Ranger instantly wrapped his hand around my arm and pulled me into his body, while his eyes scanned the park for any movement. His other hand rested on his gun, before moving to pull out his phone. He hit a number and the phone rang once before being answered. "Code S-Red. He wasn't working alone. Who's closest to our position?" Ranger hung up and pulled out his gun, moving me towards the car. "Carson and Cannon are 2 minutes out."
The names weren't familiar to me, but I hardly knew all of Ranger's men. He tended to have more senior men on my guard duty and he knew I'd prefer the men who had become my friends over strangers. "How did we miss this?" I muttered, "God I should have realized this was funky. Ricky didn't make decisions, he always followed the group."
"This isn't on you Babe. We all missed this." A black SUV sped into the lot and stopped next to Ranger's porche. The doors opened and 2 men stepped out and scanned the area. His pace slowed, feeling more relaxed with his backup. His phone rang and he answered "Yeah they just pulled in. Tank, we're going to need to go through this whole thing again. Dig more into Ricky, he must have met his partner somewhere and we need to identify him immediately. He must have been the brains behind this." He stopped our movement, about 20 meters from the cars and his body turned to stone. "Who was on cameras when the body was left at Rangeman… Have Chip moved to an interrogation room. Unharmed unless he fights."
A gun shot echoed through the park and I looked in horror as one of the Rangemen collapsed by the car. My eyes shot around the area but I couldn't see anyone else. Ranger shoved me behind him and a second shot blasted. Ranger swore and my eyes finally landed on the last Rangeman who was pointing a gun at us.
Ranger shoved me towards the wooded path. "Run!" He moved after me and I started running, stumbling as Ranger pushed and prodded me, using his body to block me. The open field that had been a safe zone for our talk suddenly turning into a dangerous war zone with no cover. Ranger fired behind him, providing us a few precious seconds to put some space between us and the threat.
My mind was a mindless shriek of pure fear, expecting to feel a bullet any second. Somehow we made it to the wooded path and I was grateful to the trees, casting some protection as we veered off the path. I was gasping for air and I knew if it wasn't for adrenaline, I'd be about ready to collapse by now but stopping was the last thing on my mind. That of course is when I tripped over my own feet and went down hard, catching myself with a hand. I felt pain shoot up my arm as it collapsed under me and Ranger grabbed the back of my sweater, hauling me to my feet. I glance at him and froze as I saw red seeping through his shirt. "Oh my god! You're hurt. Why didn't you say something." I hissed, as I grabbed at his shirt.
"Babe, we don't have time for that. I need you to go. Keep going and find people. Backups on its way and they will find you. I'm going to hold him off."
"Are you crazy? I'm not leaving you."
"I've got a gun, I'll be fine."
"Yeah and how many bullets do you have left?" He didn't answer and I snorted. "Yeah either you come with me or we both stay here."
He snarled at me wordlessly but didn't struggle when I yanked at his hand. Both of us hearing someone approaching. We broke out of the woods and I stared in horror at the raging river. I whimpered and looked around, pulling him towards the visible bridge to our left. We had just stumbled onto it when Ranger collapsed against me and a shot rang out. I tried to pull him up but his left leg collapsed under his weight.
"Babe."
"No." I cried, shoving myself under his left arm and trying to hoist him up, a futile endeavour seeing how he was double my size. We fell again and Ranger pulled himself up to sit against the wall "I can't leave you." I whispered.
"Babe, please go. Don't make me watch you get taken." I shook my head at him, crying too hard to speak and trying to apply pressure to his wounds and cover his body. He brought his hands up to my face and pulled me in for a quick kiss. "I love you Babe." He said softly as our pursuer stepped on the bridge. Then he grabbed my waist and I was airborne.
I splashed into the river and inhaled a mouthful of water in shock. I struggled against the current and finally broke the surface, eyes scanning desperately for Ranger. The river had already carried me away but I made eye contact with the man standing on the bridge. I watched as he pointed his gun down at his feet and heard another shot as he pulled the trigger. I screamed, fighting desperately to get to shore but the cold seeped into my bones, my arm was in agony and my legs had given up. It was all I could do to keep my head above the surface. The river turned a bend and swept me out of sight.