Chapter Forty-Seven #2
It’s a gamble, but one I’m willing to take.
Now I just have to get the key to everything on board.
“So… sparrow,” I breathe, and his face springs. “What would you say to finally busting out of this cage?”
He’s gaping at me as if something I’ve said is hitting deeper than just the words.
I know it is… I heard him talking to the birds last night.
Saw that sparrow sitting on his hand.
“You do want to leave,” I tell him. “Staying in captivity because it’s safe and easy only works for so long… Trust me.”
I think back to my cozy, normal, boring life back in Atlanta. It was my own cage. Just another version of Riverwoods.
Turns out, I could cause chaos there just as easily as anywhere else.
“You can’t hide from yourself,” I whisper to Angel. “And you’ll never know what you’re capable of unless you spread your wings and soar.”
I feel awful. Because it honestly looks like he might burst into tears.
But the kid is strong—I mean, you’d have to be to go toe-to-toe with The Ivory, wouldn’t you?
He simply sniffs and nods. “Yea. Let’s go.”
He marches toward the door without a second thought.
I chuckle. “Do you even want to know where we’re going?”
“Don’t care,” he mutters. “As long as it’s away from here.”
Well, alright then.
The two of us sneak out of the cage, and Angel leads me through a back exit I had no idea existed, bringing us through a winding maze of secret halls and hidden doorways until we’re outside.
“Wow.” I suck in deep. “I haven’t gotten fresh air in a while.”
“Same,” he mumbles. “So, what now? Where are we headed?”
Th bloke is on a mission, which is nice. His willingness makes it feel less like I’m capturing him and delivering him to be used as leverage.
I look left, then right. “Whatever we do, we’ll want to avoid where all that gunfire was coming from…”
“It sounds like it’s stopped for now,” he says. “I think it was coming from that way.” He nods east, which is actually the west coast of the island.
We could go to the prison. But we won’t make it on foot with the Warden’s men everywhere.
A motorcycle engine is roaring somewhere in the distance.
Racking my brain, I remember hearing something about the old armory. That was where I’d found Joy’s phone, so chances are, they could be reconvening there. It has more cover, surrounded by trees and the fallen guard tower.
“I have an idea.” I look around. “But we’ll need a vehicle…”
“The SUV’s are at the front of the mansion,” Angel says. “They usually leave the keys in them.”
I give him a look, impressed. “Good thing one of us knows sod all about this island.”
“Yea, well… I’ve been here a while,” he breathes, peering around the corner.
I’m watching the lad in curious fascination when he deems the coast clear.
He nods, and we scurry around to the front of the mansion, establishing that there seems to be a break in the continuous horde of cartel men rushing to and fro.
Knowing it’ll likely be brief, we waste no time racing for the line of parked vehicles, diving quickly into an SUV.
Just in the nick of time, too, as voices and stomping footsteps approach.
“Shit. Duck down!” Angel gasps, both of us crouching as low as we can on the seats.
My heart is flying. What a rush!
I feel like I’m in an action movie!
Once I’m sure they’re far enough away, I peek over the dash, watching a few men trudge inside the mansion.
“Stormtroopers,” I breathe. “They’re gone.”
Angel snickers.
We both sit up, myself in the driver’s seat, and Angel to my right. There’s a key in the cupholder, which is very fortunate. But then I frown when I remember one very crucial aspect of this plan I seem to have overlooked.
“Do you drive?” I ask Angel.
“I have before, but I don’t have a license.” His brows zip. “Why?”
I clear my throat. “Nothing, I’ve just… never driven a day in my life.”
He looks immediately worried. “You want me to drive?”
“No, no. We don’t have time, we have to get out of here.” Buckling my seatbelt, I step down on the brake and press the Start Engine button.
The engine roars to life, and I grin.
Ooh. Exhilarating.
Angel is still visibly skeptical as he straps himself in. “Are you sure…?”
“I understand the basic premise,” I hum. “The rest, I’ll learn on the job. How hard can it be?”
“Not very comforting when the road runs parallel to cliffs and open ocean,” he grumbles. “This isn’t the place I’d want someone experimenting with their first time operating an automobile.”
“Have a little faith, sparrow.” I wink at him, shifting into drive.
I press a little too hard on the gas and the thing takes off, peeling out of the circular driveway.
“Dios…” Angel croaks. “Please, Trevel… I did not come all this way just to die in a fiery car wreck with a dude a just met.”
“Steady on, it’s got airbags,” I mutter, zipping down the long, winding drive, toward the road. “At least, I hope it does. I really wouldn’t know.”
The driveway leads directly to the road after coming down a bit of a hill, with ocean straight ahead. You can go either hard left or right, and I zoom right without slowing down, following in the direction I know the prison to be.
“Okay, that right there would’ve been your opportunity to experience the brake pedal,” Angel barks, gripping the handle above the door with white knuckles.
“Oh, please. It’s not like there’s traffic to watch out for,” I scoff.
“You don’t know that!” He gripes. “What about that motorcycle we heard??”
“It stopped a while ago. Angel, please relax. You’re making me nervous.”
“You should be! You’re going sixty miles an hour with the ocean barely ten feet away!”
“Right, about that, how do I change this speedometer thingy to kilometers?” I tap on the instrument cluster. “You Americans and your miles, and feet.” I huff, rolling my eyes.
“First of all, I’m Colombian,” he mumbles. “Second of all, will you please slow down?? You’re literally flying and it gets narrow up ahead.”
I’m not really listening to his bellyaching. I’m too busy watching the sparkly black ocean to my left. It’s quite beautiful.
“Funny how such an awful place can have fragments of such sporadic beauty, isn’t it?” I marvel.
“Trust me, if we make it out of this vehicle alive, I’ll be kissing the ground of this dreadfully stunning island,” he stammers. “Okay, slow down. Slow down slow down!”
“Whoops!”
Jerking the wheel right to avoid a barrier, I swerve off the road. And now we’re in the woods.
“What are you doing?!” Angel screams. “We’re gonna hit a goddamn tree! Oh, God, I don’t wanna die like this…”
“I know where I’m going,” I yap. “I’m gonna get us as close as possible. Hang onto your butts!” I chuckle. “I’ve always wanted to say that. Right, like in Jurassic Park?”
Angel is mumbling in Spanish with his eyes closed and his hands clasped together. I think he’s praying.
We’re literally driving through the woods. I’m not certain this type of vehicle is made for this, but it’s handling like a champ, despite bounding and soaring over bumps like we’re in a dune buggy.
“Look! There it is! Just up ahead,” I announce and point when I see the guard tower.
The armory will be just on the other side of that.
Unfortunately, slamming on he breaks doesn’t stop us as promptly as I’d hoped. The brakes lock up, and we go sliding.
Now it’s my turn to scream, too.
Angel and I are both screaming our heads off, eyes closed and bracing for an impact as the vehicle careens right toward the wall of stone…
Skidding to a stop just in time.
It’s gone silent inside the car. Nothing to be heard but our heavy breaths and the quiet purr of this luxury sport utility vehicle’s engine.
I pry my eyes open. The front bumper isn’t a half-meter away from hitting the giant stone wall.
“Phew.” I wipe the sweat from my brow. “That was a close one.”
I peek at Angel, who’s glaring at me. I bite my lip, giving him my most innocent, I’m sorry I almost killed us look.
He cracks a small smile. Then he bursts out laughing.
The bloke really is unfairly good-looking. I’m glad I didn’t kill him, or mangle his pretty face.
“Chico loco, I’m telling you…” He sighs, wiping his eyes. “You are a trip. If I meet Byron, I’m going to convince him to take you back strictly out of necessity. You need someone responsible to keep you from unintentionally killing yourself!”
I laugh, killing the engine. We both hop out of the car.
“Here’s hoping he goes for that,” I sigh, the nerves suddenly booming inside me, a hundred times heavier than when I was speeding us toward sudden death.
Byron hates me so much he kicked the shit out of me. And now here I am, showing up unexpectedly, crashing his reunion with his mates. Who knows how he’ll react to this pop-in. Historically, he’s loved when I’ve invaded his space, but that was before I hurt him.
“Alright, I think the best course of action is for me to go first, alone,” I tell Angel. “Get eyes on the armory, verify that the coast is clear and make sure it’s just Velle and them inside.”
Angel is abruptly uneasy himself, but he nods, chewing intently on his lower lip.
“Stay with the car for a few minutes. So long as you don’t hear shouting or gunfire, follow in my direction, but stay hidden,” I tell him.
He nods again. “I know where the armory is.” My brows jump. “Like I said, I’ve been here a while. Don’t worry about me. I could navigate this crazy place in my sleep at this point.”
I tilt my head. “Oh. Brilliant. Well then, you just hang back a bit, and when I give the signal, come on out.”
I have to appreciate his confidence when I’m anything but.
“Okay.” He blinks this wide, doe-eyed expression at me. “What are you gonna say to Byron when you see him?”
I gulp, anxious and not hiding it. “I’m going to apologize and tell him the truth. It’s all I can do.”
Angel’s lips are a bit pouted. And before I know what’s happening, he launches himself at me, hugging on tightly.
“Thank you, Trevel,” he hums. “Thank you for… well, pushing me out of the nest, so to speak.”
Chuckling, I squeeze him back, hard.
I can only hope this plan works. And that my actions don’t get more people killed.
“I… I should let you know that I’m kind of… turning you over to the enemy,” I mumble to him remorsefully as we pull apart.
He smirks. “Yea, again, I know. Trust me, I’m way ahead of you on all this stuff.”
“Look at you, little miss 007,” I snicker. “Turns out, you’re the traitorous spy they all thought I was all along.”
He winks, then chuckles. “Spy team comin’ for ya.”
We giggle and high-five. Then I shake out my arms, exhaling a rough, nervous breath.
“Okay, wish me luck.”
Angel pats me on the shoulder. “Go get him.”
Yea, you too, little sparrow.