Pretending to Be an Untouchable Crime Boss-Chapter 55: The Devil Won’t Die.

"What did he say?" James asked, his eyes shifting between the police officers ahead and the rearview mirror, they had stopped, speaking into their radios.

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"Nothing." She replied, her small hands trembling as she held the phone. But she was ready to duck down at any moment if James gave the order.

His bodyguard, who had stepped out of the car in front, was already in position, his hand hovering near his gun, ready to draw. But James could see the stress in him. There were too many officers surrounding them.

Four were positioned behind James, and eight officers blocked the way ahead.

But the biggest problem wasn’t just their numbers, it was the second SUV carrying his other bodyguards.

It was nowhere to be found.

James glanced back into the rearview mirror, searching. And then, he saw it.

The police car behind them was damaged, its side dented, its left headlight shattered as if it had crashed into something.

Come on, Hector, get your ass here.

"Bella’s calling." Charlotte said suddenly, holding out the phone to James.

He quickly grabbed it and answered.

"Hans has been attacked! The police are after you!" Bella’s panicked voice screamed through the phone. She was already in a car, speeding toward James’ location on the GPS, but it was too late.

James didn’t even get the chance to respond.

All Bella heard was gunfire and Charlotte’s terrified scream.

"James!" She shouted into the phone, but all that came back was more screaming, more gunfire. A lot of it.

For a moment, she completely froze. "No..."

Then, James’ voice suddenly cut through the chaos.

"Charlotte, stay down!"

He was still alive.

Before James could answer Bella, the second SUV arrived, crashing into the police vehicle behind.

It missed James’ car by barely a meters. But as soon as it happened, the bodyguard who had been standing outside pulled his gun and fired at the officer directly in front of him, hitting him in the throat but as he turned and aimed at the others, a bullet struck him in the chest.

His bulletproof vest absorbed most of the impact, knocking him to the ground. But even as he fell, he kept shooting, striking the officers around him.

The other two got out of the SUV but were immediately shot.

Meanwhile, James threw himself over Charlotte, shielding her with his body. Bullets ripped through the windshield, and went past James’ head. He didn’t noticed first but one of the bullet tore through his left ear, slicing off a piece.

Charlotte stopped screaming. She remembered what James had told her, stay calm, so she tried to curl up, to make herself as small as possible.

But then, warm droplets landed on her hands.

Blood.

Her eyes widened in horror. James wasn’t moving. He was just lying on top of her.

She thought he was dead.

But he wasn’t.

James was just waiting for a sound.

The sound of his bodyguards’ automatic rifles, covering them.

But that didn’t happen.

The SUV in front of them had only that bodyguard that was shot and the second one, the one that had crashed into the police car, was supposed to be their reinforcement, but no one was out.

They were barely hanging on.

So he did exactly what people thought of him, he became a killer.

"Charlotte, stay down!" He shouted at her and kicked open the door, stepping out.

Shots rang from every direction as James squatting low, moved to the backside of to coupe as the opened door was covering his back.

Peeking out, he spotted an officer firing at the crashed SUV so he aimed and pulled the trigger. The bullet struck the officer’s torso, making him stagger, but James fired again, straight to the forehead.

He then peaked out more and spotted another one and fired twice. Two rounds to the chest, and the he went down.

Two had died in the crash, and he had taken down two more, so he went out further to look at the smoking SUV, wrecked against the police car.

It was meters away, but reaching it meant sprinting through the gunfire.

His only chance was timing, waiting for the officers to reload.

Bullets whizzed past then, for a brief second, only a few shots rang out.

Now.

He dashed forward and meters from the SUV, he dove, hitting the ground hard and rolling behind it.

Gripping the door handle, he noticed that his pinky finger was bent straight backward.

He hadn’t even felt it break so he grabbed it adn with his right hand and snapped it back into place and yanked the door open, and looked inside.

Four bodyguards. Unconscious.

"Get the fuck up!" He shouted, punching one in the face, but nothing...he was out.

He couldn’t waste any more time. He grabbed him and pulled him out of the car, snatching the submachine gun from him along with the magazines.

Then he heard the sirens.

As he turned around another police car was speeding toward him.

So he aimed—

Nothing.

The gun didn’t fire.

He had never held a submachine gun before. He looked at it, checked the safety, aimed but again nothing.

The car was getting closer, then he remembered from movies.

He grabbed the charging handle, cocked it back, aimed, and on full auto, he shot the shit out of the police car, which swerved hard left, crashing into the guardrail.

James looked at the it and without second thought aimed again and emptied the remaining bullets into it, making sure they were dead.

As the last shell casing hit the ground, he reloaded, then leaned out, scanning the coupe.

Charlotte was still inside.

Out front, one last bodyguard fought desperately against an officer, standing his ground despite the odds.

James had to move.

"Charlotte!" He shouted, but she didn’t react. She was trapped in fear.

There was no time.

He sprinted toward the coupe, firing blindly at the officers to keep their heads down. Bullets ripped past him, but he didn’t stop. Not until he reached her.

He opened the door and dropped low, shooting again blindly.

Charlotte’s wide, tear-filled eyes locked onto James, but the sight of him only terrified her more.

Blood dripped down his face from the wound on his ear. He barely looked human to her.

"Charlotte, we’re going to run!"

She barely had time to react before he scooped her up, and held her close.

Gunfire ripped past them as he sprinted back toward the SUV. His grip was tight, his movements desperate. He wasn’t letting go of her.

Reaching the SUV, he opened the door and put Charlotte inside.

"Close the door from the inside and don’t open it!" He said and slammed the door shut.

Then, suddenly, everything went black.

His body hit the ground.

A sharp, ringing noise filled James’ ears as he drifted in and out of consciousness. His vision blurred, fading between light and darkness, his body refusing to move.

He tried to push himself up, but his arms gave out beneath him.

No…not now…

A faint voice broke through the chaos.

"James!"

Charlotte was banging on the car window, her voice barely coming through the bulletproof glass, but that distant sound kept James barely conscious.

He’d been hit.

His hand pressed toward his side and he felt warmth.

Blood.

His fingers trembled as they pulled away. He stared at them, at the way his own blood.

How long had he been bleeding?

His vision swam again, black spots creeping at the edges.

No….stay awake.

He wanted to crack the teeth with the medicine but he forgot the replace them.

"James!"

She was still there, banging on the window.

He tried to push himself up again, but his arm buckled. His palm slapped against the bloodied asphalt, the impact sending another shockwave of agony through his body.

Move…..

He struggled to push himself up, leaning against the car, and even though he could barely see, he noticed a shadow moving, coming closer to him.

He had no bullets…only his hands. Hands that was ready to fuck somebody up.

And as the officer turned, James lunged. His left hand grabbed onto the gun, pushing it down, while his right elbow slammed into the officer’s face and stumbled, his grip on the weapon loosening.

James didn’t hesitate.

With all his power that was left in his body, he threw himself forward, tackling the cop to the ground and his fist slammed into his face.

Again and again.

The officer thrashed beneath him, struggling, but James pinned his gun hand down, forcing it against the road.

Blood gushed as he was punching his nose but it wasn’t enough.

He leand down and bite into officer’s face ripping flesh from his nose.

Then he slammed his forehead against his.

Once...twice...a third time.

The officer’s head bounced off the road, blood pooling beneath him.

But they never move alone.

A bullet punched into James’ shoulder, jerking his body sideways as he knelt over the officer.

He didn’t react. Didn’t even flinch.

His breathing was ragged, his body drenched in blood, his own, theirs, it didn’t matter anymore.

Slowly, he lifted his head his gaze locked onto the officer who had just fired.

A second shot. This time, the bullet went into his lower stomach.

The officer aimed his gun again then for a moment froze, because James Bellini was smiling.

His gun trembled in his hands. His breath quickened, chest rising and falling in panic as James stood up.

His body should’ve hit the ground by now.

But he didn’t fall.

Didn’t stop.

Didn’t die.

The officer took a shaky step back. "W-what the fuck…?"

The man before him wasn’t human anymore.

Even death itself refused him.