Chapter Twenty-Two #2
His jaw clenched as he turned sharply towards me. “What do you want from me, Sport? Should I get out of the car and go back to kill him, take his wallet and find his ID card and then hunt down his wife and children and put a bullet through their heads?”
I swallowed, blinking. “Now that I think about it, the potted plant was more creative.”
“Good.”
“Can I at least get your phone? I need to let Street know that I’m still alive.”
“I don’t have a phone.”
I stopped short, blinking at him. “Who doesn’t have a phone?”
“Me. Are you slow?”
“How do we contact help?”
“In some situations, you must be all the help you need.”
He shoved the key into the ignition, and the moment the engine roared to life, we heard a shout. “Hey! Kto vy?” Who are you?
I froze. My blood ran cold, and shivers flowed down my spine in waves as my gaze locked with Elio’s.
“Russians?” we said at the same time.
“Ya nashel ikh!” I found them!
“Shit! Go, go, go, go!” I was practically jumping on the seat as the men fell back from shooting the boat people, rushing towards us and firing at the car.
Elio stepped on the gas and maneuvered the car out of the maze, hitting some of the other vehicles as we finally got out, cutting into the road with blind speed; the vehicle bounced a bit, swerving from left to right, Elio holding the steering wheel, muscles clenching as he tried to steady the car.
With one hand, he adjusted the rearview mirror, glancing at it. “We have company.”
“Sweet.” I exhaled sharply, getting his gun from the console; I cocked it and then proceeded to grab mine too. “Almost out of bullets on this,” I said.
“Glove compartment,” he said, expertly overtaking some cars—one hand working the steering, the other working the gear, focus dead set on the road.
The road, thankfully, was a little bit free; other cars around swept by with speed, not wanting to get in the crossfire.
I glanced in the side mirror, seeing the cars chasing after us.
I reached for the glove compartment. “Why do you always assume there’s something in the glove—oh.” Two packs of bullets and a gun sat there, and I nodded. “Impressive.”
“Thank you.”
I clicked on the car music.
“What are you doing?”
“A little music; it helps me focus.”
“It doesn’t help me focus,” he gritted.
“Your problem.”
Familiar music blasted through the speakers, and a smile curled on my lips as I bobbed my head. “The Russian dude knows good music. ‘Hello Cherry Bomb’ by the Runaways. Oh, Dog is going to freak when I—”
He made a sharp turn, and I held my seat to keep in place, shooting him a glare.
“Motherfucker,” I muttered, shaking my head at him while I carried my weapons with me to the back seat.
“Again, what are you doing?”
“Shooting through the windows is a bit inconvenient. They’re not shooting yet, which means I have the element of surprise. And I have good aim.”
I caught him shaking his head. “Tell me when to duck.”
“I might,” I taunted, raising the gun to the rear tinted windshield, and fired three shots at it. The cracks invited me to break through, which I did, hitting the gun to the fragile glass and watching it shatter. The wind whipped at my face immediately, blowing my hair all around my head.
I grinned, reloading the bigger gun, seeing our chasers lose composure for a second.
“Hello, boys!” I yelled, aiming the gun at the tires, swiftly shooting the nearest car, which swirled to the side with a screech, the driver losing control.
With my other hand, I grabbed the second gun, aiming at their windshields as I blasted bullets at them, and they drove unfocused, turning and slowing down to avoid the attack.
Two cars were tailing each other.
I moved to the side, shot at one of their mirrors, took his attention off the road, and then aimed directly at him with the second gun.
Blood splattered—and the car behind, not anticipating the unconscious turn of the vehicle, slammed into it, and it went tumbling.
“Elio, left!” Our car swerved left, missing the other car’s tumble by mere seconds.
The crash was massive, and unfortunately, some innocent cars got involved.
“Are we clear?” Elio yelled, and I grabbed the guns, going back to the seat beside him.
“Yes, cut to the market at the next intersection; it leads to the highway, they’ll regroup in no time, but we can shake them off that way.”
Elio glanced at me. “You’re awfully excited.”
“I am.”
He shook his head, focusing on the road again. “You’re unhinged.”
I nodded with a grin. “I am.”
He cut through the intersection, driving a few distances before entering the market.
People were out, all right. It was busy, with sounds of chatter and music in the air as people shopped while some got out of the way, seeing our bullet-designed car—speaking of bullets, they ricocheted in the air once more.
“Fucking Russians,” Elio cursed.
I reloaded. “Like a fucking bone in the throat,” I added, angling myself towards the window, and shot back at them. “Get out of the way!” I yelled to people as Elio stepped on the gas again, knocking out some food stands by the road. “Get out of the fucking way!”
My gaze shifted to the side mirror. “Duck!” I yelled to Elio when bullets came flying into the car from behind.
“Still think breaking the rear windshield was a good idea?” he asked.
“Shut up!” My adrenaline spiked high.
I risked shooting out the window again, getting my aim right as I fired at the car’s front tire, missing the first time but getting it right on the second try.
The pursuer’s car lost balance, ramming into a market stall, but another one was on our tail.
The guy was quick, firing three shots at once. Two missed me, and the other would have gotten into my arm had Elio not turned at just about the right time.
“Shit,” I cursed, pain sweeping past my arm as I got into the car again, blood oozing from the wound.
Elio’s gaze shifted from the rearview to me. “It got you?”
“Just a graze.”
He groaned in frustration. “Can you handle the wheel?”
“Not as good as you.”
“Can you handle the fucking wheel, Sport!”
“Yeah, yeah, I can.”
He left control of the car, and we switched positions with mild difficulty, and briefly, just briefly, my mind acknowledged that we—kind of—worked well together.
He worked the guns with ease, entering into his element. Then he paused, staring at the weapon in his hand.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I held the wheel steady, eyes alternating between the market road and him.
He sucked in a deep breath. “Slow down.”
“What?”
He looked at me. “Slow down.” His voice was calm, too calm.
I slowed down, and he angled his body to the window, completely exposing himself while aiming the gun at our attackers, concentration lining his brows.
One shot.
Two shots.
Three shots.
Chaos.
From the rearview mirror, I caught the cars behind us ramming into each other, and then there was fire; people were screaming, fighting to run away.
No.
No, no, no, no, no.
Dread painted my stomach, making it dip with a sense of urgency and regret. I stepped on the gas, and our vehicle sped forward, my heart hammering as I tried to get us away before—
Boom!
I flinched at the explosion, and Elio slipped back to the seat, stretching his neck from left to right, looking like he hadn’t just …
Wasn’t it—wasn’t there another way? How many innocent people were caught in that explosion?
I drove us out of the market, entering an unfamiliar road, the car steady again. Quiet.
The music from the speaker had long since stopped, probably damaged like the car was.
I didn’t know how long we drove for, but I felt my body calm down from the adrenaline.
I glanced at Elio to see that he still held the gun in a tight grip. His knuckles were white, but he looked ahead with a calm expression.
“You okay?” I asked, but was met with complete silence from him.
I concentrated back on the road, letting out a breath.
We reached the highway, and the wind blowing inside the car calmed my nerves as I drove away from our pursuers.
Trees littered the sides of the road, and I was pretty sure we had lost the fuckers.
After what seemed like thirty minutes, the car started slowing down—its movements jerky, like it wanted to fall apart.
Soon after, it slowed to a stop with a jolt, headlights flickering off, the night enclosing us like a thick black blanket as the engine stopped, and quietness followed.
“Shit.”
“I’m guessing your phone is deep inside the water with Casmiro’s car?”
“Yup.”
“And no one knows where we are?”
“Yup.”
He nodded, his head falling back on the headrest as he closed his eyes, Adam’s apple bobbing up and down when he swallowed and cursed.
“Fuck.”