20. Cassandra #2
In the foyer, Adam tells us to wait out of sight of the transparent glass front door. Weapon drawn, he creeps forward, putting himself between us and any waiting enemy.
Slowly, he opens the door and scans the driveway. From my spot, I can see Sam waiting in Dominic’s Escalade, parked as close to the door as he can get.
“When I say go, all of you run, got it? You get in on the passenger side as fast as possible,” Adam instructs.
Sadie whimpers and reaches for my hand, squeezing it in a death grip.
“We’re right here with you,” I promise. I check with Cecilia, who gives me an affirmative nod.
Adam makes a run for it, crossing the few feet between the Escalade and us. As he reaches for the backseat handle, a nearby guard hollers out a warning.
Adam reaches for his weapon, but before he can get a shot off, the sound of gunfire ricochets off the house, and Adam falls to his knees, crimson pooling on the shoulder of his white button-down.
“Oh, my God!” Natalie cries. Sadie screams and grabs her stomach while Cecilia and I curse and share horrified looks.
“Get out of the doorway,” Cecilia orders as more bullets rain down on the Escalade, blowing out the back window. Sam jumps out, quickly taking cover behind the open car door, and returns fire.
We stumble inside the house as Cecilia closes and locks the door. “The glass is bulletproof,” she says. “But we don’t have much time.”
“What do we do?” I flinch as a loud pop permeates the air—a car tire blown. “Do we have time to get to the safe room?”
Sadie wails and squeezes my left arm while I try to hold her up with my right.
Cecilia shakes her head. “We’ve got to get her out of here. Come on.”
Guiding Sadie and forging a path for Natalie and me, Cecilia heads toward the kitchen. Inside, the catering staff huddle together behind the elaborate island and inside the pantry.
“Don’t worry,” Cecilia calls out. “Our men will have the intruders dealt with shortly!”
If I weren’t so terrified, I’d laugh at her chipper tone.
“This way.” She urges us down a short hallway to our left. “On the other side of that door is the garage.”
Natalie runs ahead, pushing her ear against the wood before taking the handle. “I don’t hear anything. I think we’re okay.”
She twists the handle slowly as the rest of us press against the wall. Sadie’s ragged breath is the only sound.
When nothing happens, we peek through the door and find a garage filled with cars and bikes, but not a living soul.
“Let’s go.” Cecilia braces herself to help Sadie down the step leading to the epoxied floor. “My car is the BMW in the corner.”
Sadie’s weight makes my back ache as we drag her all the way across the massive garage. Cecilia gives Natalie instructions to retrieve the car keys from a hook on the wall. The BMW unlocks with a double beep, and Natalie hurries over to open the back door.
“I’ll sit with Sadie,” I say as Cecilia and I maneuver to get her into the car.
Once Sadie’s settled, I run to the opposite side and throw myself in next to her.
“Natalie, keys,” Cecilia says as she and Natalie go to the driver and passenger seats. Natalie tosses them over the top of the navy hood, and Cecilia grabs them expertly with one hand.
Within sixty seconds, we’re all in, and the engine is purring to life.
“Get your seatbelts on, ladies,” Cecilia says. “This might be a bumpy ride.”
Pushing a controller on the visor, Cecilia opens the garage door. She doesn’t wait for it to rise all the way before she speeds out as if the house is on fire.
Which it may be at this point.
I didn’t have time to check.
We take a sharp left, the back wheels squealing over the driveway pavers and, unfortunately, drawing attention.
“In the trees!” Natalie screams, pointing to a set of enemy combatants dressed in black, their semi-automatics pointed our direction.
The men open fire as Cecilia floors it and speeds away from them.
I grab Sadie’s head, pulling her low as bullets clip the back window.
“Bulletproof glass,” Cecilia repeats her earlier explanation.
“Doesn’t make it foolproof,” I mutter.
Sadie begins crying, and my heart sinks.
“We’re going to get out of this,” I whisper. “I promise, you and the baby will be safe.”
“You don’t know that,” Sadie says between sniffles. “Cassie, what about Lucas? Is he out there?”
I sit up, watching out the window as we pass through the opening front gates. The men in the front must have seen us coming.
“I don’t think so.” I rub Sadie’s hair as her head rests on my lap. “He sent a text to all the associates right before the attack started. I don’t think he’s here yet.”
“I’ll text him now,” Natalie says, pulling Sadie’s phone from her purse. I realize it’s the only phone we have, since we left the rest at the house.
As Natalie types out a message, Cecilia glances repeatedly in her rearview mirror.
“What?” I ask, placing my hand on her shoulder.
“I’m not sure.” She picks up speed, flying through a stop sign. “But I think we’re being followed.”
I turn to look out the window in time to see a black Lexus running the stop sign after us.
“I think you might be right.” I grimace as the Lexus inches closer. “Cecilia, you’ve got to speed up.”
Her forehead creases as her attention flits between the road in front of her and the car behind. She floors it. We race through the streets of the gated neighborhood, getting honked at by residents. A woman walking a golden retriever jumps back as we pass.
“My neighbors are going to hate me,” Cecilia worries but takes the next turn at a concerning speed.
Natalie’s hand flies up to hold the “Oh Shit” handle while I brace Sadie against me.
“Hold on, ladies. We’re about to exit the community.” With Cecilia’s warning, Natalie gasps, and I scream because one second we’re zooming by the security building and the next we’re crashing into a barrier arm.
Metal scraps across metal as all four of us release a chorus of curse words.
Cecilia makes a hard right, leaving the neighborhood as the rest of us sit in stunned silence.
Cecilia sighs, changing lanes to pass a Land Rover. “They’ll definitely bill Vincent for that.”
I can’t help the laughter that bubbles up in my chest. “He might have some questions about that one.”
Cecilia smirks as her eyes meet mine in the reflection of the rearview mirror. “It wouldn’t be my first traffic indiscretion.”
“Guys,” Natalie says. “They’re getting closer.”
Sadie groans again, holding her belly.
“Breathe through the pain,” I tell her. I have no idea if that’s the right advice. But she listens anyway, starting what I recognize as Lamaze breathing.
“Uh, oh.” Cecilia clicks her tongue and glances in her side mirror. “Natalie, would you be a dear and see if there are any weapons in the glove box?”