Chapter 11 #3
“Thank God we chose the action movie, you’ve seen the faces of people coming out of that comedy?
” Esme sighed as we left the theater with the crowd.
“They looked more like they were coming out of a funeral,” Ava laughed, and the three of us nodded in agreement.
We had been right to listen to Diane. I lifted my face toward the sky as a light breeze brushed against my skin, days in San Francisco were so stifling that nights became a blessing.
“Sienna,” Ava called, holding out a cigarette to me, but I shook my head.
Kenji was already going to be furious about this little escape, if he smelled nicotine on me too, it would be war.
Ava and Diane lit up while I talked with Esme as we headed toward a bar near the cinema.
The guys hadn’t called yet, so either they hadn’t realized we were gone or they were already on their way to the theater.
We all knew how obsessed Diane was with movies, and she hadn’t stopped going on about this action film.
They were going to find us in no time, but until then, one drink wouldn’t hurt.
Suddenly I stopped, my eyes locking onto two vans parked across the street.
“The first time is chance, the second is coincidence, but the third time smells like trouble, Sienna,” Ashwin’s voice echoed in my head, one of the many lessons he had taught me.
“Don’t stop at the bar. Keep walking,” I told the girls, shoving my hands into my jacket pockets.
Diane and Ava slowed slightly so they could fall in step with us.
“What’s going on?” Esme asked with a smile as we passed the crowded terrace of the bar.
“The two vans across the street,” I said, keeping my eyes forward and forcing a light smile of my own, “I saw them the first time at noon outside the mall, then near the park when my sister dropped me off and now outside the cinema.” I saw Ava steal a quick glance toward the vehicles before pretending to point at something and laugh.
We all nodded, smiling. If there was one thing the institute had taught us, it was how to pretend, how to play a role.
After all, we had learned to satisfy even the worst kinds of clients.
“You think it’s the Master?” Diane asked as we moved toward the industrial district.
We were about to leave the vans’ line of sight, then we’d hide and call the guys.
I was almost certain there wasn’t gardening equipment sitting in those vans and if I’d learned one thing, it was that unnecessary risk was stupid when safer alternatives existed.
“We run on three,” I warned the girls, glancing at Ava’s heels and grimacing.
I’d have to keep an eye on her. I started the count as we reached the back of a building, and once we were out of sight, we ran.
We shoved people out of our way, earning complaints and insults, but we didn’t slow down.
My instincts screamed at me not to stop, that we were in danger.
“There,” I said, pointing toward an alley running alongside an abandoned factory.
We rushed into it, and I grabbed Ava when she stumbled.
She let out a groan but didn’t stop, we tried doors along the walls.
“Here!” Ava called when one finally gave way.
We slipped inside the building, slammed the door shut behind us, and barricaded it with wooden pallets.
We moved deeper into the factory until we found a place to hide.
“You okay, Ava?” I asked, helping her sit on the ledge of a boarded-up window, “I think I twisted my ankle,” she groaned, pulling off her shoe.
I switched on my flashlight to get a better look and saw how red her ankle was, “I think so too,” I murmured, straightening.
“We’ll see if there’s another exit,” Esme said, and Diane nodded.
“Be careful,” I told them as they headed in the opposite direction from where we’d entered.
At the same moment, my phone rang, Kenji’s name flashing on the screen.
Sometimes I wondered if we actually shared some kind of psychic link.
“We’re in front of the cinema, get out here,” he snapped, annoyed, as I tried to catch my breath.
“Kenji…” I said, pulling off my cap and fixing the loose strands of hair that had escaped.
“What’s going on? Where are you?” His voice was worried now, and I could hear the others behind him.
“We noticed two vans following us. We ran and hid in an abandoned factory in the industrial area,” I explained quickly.
“We’re coming. Stay where you are,” he said before hanging up.
“The guys will be here soon,” I reassured Ava, who was watching me anxiously. I just hoped her ankle wasn’t too badly hurt, maybe a hospital visit would be safer.
Suddenly, both of us flinched as screams echoed through the factory, bouncing off the empty walls. We frowned and moved a little farther down the corridor when Esme and Diane suddenly appeared from the other side, running toward us, screaming and waving their arms.
“What the fu…” my eyes widened when about ten men appeared behind them, chasing them. “Run,” I breathed to Ava, yanking her to her feet as she hastily kicked off her second shoe. “Run!” I ordered, pulling her along the corridor as our footsteps thundered against the walls.
We took a corridor with a sharp turn, and I groaned when my shoulder slammed into the wall because of my speed. We weren’t going to make it, not with Ava injured and Esme and Diane so far behind us, but there was no way I was going to let this happen without a fight.
We burst into the massive warehouse of the factory, and my gaze was immediately drawn to the iron bars stacked against the wall near the entrance.
I grabbed Ava’s arm, stopping her and pulling her flat against the wall beside the door we had just come through.
I handed her one of the bars and grabbed another for myself before slipping along the adjacent wall.
We looked at each other, and I nodded as the girls’ screams and the men’s footsteps drew dangerously closer.
My hands grew slick against the cold metal, but I tightened my grip.
“The element of surprise, Sienna, that’s one of the most important advantages,” Kamal’s voice echoed in my head as I held my breath as Esme and Diane ran past us and Ava and I burst out of hiding, swinging the bars.
We struck two men square in the face. They collapsed to the ground with groans, and my eyes followed one of the weapons that slipped from their grasp.
They were armed. They were armed, holy fucking hell.
They weren’t here to talk. Who the hell had sent them?
My body reacted on instinct as I stepped back, dodging the hand of a third man who tried to grab my arm, and swung the bar again, smashing it into his ribs. He groaned, shouting a curse in Italian. Italian?
But he didn’t retreat like I expected. On the contrary, he clamped his arm around my makeshift weapon and slapped me hard with the back of his hand.
The girls screamed my name as I staggered back, disoriented, the taste of blood exploding in my mouth.
I grabbed Ava’s arm and pulled her behind me while retreating toward the others.
Esme shoved the weapon she’d picked up into my hand, and I took it without taking my eyes off the men.
They stared at us. Two of them were down and not moving, the ones Ava and I had taken out with the first strike but there were still seven left. I flicked off the safety and aimed the gun at them. “Who are you?” I asked, forcing my breathing to slow.
“Drop that, bambina, you won’t do any…” the oldest of them began and I pulled the trigger.
The bullet tore into the knee of one of his men, who collapsed to the floor screaming.
“Who are you?” I shouted again, my voice echoing through the warehouse, I was furious.
A night that was supposed to be calm and fun had turned into a chase, with Ava injured.
I saw the older man’s gaze darken as he raised his own weapon and aimed it at me. I clenched my teeth.
“We just want to deliver a message,” he said in Italian, flicking off his safety, hearing my native language felt strange. It had been so long since I’d been back to Italy.
The man took a step forward, his gun still trained on me and I fired again.
The bullet grazed his ear before burying itself in the shoulder of one of his men, who dropped to the ground clutching the wound.
The old Italian slapped a hand to his ear, his fingers coming away stained with blood.
“One more step and the next one finds its way into your brain,” I warned, aiming for his head again.
I had crossed paths with hundreds of dangerous men, men who had starved me, locked me away, tortured me; clients who had beaten me just for pleasure. I had survived every single time. Sometimes by killing. And I wasn’t afraid to do it again.
But first, I needed to know what they wanted.
They were speaking Italian, it couldn’t be connected to the Master.
The older man’s face darkened further, his grip tightening on his weapon.
“Alia Rasili sends her regards for her brother and her cousin,” he said suddenly, a crooked smile tugging at his lips as my breath caught.
Alia Rasili.
Emilio had been her brother. Antonio her cousin.
If she wanted revenge on me for Emilio, then for Antonio she would go after Selina, my sister.
My sister, who was pregnant and almost full term.
“Too bad your friends are going to die too,” the man sighed, dragging me back to the present and I saw the exact moment he decided to shoot.
“Sienna!” Esme screamed behind me while I hold my breath.
The gunshot rang out amid my friends’ screams but it slammed into the metal ceiling, because Kenji had just tackled the man, knocking him off balance and sending the shot wide.