Renegade Runaways :: Chapter Thirteen

Bo watched Hope from a distance as he pumped fuel into his bike. He was alert. Protective. Territorial. Steve watched Bo from a separate gas pump, and casually tightened the red bandana he wore on his head.

"Ask her out already," Steve joked.

Bo tore his eyes off of Hope and glanced at Steve, "Shut up."

"Are you guys back on track?" John asked.

"I guess…" Bo shrugged. He wasn't in the joking mood. He wasn't really in the talking mood. He was serious, his only concern was safety.

He looked back in Hope's direction and sudden panic filled him. She was gone. His heart raced, "Where'd she go?"

"Take it easy man," Steve laughed, "She probably went to the bathroom or something. You know how women are."

"No," Bo shook his head and abandoned his gas pump, "Something's wrong."

"Marlena?!" John called out, suddenly picking up on Bo's concern. The three women were no where to be seen. He called again. Steve scanned the parking lot.

"Hope!" Bo screamed. This couldn't be happening. His worst nightmare. He'd just gotten her back. He avoided Salem for this reason, "Hope!"

"Help!"

It was a woman's scream, but it wasn't Hope's. It was Kayla's. Bo sprinted as fast as he could around to the other side of the small gas station. His blood boiled when he found Hope physically fighting a man he recognized. He hated the man with every fiber in his being. Kayla was being thrown into the bed of a truck. He was torn, but his dilemma was solved when he heard Steve coming up fast behind him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing asshole?!" Steve screamed. Kayla screamed and wiggled as the man restrained her wrists with zip ties. He had a gun.

Steve ran towards the truck, stabbing his knife into the tires. The vehicle was disabled. John wasn't far behind. It was three against two if you were only counting men.

"STEVE!" Kayla screamed. Her voice cracked with panic and fear.

Bo's vision blurred with red hot anger at the sight of the man successfully manhandling Hope into a head lock. She struggled, but managed to flip him over onto the ground. He landed on his back with a thud. Bo silently thanked God she was a cop. The man recovered quickly and made his way to his feet, but never saw Bo coming.

Hope's heart stopped as Bo flew across the parking lot at warp speed in a flying tackle. He pinned the man to the ground face first and snapped his neck in one swift move. Hope couldn't believe her eyes. Her heart pounded. Bo's rage and newfound physical strength was something she'd never seen before. She was speechless. He ran to her, crushing her to his chest. She could feel him shaking.

Bo grabbed her face with both hands and stared into her eyes. He saw fear there and he was sure his eyes looked the same, "You okay?"

Hope nodded, still unable to speak. She let herself be pulled back to his chest. Tears threatened her as she suddenly became keenly aware of how much danger they were really in.

Bo turned around at the sound of a gunshot, instinctively reaching for his own gun.

The second man was on the ground and Kayla was safely in Steve's arms.

"We gotta go," John announced, placing his gun safely back in his holster.

Marlena had tears streaming down her face.

"Everyone okay?" Steve asked.

Bo looked back at Hope, unwilling to let her go, "Okay?"

Hope looked at the dead body lying next to them. It was the second man in a week she'd watched her should be husband kill. She swallowed hard, "Yeah."

"Okay," Bo nodded back to Steve, "Come on." He held Hope's hand tightly, dragging her with him. She couldn't take her eyes off of the man with the snapped neck, and for some reason she couldn't make her feet work. She tripped repeatedly, but Bo drug her along anyway.

The six of them jumped on their motorcycles and took off in a rush, leaving the illegal scene behind them with haste.