“Thank you for doing this,” I said with deep gratitude. “Thank you for not making me deal with Claire.”
“She’s definitely… interesting,” Marietta allowed.
Kelli snorted, trying to keep her laughter in. I might have told her some stories. “Yeah, that’s one way of putting it, mate.”
Mattia had quickly finished his rounds of the bakery before letting us out of the car, and now he stood by the entrance, hands folded.
Putting her phone back in her bag, Marietta stepped closer to Kelli. I blinked once, that was all, I was sure of it, but suddenly there was a huge gun held to Kelli’s head.
“What… Marietta, what the hell? What is-” I stopped talking. This was so very bad.
“I’m going to blow your little friend’s brains right out her ear if you don’t step over by me right now,” Marietta said blandly, completely expressionless like she was reciting a grocery list.
Mattia’s gun was already out. “Cora, come over by me.”
I was frozen, a complete idiot, looking around this horrible little tableau.
Kelli yelped as Marietta shoved her gun harder against her temple. “Look at Mattia’s chest, Cora. Do you see that red dot?”
Oh, fuck oh fuck oh fuck…“You were texting a buddy? You have someone on the rooftop across the street?” I said, trying to stall for time. Why, I had no idea.
She laughed, but not like she found anything amusing in the least. “No, in the car parked outside.”
Of course, we all turned to look. One of the heavily shaded windows was down a couple of inches and I could just the tip of the rifle resting there.
“Walk over to me,” Marietta spoke coldly. “Do it now or I’ll give the signal to shoot your bodyguard while I finish off your friend. Walk over and save both their lives.”
“Cora! Donotdo that! Come here!” Mattia shouted, trying to keep between me and the sniper outside. Why can’t he realize he’s the one who’s going to get shot here?
“I’ll do it!” My hands are up and I’m moving toward her. “You don’t have to hurt anyone, all right? See? I’m coming.” My legs and my hands are shaking and I do not feel like a badass at all. Everything Michael ever tried to teach me about self-defense has flown out of my head like frightened birds.
“Are you from Santos?” I ask, “Is this a revenge thing?”
“No,” she said indifferently, “but if you’re not walking out the back door in front of me within the next thirty seconds, you can pick which one of your friends dies first.”
Forcing my feet to move faster, I pass Kelli and the monster holding a gun to her head.
“Cora, donotleave with her!” Mattia shouted, he still had his gun up, sweeping between Marietta and the car where a sniper was prepared to kill him.
“Mattia, you are not protecting me if you get shot,” I pleaded. “And she’s going to hurt Kelli. Please just… stand down.”
I’m almost out the door, right where Marietta wants me and Mattia surges forward. She hums irritably and shoots him. In the chest. The force spins him around and blood spurts in a horrifying spray across the pastry case.
Kelli’s screaming and Marietta shoves her toward poor Mattia, she trips over his body and goes down, hands slipping in his blood. But she still looks up at me and shouts, “Fuckingrun!”
There’s no time for that. There’s another car there, the trunk already opened and that’s when I feel something heavy slam into my head and then there’s nothing else.
Currently...
The car takes another hard turn and I wince as I roll against something sharp. Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath. “What would Michael tell me to do right now?”
“Break the zip-ties…” I struggle to turn my wrists in the plastic binding until my fists face inward. Finding the end of the tie, I pull it until the locking mechanism is between my hands and then tighten as much as I can. I’m hoping there’s enough room in the trunk to lift my hands high enough. Bringing them down hard against my stomach, the tie breaks. Just like Michael taught me. He’d made me practice more than once. A similar trick on my ankles, and I’m free.
“Okay, okay,” I pressed my hands to my eyes, trying to stop the dentist's drill that was clearly lodged in my temporal lobe. “Think.” Marietta had someone acting with her, but she was on her own when she dragged me out. If it’s just her, I can take her by surprise, gun, or no gun. All my bodyguard’s warnings about the statistical odds of escaping from “second locations” are making my hands shake.
I just have to drag this out as long as possible. Dario’s got one tracker in my wedding ring, and probably more. I try to rub my thumb against my ring for comfort, when I realize it’s gone, a scraped knuckle making it clear she ripped it right off me. I weep silently. I know it’s not doing anything to help the situation. This is the time to be tough and smart. But losing my wedding ring makes me realize just how much I loved it.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
