ZACH

 

As we exit the hills and head into the city, I shift against the seat as I try to dig my phone out of my pocket. When I finally manage to do so, I realize that my phone has taken a bullet to the proverbial chest. I've always prided myself on the fact that I have the toughest phone case available at any given time.

And it’s certainly a tough phone case considering it just took a bullet. There is a metal casing lodged into the back of the phone case. It probably saved my life if I’m being honest, but it didn't manage to save the phone. The phone itself refuses to power on from the blunt damage of the impact.

I guess it would be asking for too much for a phone to be able to take a bullet and still function. I grit my teeth and throw the phone into the backseat. It's no use to me anymore. I'll get a new phone when I can, when I can take a break from this disaster.

I look over at Lola and see the visual representation of relief passing over her beautiful and exotic face. She pushes herself back against the seat and sighs, and I think for the first time she’s starting to process the events of the last hour.

"Are you okay?" I question her and bat my tongue against my lower lip. "It's okay if you're not."

She cranes her head to me and looks me dead in the eyes. And in her eyes, I can see the faintest hint of glistening. I can see the faintest hint of real human emotion. But she forces a smile anyways and says to me, "I'm okay. Really."

“So, you are okay with the fact that your father was murdered?" It’s a loaded question, but I obviously know the answer on some level.

"It's still ridiculous, I know." She shifts her head to look back out the passenger window. "I know that my actions were going to lead to his death tomorrow night, but maybe this is just proof that I wasn't ready to pull the proverbial trigger. You know?" She looks back to me, her eyes begging me to confirm or deny whatever it is she’s feeling.

“I think family is a beyond-complicated thing, if I'm being honest." I tap my fingers on the steering wheel. "I mean, the only family I have left is Zane. But my parents were never like yours…" I wince, not able to believe I just said something so insensitive. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—”

“No, you're fine.” She shrugs, all the while continuing to stare out the window. For all intents and purposes, it's like I don't exist right now as she tries to make sense of the world around her. "You are right. You didn't have the same parents as I did. You'll never know what it's like to hate your father and love him at the same time. You'll never know the internal struggle between doing what's right and doing anything else. I know what has to be done. And with or without him standing on top of that roof top, I'm determined to finish this once and for all."

And she looks at me again, and this time I can see the tears welling up in her eyes. She can't hide them anymore. She can't pretend that she’s some robot who doesn’t feel. To everyone she's ever met, she's come off like an ice queen. And that's because that's the image she's comfortable with showing to the world. I reckon only a few people have ever seen her true face. And more than anything, I want to be one of those people. I feel close to her even when I shouldn't, even when I know that she could be sending me to my own early grave.

"So tell me you are still with me," she says to me lowly, and it’s almost like she’s pleading with me to stand by her side. "Tell me that you are going to help me finish this."

“I don't really have a choice.” I take a right onto an on-ramp to hit the highway. “For better or worse, I'm with you until the end."

"You know, it's funny…" She bows her head sheepishly. "I have no idea who I really am. I thought I used to know but I'm not even so sure about that anymore."

I reach across the gearshift and drop a hand on her thigh to comfort her. Her hand soon follows, traveling over mine and then holding onto me firmly. She squeezes even more tightly as a solitary tear streams down her face, breaking through the tough-girl exterior.

“You don't always have to be tough," I point out to her. "You don't have to carry the world on your shoulders. It's okay to be vulnerable, I guess that's what I'm trying to say."

"Are you really going to be the one to lecture me on this?" Her eyes meet mine and I can't help knowing that she's right. I'm simply one of the last people who have any room to talk when it comes to being open and vulnerable. I'm a textbook example of icing the world out. "Maybe when this is all over, I can finally let down my guard. But if I'm being honest, that scares the shit out of me."

"I think it kind of scares the shit out of everybody.” I shrug and take notice of a car coming up fast behind us. The lights on the car flash just before the car races past us going twenty to thirty miles over the speed limit. My heart skips a beat as I contemplate whether or not it could be Richard. But as he soon disappears into the distance ahead, merging into a cluster of cars, I realize that I'm just being paranoid.

I drive for another fifteen minutes or so. The traffic tonight is much more tolerable than normal. For some reason, there are as many cars on the road as there usually are at this point in time.

I take a familiar exit and hop off the highway. As I come to a stop at the light at the end of the off-ramp, Lola looks over to me. "Where are we going?"

“We are going to the safest place I can think of right now.”

“Yeah?” She furrows a brow. “Where is that?”

“If I told you—” I begin to say but as I accelerate through the green light, a van speeds through the intersection and crashes into the side of us. The blunt force of the collision pushes the SUV sideways before it rolls over and over and over again. And with each twist of the steel vehicle we are in, I feel more and more weightless. I feel as if we're flying.

And that's just what we are doing. The car flips over one last time until we land with the roof of the car against the asphalt. Metal clatters against the road from the car that sped into us.

The first thing I do is glance over to Lola to make sure she's okay. Though she looks disoriented, I think she's going to be fine. There are a few light scratches on her head but otherwise when she reaches up to unbuckle herself, I know she's going to survive.

As she unclips her belt, she drops down to the roof of the car. I grab onto my own belt and release it, dropping to the floor beside her. From the van that crashed into us, two pairs of boots land against the ground.

This wasn't an accident, not to be Mr. Obvious or anything.

I look over to Lola and gesture with two fingers for her to run. She nods as if she understands exactly what I'm saying before she crawls through the broken glass of the passenger window. I follow her out the window and once we’re both parked against the side of the upside down SUV, I allow myself to take a few deep breaths before grabbing her hand and lunging forward. Our feet pad against the asphalt, our shoes crunching against broken glass.

I don't look behind us as we race forward and towards an alley between two abandoned brick buildings.

The familiar sound of gunfire rages from behind us. And I can hear the bullets lighting up the brick exterior, sending shards of rock and debris over our heads. I grab onto her hand again and make her run faster even when she doesn't think she can.

I find reassurance that we will be able to get away from the gunmen when I notice that they are not following us. They're too focused on trying to gun us down. It doesn't seem like Richard has the best mercenaries at his disposal. Because the truth is, I've felt more danger in a bar fight.

We take a hard right into a neighboring alley. It's a short alley and the road is just up ahead but when I hear squealing tires, my feet dig into the ground. We come to a sudden halt and I'm just waiting for the inevitable, but hoping that my senses are deceiving me.

Just then a white van, just like the one that crashed into us, veers into the alley.

The headlights blind me as the van begins to accelerate towards us. And this isn't a kidnapping scheme. No, they are going as fast as they can with the intent of running us over and making sure that we are dead. Lola seems frozen in place and it's almost a chore to drag her backwards and get her moving again.

"Run!”

My screaming at her seems to do the trick. She jumps into gear, racing so fast that she rushes ahead of me. I've never seen her run this fast, but then again tonight is the first time I've ever seen her in anything other than heels. I'm sure her choice of footwear is a decision she's going to look back on fondly when this night is over. As we come close to the intersection where we turned into this alley, I hear men racing up the adjacent alleyway. That leaves us with no choice but to run straight ahead and hope for the best.

Guns begin to fire again just as we reach the end of the alley. I let out a painful grunt as a bullet tears through my side. I stumble to the ground landing hard against the asphalt. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Lola coming to a dead stop. She twists on her feet and looks back at me in a way that just about makes me wish I were dead.

She looks terrified and I've never seen her like that before. She's always been so strong and so brave in the face of danger, but then again it's like we talked about. She's not comfortable with showing her vulnerable side.

But right now she's vulnerable,

Right now, I am vulnerable too. Bullets continue to fly through the air but she pays them no attention as she darts back across the alleyway, somehow managing to avoid and dodge all of the bullets threatening to tear her apart. She drops down and drags me out of the line of fire until we are safely hidden behind the thick brick exterior.

I'm basically lying in her lap as she tears the side of my shirt to inspect the wound. I've been shot before so I know that this is not a mortal wound. I know that most likely I'm going to survive, but it still hurts like hell. But I don't have time to sit here and wallow in self-pity.

I gently push myself off her and groan out in pain as I rise to stand. She joins me by my side and holds onto me as if I'm fragile. But she, of all people, should know better.

"We have to get out of here,” she says to me.

"No shit,” I grumble under my breath in a soft chuckle. “We’re only about a mile away.”