Chapter Fifty-Two
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
LEENA
I throw myself into the passenger seat of the vehicle, cursing my goddamn outfit. This is the last time I wear a dress on an op.
The second my door is shut, tires screech as Sebastian sends us careening out of the parking lot. I glance behind us, finding the men from the dock piling into a truck. I quickly grab the earpieces to our comms from the glove compartment, leaning over to put one in Sebastian’s ear, the other in mine.
“We’ve got Ace of Clubs up our ass. Four men, one vehicle. We’re leaving the marina, heading east,” Sebastian barks out as he takes another turn. “Fisher, we need eyes in the air. I think Kathryn’s boat was heading for that marina, we need to find it before it hightails it out of here. Campbell, we’ll try and shake them, but we might need you to run some interference.”
“Copy that. Twenty minutes out,” Luke says over the radio.
I slide on a pair of black leggings under my dress, then velcro my holster to my thigh. I lose the wig, then quickly change into a T-shirt while Sebastian is distracted, driving dangerously, reaching into the back for my boots. I buckle my seatbelt before he can give me shit about not wearing it.
“Goddammit!” Sebastian yells, hitting the steering wheel when another maneuver he thought would shake them fails.
Then, they start shooting. This is a rental vehicle, not our Suburban, so there’s no bulletproof glass, no extra militia stored in the trunk. We’re each carrying, of course, but that won’t hold out in a firefight.
It doesn’t take long before our back window is blown to pieces.
“Shit!” I shout, both of us crouching in our seats.
“Hold on, sugar,” Sebastian says, taking the next turn at a dizzying pace, sending us down a three lane road that leads away from town. Good. Because there were way too many pedestrians, bicycles and fucking goats wandering around for the speed at which we are going.
“Come in, come in, this is your captain speaking. I’m in the air. Heading toward the marina now. Fisher, out.”
I smile, because hearing Colton fucking around over the radio is somehow calming after being shot at.
“Copy that, Fisher. Chase, how’s your tail?” Luke asks.
“Still wagging. And it’s starting to piss me off. What’s your ETA?” Sebastian barks out.
“It would be sooner if you weren’t driving so goddamn fast,” Luke replies, and I worry knowing he’s about to join the chase.
“I like driving fast. And we already lost the back window,” Sebastian says casually while I’m busy holding on for my goddamn life as he cuts off another vehicle on the crowded roadway.
“Fuck!” Luke shouts.
I look behind us, finding our pursuer no more than three cars back, then two, and one, until they are right behind us.
Five motorcycles are coming up fast behind the truck, and at first, I think they’re trying to get around it, until I realize what’s actually happening.
They’re flanking it.
“Shit! We have more company. Five bikes,” I say.
Sebastian quickly looks in the mirror before glancing at me. He stomps on the gas, sending us through an intersection just as the light turns red. The truck tries to follow, but has to slam on their brakes to avoid a collision. The bikes swerve through the cross traffic and are quickly gaining on us.
I see one of the riders pull something from their back.
“Gun!” I shout. Sebastian immediately swerves and the bullets scatter on the pavement instead of our vehicle.
“Good call,” he says, speeding up until we’re just out of range. The dual-sport motorcycles struggle to keep up, but this road is relatively straight with no cars in sight. Which means there are no quick turns that would help shake them.
All of a sudden, a vehicle skids onto the road behind the bikes, and I can’t help my smile when I see that it’s Luke.
He quickly closes the gap. I watch as his SUV bumps one of their back tires, then swerves out of the way as bike and rider go tumbling behind him.
Four.
He does the same to the next.
Three.
Before Luke can move closer to the others, one of the riders starts firing their weapon and he’s forced to pull back.
I hold onto the door handle, and my sanity, as we go around a tight curve.
“Fuck!” Sebastian groans, drawing my attention to the moving train blocking our path up ahead. I tighten my grip as he slams on the breaks. The back end of our vehicle loses traction, skidding around behind us as Sebastian works to regain control. Finally, we come to a jarring stop no more than a few yards from the screeching metal barreling past.
I stare wide-eyed.
“Get down!” Sebastian shouts, and I somehow manage to duck just before the bullets pierce through the vehicle, shattering our front windshield.
The second we stop taking fire, Sebastian unclips his seatbelt and pulls the gun from his waistband.
“Stay there!” he barks, throwing himself out the door. I watch him crouch, gun trained on the bikes as I hear what I have to assume is Luke coming around the corner, tires screeching across the pavement as he tries to stop. I peek out my window, watching as he maneuvers the SUV away so it doesn’t hit us. The back tires slide off the road into a ditch.
I watch, helpless, then let out a relieved breath when Luke gets out unharmed, using the door as a shield as he and Sebastian fire on the remaining three riders.
I rest my hand on my own weapon, waiting for the sound of gunshots to stop.
After several long minutes, it’s all over.
“Hart! Time to go!” I hear Sebastian shout. I’m out of the car in a second and making my way around the vehicle, my own weapon raised.
I wonder why we aren’t getting back into our car, until I see that the volley of bullets took out at least two of the tires. My heart sinks, looking over at Luke’s vehicle that also isn’t going anywhere anytime soon and wondering how the fuck we’re going to get out of this one. Because the truck tailing us before can’t be too far behind.
Then I see three dead bodies.
Three motorcycles.
Three of us.
Fuck.
Sebastian is already wearing a helmet, straddling one of the bikes.
“Hop on, sugar,” he calls out, and I run toward him.
Then I move right past him.
Fuck no, I’m not getting on the back of a bike if he’s the one driving.
“Leena! What are you doing?” he shouts after me, but I ignore him and holster my weapon.
I stand in a pool of blood, then quickly unbuckle the helmet strap from under the dead man’s chin.
“You can have mine, just get back here!” Sebastian shouts. I hear his engine rev, then Luke’s as he starts the other.
The dinging of the crossing lights shuts off as the train clears our path out of here.
I make eye contact with Sebastian as I grab hold of the helmet that’s still attached to its rider, lifting it up and giving it a little shake until his head slides free.
His skull cracks when it hits the pavement.
I put the helmet on, then grab the grips of the fallen bike, stepping on the peg with all my weight until it’s up under me.
“Leena!” Sebastian shouts.
I hear the radio click on in my comm piece, Luke’s voice rings in my ear. “Leena, this isn’t a ride around the block. We’re going to have to move fast to get out of here,” he warns.
I smile, using my heel to flip out the lever, then kick-start the bike in one heavy stomp. I rev the engine, and brace myself as I throw it into first. “Try and keep up, boys.”
“Goddammit!” I hear Sebastian growl out as I take off over the tracks and down the road.