“We can’t let him escape or alert the Desaltis.” I motioned for James to follow me and we hurried after the man as we kept close to the buildings in case there was a sniper somewhere. It was dark since the buildings here were either businesses that were closed right now or they were empty, but the moonlight was just enough for me to see the man racing through one of the doors. Making sure no one was around, I broke into a run after him. A gun fired behind my back, making me flinch, but when I glanced over my shoulder, I realized James had shot a man who’d tried sneaking up on us and who I hadn’t even noticed.

“Go!” James said, and I focused back on the door. I slowed down as I reached it, and spotted my target just at the end of the hallway. This building probably belonged to the Desaltis too, although I wasn’t sure what they were using it for. James was right behind me, and for some weird reason, that made me feel safer.

It was funny, though, because there wasn’t much stopping him from shooting me in the back and claiming the Desaltis had done it, although if he got caught, he and his whole family would die. And yeah, not many would believe a bullet from his gun would’ve accidentally hit me.

Glancing around me to make sure no one would jump out at me, I rushed down the hallway and took a left turn at the end of it. My target was running across a big garage with multiple cars parked at the end of it. Shit. If he got to one of those, he could get away and alert the rest of Desaltis’ men.

I ran as fast as I could, my lungs burning, my muscles protesting. The guy glanced over his shoulder and lifted his gun toward me. I quickly hid behind one of the thick supporting columns and was relieved to see James had done the same. The bullet embedded itself in one of the columns, and I took a quick peek from behind it. The guy was rushing for one of the cars, so I raised my gun and pursued him.

He had to slow down to open the car door, so I used the opportunity and fired at him. The bullet caught him in the shoulder, and he cried out. James and I had gone too far away from our cars, so I figured taking this guy prisoner and dragging him with us the whole way would be complicated and a waste of time. Besides, he was trying to aim his gun at me, so I pulled the trigger one more time. He slumped down against the car, his body leaving a bloody streak.