KATIE

 

Tosha, my short little assassin with short brown hair who is also my other best friend besides Alice, steers the car as I unload my clip out the window.

Bullets clatter against the outside of the white cargo van beside me. And when the driver looks over to me, there's a combination of anger, fear, and death in his eyes. I pass him a glowing smile to annoy him or something, hell I don't know. He jerks the steering wheel to the right and down a neighboring road. As Tosha corrects the wheel to follow him, my upper body that's hanging outside the window is jolted, the side of my body cracking against the side of the window.

The cargo van races ahead of us, going faster than us but that's all part of the plan. I slide back into the passenger seat and reload my clip as we continue to trail the van.

As soon as I left Christopher's home, as soon as I saw him pulling into his own driveway, I began to have regrets about leaving Dominic there to fend for himself. He was only there because of me. I mean, I guess it's true that he was technically only there because I had promised him information about his sister. Still, he was only there because I convinced him to go with me. I understood immediately why he couldn't bring himself to leave. He had started to believe that his sister was dead, ripping all hope away from him. For him to discover that his sister was still alive, it must have been a shock to his system. And that's why he chose to stay because he was going to kill Christopher at any cost, even if it meant dying himself.

But he couldn't see it in the moment how selfish that was. He couldn't see that revenge was going to cost him the thing he wants more than anything else in this world—to see his sister again.

I called both Tosha and Alice immediately and told them to meet me. They didn't ask too many questions, not even when I asked them to bring semi-automatic weaponry. That's the name of the game. In my line of work, we don't often resort to violence on our own behalf. However, we are trained well enough to use firearms when absolutely necessary. There have been times when we have had to defend ourselves against potential enemies.

Alice isn't with us though. Not right now. She's been instructed to set the trap on the road up ahead.

I settle my eyes on the road ahead and pay close attention to every move of the men in front of us. The one thing I can't gather is why they haven't tried firing back yet. We are in a high-speed chase down the streets of the Hollywood Hills. Outside of the occasional celebrity party, these hills are often the quietest parts of the city. Not tonight.

The only reason I'm firing this gun at all is to scare the drivers and to force them to take the route I need them to take. I have no intention of killing anyone tonight unless it's absolutely necessary. I'm not a mercenary in that regard. And even though I'm not the most noble person in the world, I still value human life. I even value the lives of people who I shouldn't, but I guess that's just a part of my DNA.

Just up ahead, I need the men to take a right around long and winding curves that will take us higher and higher into the mountains. By the looks of it though, it doesn't seem like they have any intention of taking that path so we have to force them.

"You know what to do," I say to Tosha and catch a quick glance at my friend and coworker. There's a steel resolve written all over her face and it's remarkable because in this game of tug-of-war, she has no personal stakes.

"Oh," she chuckles, "I think I have an idea."

She accelerates faster and faster until we are zipping into the oncoming lane where there is no traffic and creep up so that we’re right beside the van. I exhale sharply and prepare myself for impact as she swerves to the right and collides against the van, sending sparks flying as metal crunches against metal. We almost lose control of the vehicle before she steers to the left and away from the van, but the van has done exactly what I needed it to do.

The men drive higher into the mountains, taking the exact route I need them to. Tosha speeds up so that we are tailing them once more and still in this very moment, I can't understand why they're not fighting back. There's a sinking feeling in my gut that says that they, too, are up to something.

I ignore that voice though.

We are now about a half-mile out from the trap so I retrieve my phone and call up Alice. The phone rings twice before she answers it with a huff. "Hello?"

"Are you in place?" I question her.

"Everything is ready." And just like that, she hangs up the phone. I drop the phone into the center console and reaffirm my grip on my gun. I close my eyes and pray silently that Alice hasn't set the trap too far in advance because if she has, we risk being caught in the crossfire like collateral damage.

"Slow down a little," I say to Tosha, my heart just about to beat out of my chest. On the surface, we are so far out of our league. This isn't a typical night in our business. A typical night is sitting at the computer and doing recon. Most of the information—secrets—we steal and sell to the highest bidder are procured from hard drives. It's not often that we need to confront anyone unless a job goes severely wrong. Still, I can't help but to smile just a little knowing that we are expanding our horizons.

I can feel us slowing down as Tosha applies pressure to the brakes. I imagine the man in the van will soon enough wonder why we pulled back, but by then it will be too late. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Alice standing in-between trees in the near distance.

Showtime.

The van crosses the threshold, its tires racing over a spike strip that Alice left in the road. The tires pop as the sharp spikes dig into the rubber, forcing the van to veer out of control. Down to the rims, the wheels spin against the asphalt sending hot sparks into the air behind it. I watch with bated breath, hoping that Dominic isn't injured in the inevitable crash. But it's a risk we had to take because I don't know if there is any other way to get Dominic back without casualties.

In front of us, Alice races into the middle of the road to retrieve the homemade spike strips. And as soon as she rolls them out of the way, Tosha accelerates past Alice and towards the van that has now come to a stop, its front tires buried in a ditch so that the van is facing downwards towards the forest.

Tosha brings us to an abrupt stop just beside the scene of the accident. I pop open the passenger door and jump out onto my feet with my gun aimed squarely at the driver door ahead.

The door is pushed open and the driver rolls out of the van and onto the asphalt. He coughs as he tries to collect himself and forces himself to his feet.

By the time he does so, I'm standing right in front of him with the gun aimed squarely at him. He swallows a gulp in his throat and raises his hands above his head indicating that he is prepared to surrender. He has a familiar face but I can't quite pinpoint where I've seen him before. I'm sure that after we leave the scene of the accident, when we are driving back into the city safe and sound, that's when I'll remember who he is.

From behind me, I hear Tosha running towards me. And then out of the corner of my eye, she rushes to the van and slides the side cargo door open. She climbs into the back of the van as Alice races around to the passenger door with her gun held high.

It's quite the beautiful sight. Three women taking control of the situation; the three of us saving a man from two other men. It's a woman's world right now and I’m reveling in it.

The man before me shivers slightly. His hands shake while held high above his head. And his lips tremble as he begins to speak. "We have nothing to do with this."

"That's interesting considering you're holding my friend hostage in the back of your van."

His eyes shift to the side as Tosha retrieves Dominic from the back of the van. As soon as Dominic's feet land on the asphalt, Tosha cuts the ropes holding his hands behind his back with a sharp knife. He sighs out in relief once his hands are free and steps towards me and then beside me. By the look in his eyes, I can see that he's tired. He's probably only just awoken because he was either knocked out cold or tranquilized.

He moves to grab my gun but I step sideways. I'm not about to let him take matters into his own hands. Not after seeing how hotheaded he was before, and besides I think I have a good grip on the situation myself without the interference or protection of a man, even one as strong as Dominic.

I reaffirm my grip on the gun as Alice escorts the passenger to stand beside his friend. Both of them have their hands held up in the air and this would be an ideal situation to force information from them, but I have a sneaking suspicion that they don't know anything. I know what a hired hand looks like and these two men fit all of the criteria.

"Do I know you?" The driver glances at me with a sideways look with eyes that glisten with the possibility that he's seen me before, which only makes sense because I know I've seen him before. I just can't figure out where. "You look so familiar."

"What the hell is he talking about?" Dominic questions from beside me and I can feel his eyes burning against my flesh as he takes measure of the situation before him. The last thing I need from him right now is for him to not trust me, but something tells me trust is going to be an uphill battle with him. "Do you know this man?"

"No," I say flatly, quite sure that I'm not convincing Dominic when I can't even convince myself. "I've never seen this man before in my life." I nod at Tosha. "Take him to the car."

"I'm not going anywhere," Dominic protests as Tosha latches onto his arm. "We all leave together."

"You're not in charge here," I feel the need to inform him. "Now get the hell in the car."

His eyes shift between me and the driver and then finally the passenger before he acknowledges that he's no longer in control and allows Tosha to take him back to the car.

When I can hear the car door closing behind me, I take a measured step towards the driver and shake my gun at him. Alice remains standing behind me with her gun aimed at the passenger. If either of the two men should try anything, she won't hesitate to pull the trigger. She's always been overprotective of both me and Tosha.

The driver wets his lips and swallows nervously. He's about to say something and I can only hope that it's not something stupid. "Are you sure I don't know you?"

I take a quick glance behind me at my car that Tosha and Dominic are in before looking back to the driver with a severe look. "I guess you'll find out soon enough."

I nod at Alice to begin the retreat to the car. Both of us pace backwards with our guns still aimed squarely ahead, the men continue standing still with her hands held high above their heads. They give each other a look but that's just about all they can do. To this very moment, I'm still not sure if they are armed but something tells me that for whatever reason, they are not. If they were, I imagine they would have fired at us long before they ran over the homemade spike strip.

I back all the way up until my back meets the metal of my car. And then with Alice keeping an eye on the situation at hand, I circle around to the driver seat and hop in. Alice follow suit, all the while still making sure that the men don't make a move.

Alice closes the door behind her and I immediately make a U-turn and prepare to speed away. Almost as soon as my feet hit the gas, gunfire begins to rain upon the back of the car. My calculations weren't correct but I know as soon as I round the upcoming corner, they won't be able to give chase because they no longer have reliable transportation. By the time they can get a lift, we will all be safe and sound back at our apartment and office.

I glance over to Dominic in the passenger seat. And though I had expected a relieved look on his face, that's not what I see.