Free Midnight Hero by Diana Duncan Page A

Didn’t work. His coarse breathing rasped loudly in her ears. Too loud. She wasn’t going to be able to outrun him.
    Again, she looked back. The giant was too close. Almost close enough to grab her. In the distance, Con raced toward them, another bat gripped in his hand. Fast, but not fast enough. Harsh breaths rasped her throat, her heart slammed into her ribs.
    Con wouldn’t make it in time.
    Saving her hide was up to her.
    Her frantic gaze spun down the mall. If she ran into a store, the behemoth would have her cornered. Nowhere to hide. What to do? Please, God, what should I do?
    The answer flashed by in a blurry rainbow. One desperate chance. Stiff with fear, she lurched to a stop. Whirled. Hitched the bat over her shoulder and swung with all her might. Not at her pursuer—at the gumball machines lined up in colorful rows outside Toys Galore. Metal support poles clanged. Her hands stung. Glass shattered, smashed to the floor. Large, colorful jawbreakers exploded in every direction, bouncing across the faux marble.
    Her pursuer treadmilled on the rolling projectiles. His feet flew out from beneath him. He grunted, swore and flopped down with a resounding crash as his skull banged against the floor.
    He didn’t move.
    Holding her breath, she edged toward him.
    â€œStay back,” Con shouted. Skidding on jawbreakers, he managed to keep his footing and slid to a halt. He went to his knees beside the fallen guard and dropped his bat. “Hells bells, slugger. I said kneecap him.”
    Her vocal cords didn’t seem to want to work, and her lips were numb. “Is h-he d-dead? D-did I k-kill him?”
    He shot a grin at her. “Nah. He’s out cold.” He sobered. “Unfortunately, we don’t know if this commotion carried to the other end of the mall. We might be having company shortly.”
    â€œI’m s-sorry.”
    â€œWe’ll handle it.” He patted the man down and tugged a two-way radio from beneath him, a smashed jumble of plastic and wires. “Well, that’s useless. Bluto must have landed on it.” He continued the search. “No gun. Obviously, they wanted him to look like Syrone to passersby. They weren’t expecting trouble.” He shook his head and swore softly. “No key card for the door, either. Probably planned on leaving with his buddies.”
    â€œI c-couldn’t hit him. I j-just couldn’t.”
    â€œYou took him out, that’s the most important thing. You did good.” He rose and embraced her in a quick, hard, comforting hug. “Get it together. There’s no time to fall apart.”
    She nodded. Sucked in a steadying breath. “What should I do?”
    â€œLeaving an unarmed man at the door…these guys are arrogant, sure of success. We can turn it back on them.” He strode toward the toy store. Like many of the other stores, the security cage hadn’t descended because of the power failure. “Hang on.”
    He disappeared, and she glanced down the mall. They were a long way from the bank. Had the robbers heard the noise? Would she and Con soon have to face loaded Uzis? Anxiety gnawed her insides. Because she couldn’t bring herself to injure a fellow human being, she might have put them in jeopardy. Traded their welfare for a criminal’s. Endangering herself was one thing, but putting Con’s life at risk…inexcusable.
    She looked at the unconscious man. Confusion and slivers of hot shame splintered inside her. She felt horrible about knocking him out. Shaky, sweaty and like she might upchuck any second. Yet part of her regretted not following Con’s orders and doing the deed quietly. Thus hurting the guy worse.
    Had she just done the wrong thing, for all the right reasons?
    How was a person supposed to know? How did Con deal with the moral dilemma? He disabled bad guys every day without his conscience making him queasy.
    Con reappeared with jump ropes and