #3) Page 13

  Frankie nodded then turned and left me.

  Relieved to no longer have him nearby, I exhaled a shaky breath and sank into the nearest seat.

  There was nothing more I could do except wait.

  Minutes stretched to hours. People who worked in the courthouse stopped by to check on me from time to time, handing me water and cups of bitter coffee.

  Suddenly, someone called my name, using the surname I’d been given, but which I wasn’t even sure was my own.

  “Rue Andrews”

  I swallowed hard, light-headed with panic.

  It was time.

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Ryan

  I WHEELED MYSELF UP the ramp leading up to the front of the courthouse.

  People shot me sympathetic glances, perhaps guessing from my age and my missing leg that I was a veteran, and held open the door for me. Though there were plenty of people around, it wasn’t as busy here as I thought it probably was first thing in the morning. We’d deliberately timed ourselves to arrive toward the end of the day. The trial might go on for several days, but hopefully Rue would have given her testimony by now, and the Capellos wouldn’t be keeping such a tight leash on her.

  As expected, the SUV containing Capello’s men had followed me to the courthouse, and we planned to use that to our advantage. We’d confused them by it only being me who’d caught a cab here, Kodee paying the driver extra to help me with the wheelchair on this end. With only one vehicle themselves, they’d clearly made the decision that Kodee was staying at the apartment and it was better to find out where I was going. What they didn’t know was that Kodee had caught a second cab right after me.

  I hoped we were going to time this right.

  I passed through the courthouse doors and joined the line of people waiting to go through security. One of the guards spotted my wheelchair and motioned for me to go through the disabled access.

  I hesitated.

  Shit. I didn’t want to go through yet. I needed Kodee to go through with his part of the plan.

  The security guard frowned at me, and reluctantly, I started to wheel myself toward him. He gave me a nod to say he was ready for me.

  A muffled shout came from outside. “Guns! Those men have guns!”

  I pictured Kodee standing outside the courthouse, pointing at the SUV parked across the street and yelling at the top of his lungs. With the current political climate, everyone was terrified of shootings, and his yell of alarm instantly had the correct effect.

  Outside, people screamed, while those waiting at security pushed past each other to get through. The security guards shouted at them to calm down, and a couple of others pulled their guns and ran outside. I was in luck. The guard who’d been manning the disabled access had been one of those who’d gone to help.

  I hoped Kodee had gotten somewhere safe. I didn’t want anyone thinking he was the enemy and taking him down with a bullet.

  Quickly, I wheeled myself through security while everyone’s backs were turned. The metal detector sounded, but when a harried guard glanced in my direction, I just motioned at the chair. The guard hesitated, clearly trying to decide whether to come after me or go and help his colleagues in the chaos. The courthouse was chronically under-staffed, with staff having to move from the courtrooms to the entrance, and we were definitely taking advantage of that.

  I could hardly believe I’d made it through security without being challenged. My heart pounded, and a trembling had taken over my limbs. I used my hold on the wheelchair to steady them.

  I reached the bathrooms and made use of the disabled toilet. One thing about being in a chair, as an obvious amputee, was that no one questioned you. I’d been questioned plenty of times when, wearing my prosthetic leg, I’d parked in a disabled spot and climbed out of the car. The general public seemed to think that unless a disability was glaringly obvious, they had a right to question you about it. By contrast, when you were clearly disabled, no one wanted to ask you anything—in fact, most of them could barely look you in the eye.

  I rolled myself into the bathroom and locked the door behind me. My heart was beating fast, but I knew how to keep my cool—on the exterior, at least. There wouldn’t be cameras in the bathroom, but I still felt paranoid, and checked the corners of the room, just in case.

  Working quickly, I reached beneath the chair. The individual pieces of the gun had been wrapped in cloth and fastened to the metal parts of the chair with straps of strong Velcro. We hadn’t known if the wheelchair would be taken off me to be put through an individual scanner, and we’d hoped the metal would have been thought to have been a part of the wheelchair, if it had been checked in more detail.

  Unfastening each piece, I placed the parts of the gun in my lap. When I had each of them, I set about reassembling it. I placed the barrel into the slide, then put in the spring. Then I pushed the slide back onto the receiver, pulling right back, making sure I snapped the inner components in position, and inserted the magazine, and finally pulled the slide back to lock it in place.

  I worked quickly and deftly. It was something I’d done hundreds of times before, and I would have been able to do this with my eyes shut. Even so, I was still poised for a banging to come at the door, for guards to demand to know what I was doing in here.

  Miraculously, I was left alone, and I hid the reassembled gun down the back of my jeans and covered the butt with my shirt.

  Taking a deep breath, I unlocked the door and let myself back out into the corridor. The disturbance Kodee had caused at the front of the building hadn’t reached back here. I hoped he’d managed to slip away without the security guards noticing.

  The trial was taking place in the main courtroom. People in suits buzzed around, looking important. They threw me a few cursory glances, but no one challenged me. The gun felt like a boulder secreted beneath my shirt, though I knew no one could see it.

  Where was Rue? Was she still waiting to testify, or had she been called in already?

  There was a good chance the Capellos would have their men keeping an eye on Rue and making sure she did exactly what they wanted, but if I found her, I now had the gun, and I’d shoot anyone who stood in my way.

  I couldn’t see any sign of Rue out here. The trial was already well underway. There was a chance she was already in the courtroom, perhaps even taking the stand. We’d made the decision to snatch her the moment the trial was over, but now I was wondering if we’d made a mistake. Perhaps we should have tried to take her sooner, even if it meant she didn’t testify and Joe Nettie going free and potentially coming after her.

  No, these trials could go on for days. Once she’d testified, the Capellos wouldn’t feel the need to focus on her so intently. She’d have done what they wanted. Rue would be just another girl to traffic to them.

  With no other choice, I pushed my way into the courtroom.

  Though I may not have been able to slip in and out of a room as easily as I would if I’d been on two legs, I was relying on the way people tended to not really see the disabled. My youth, height, and blond hair probably made me stand out more than most, so I deliberately slouched and kept my head down.

  I wheeled myself into the back of the courtroom, where there was space for those in wheelchairs. I was the only one occupying that spot today.

  The scene we’d caused outside the courthouse clearly hadn’t been enough to bring proceedings to a close.

  I lifted my head to take in the room. I clocked the couple of security guards on the outskirts. They would most likely be armed, and keeping an eye on proceedings, especially considering who the defendant was. The judge sat behind the bench, the defense sitting to one side with the man I assumed to be Joe Nettie. The prosecution sat on the other side. The jury box contained the twelve jury members, and then there were the desks where the court clerk and court reporter sat.

  But it was the gallery that caught my attention. The lines between the three gangs here were clean to see, and as much as I hated to say it, r
ace was the thing that clearly divided them. Down one side, were what remained of Cisco King’s people. Down the middle sat, I assumed, Joe Nettie’s gang, and on the other side were the Capello brothers.

  I sought the multitude of faces of the people in the gallery.

  It took me a moment, but then I spotted Rue, sitting small and pensive in with the Capellos. Even Manuel Capello, who played a more backseat role than his brother, Frankie, was nearby. Rue’s face was pale, her eyes hollowed by dark shadows beneath. Even from this distance, it was easy to see she was holding back tears. If she was here and not in a holding room, she must have already testified.

  What had happened when she’d taken the stand?

  I stared at her, hoping she’d sense the weight of my gaze and catch my eye. Perhaps then I’d be able to motion for her to leave the courtroom. Even if Frankie sent one of his men to accompany her, I’d be able to deal with them now that I was armed. I might be in a wheelchair, but a bullet would make up for a missing leg.

  Look up, I willed her. Look at me.

  But Rue wasn’t looking up at anyone. She seemed to have shrunk into herself, her head bent, her shoulders curved.

  She wasn’t going to see me.

  I didn’t want anyone else to notice me, however, so I kept my face averted, not wanting to be recognized.

  “Do you have your verdict?” the judge asked the jury.

  Shit. I hadn’t thought for a second that this would have happened so fast. The jury must have made their minds up quickly. How many people did they have testifying against Joe Nettie? Had Rue been the only one? Had they managed to intimidate everyone else into not taking the stand?

  One of the jury members rose to his feet. “We have, Your Honor. In the case of the State versus Joe Nettie for murder in the first degree, we find the defendant not guilty.”

  A gasp of shock rose from around the courtroom.

  “Mr. Nettie,” said the judge, “thank you for your time. You are free to go.”

  From the gallery, I heard Rue’s cry of, “No!”

  Joe Nettie would be walking free, and he’d seen Rue give evidence against him. Never mind the Capello brothers, Joe Nettie would be coming after her now.

  I had to act, and I had to act fast.

  But someone got there before me, only it wasn’t Rue they were after.

  One of the men sitting on the side of Cisco King stood. “You killed our brother, you son of a bitch!”

  It seemed I wasn’t the only one to smuggle in a weapon. The man had a gun in his hand.

  An impossibly loud crack ricocheted through the courtroom.

  Joe Nettie’s mouth dropped open in shock, and he glanced down at his chest where a red bloom of blood was spreading across the front of his shirt. He lifted both hands as though in confusion then folded to his knees.

  Screams echoed around the courtroom.

  Fuck. This wasn’t a part of our plan at all.

  I needed to get Rue out of there.

  But Frankie Capello was already ushering her toward the door. Shit, shit, shit. This was all going wrong. I couldn’t let him take her out of the building. The moment he got out of the courthouse, he would arm himself again, if he wasn’t already.

  Panic ensued.

  The courtroom security guards were focused on the man who’d fired the gun, their own weapons pulled, aiming at Cisco King’s man, while they shouted for him to get down. Joe Nettie’s lawyers had dropped to their knees beside him, doing their best to stem the flow of blood, though from the position of the wound, I doubted they’d be able to do much to save him. The judge, jury, and other court clerks had headed to the back of the courtroom, vanishing through the door that would take them to the judge’s chambers. Those sitting in the gallery were flooding toward the doors I’d only recently entered through.

  I hated that I was sitting down. It made it hard for me to spot Rue and Frankie through the multitude of bodies. But being in the chair gave me the advantage of being able to barge people out of the way, and those who noticed me automatically made space for me.

  The moment I got out of the courtroom and into the corridor beyond, the number of people dispersed as they ran away from the scene of the shooting. More guards hurried toward me, but they didn’t even give me a second glance, their focus on getting inside the courtroom and dealing with the shooter.

  Doing my best to keep my cool, I tried to spot Rue. The number of people leaving the courtroom had petered out, and I was fearful I’d missed her and Frankie, or that he’d taken her out via a different route.

  Then I saw them, Frankie dragging Rue down the corridor, heading toward me. Frankie was looking back over his shoulder, perhaps concerned one of Cisco’s men would also decide to come after him, so he didn’t spot me right away.

  I wheeled the chair out and swung it in front of Frankie’s legs, blocking the way.

  “Ryan!” Rue’s face lit up at the sight of me but then crumpled again as she must have noted the wheelchair and remembered our current situation.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?” Frankie spat. “Get out of my fucking way.”

  I pulled the gun and aimed it directly at him, while keeping the barrel low and close to the arm of the wheelchair so anyone who might happen to be walking by was less likely to spot the gun. Most of those who’d been in the courtroom had either fled or were being held by the security guards.

  I made sure Frankie knew I had it, however. “Not until you hand over Rue.”

  He shook his head but didn’t release her. “You’re making a big mistake, asshole.”

  I wanted to shoot him, to put an end to the fucking bastard for good, just like that man had done to Joe Nettie, but I couldn’t risk having that much attention put on me. Security was currently distracted by what had happened in the courtroom, and I didn’t want to be arrested for having a gun in here, but Frankie didn’t need to know that.

  “Do you want to test me?” I threatened.

  Frankie laughed and shoved Rue toward me. I grabbed her with my free hand and pulled her close.

  “Do you really think you’re going to get far like that?” he mocked. “A girl and a cripple. We’ll kill you before you reach the end of the street.”

  “We’ll see about that.” I turned my attention to Rue. “You’re going to need to push me.”

  She seemed to understand that I had to keep the gun pointed at Frankie, even while she wheeled me down the corridor. It was the only way I’d be able to keep him in place, giving us the time to get away.

  As usual, no one noticed the guy in the wheelchair.

  The guy holding the gun.

  We hurried down the hall toward the exit.

  “Where are we going?” Rue cried.

  “Out the front. Kodee is waiting for us there.”

  At least I hoped he would be. There was always the possibility he’d been arrested during the first disturbance, but the plan had been for him to get our minders in the SUV rattled because they were garnering too much attention, and for him to get the hell out of there. I had no way of knowing if that part had gone the way we’d wanted, or if it had been as much of a screwup as what had just gone down in the courtroom, but I had to hope.

  Rue wheeled me out into the fresh air. Not wanting anyone to notice us, I quickly hid the gun. I had no doubt Frankie would be hot on our tail, but he’d most likely be making some phone calls to ensure we didn’t get too far. Of course, cellphones also weren’t allowed in the courthouse, so he’d have to get his back before he could do that.

  “There!” I pointed across the street. Kodee was sitting in Gordon Little’s car, waiting for us at the curbside. We’d taken Gordon up on his offer to help and had asked if we could use his car, among other things. “Let’s move!”

  Kodee spotted us and pulled out, veering across traffic that blasted its annoyance in car horns, and screeching to a halt right beside us.

  Rue opened the back door. I didn’t need her help. I leaned over and used my upper bo
dy strength to lift myself out of the chair and into the back seat.

  “What about the wheelchair?” she cried as she climbed in beside me.

  “Leave it.”

  I glanced over to the courthouse entrance just as Frankie burst out. A couple of his men joined him. They glanced around and spotted us. Fingers were pointed, their faces contorted with anger. Any minute now, shots would be fired.

  “Go, go, go!” I yelled to Kodee.

  He slammed his foot on the gas and pulled the car out into traffic. Frankie and the others were running for their own vehicles, though they were probably in parking garages, unless Frankie had already mobilized his driver.

  “Dillon!” Rue asked, leaning forward and gripping the back of the driver’s seat. “Where’s Dillon?”

  “Don’t worry,” Kodee said from over his shoulder. “He’s meeting us.”

  “Where?”

  “Not too far from here, but we’ve got to make sure we lose those sons of bitches first.”

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Rue

  I COULD HARDLY BELIEVE this was happening.

  My mind was spinning.

  One moment, I’d heard the not-guilty verdict, and my stomach and heart had plummeted, certain my death warrant had just been signed. Then I’d heard the gunshot and seen Joe Nettie killed in revenge by Cisco King’s men, and the next Ryan had been there in his wheelchair with a gun pointed at Frankie Capello.

  Now we were breaking every speed limit in an effort to put as much distance between us and Frankie as possible.

  I wanted to throw myself into Ryan’s arms and bury my face against his chest then climb over the seat and into Kodee’s lap, but now wasn’t the time. We still weren’t out of danger, and I didn’t want to do anything to distract either of the guys. They’d put their lives at risk to save me.

  Twisting in my seat to get a view of the road behind us, I spotted one of the black SUVs Frankie favored.

  “Shit, they’re coming after us!”