Passion had them ignoring the storm raging outside. Thunder rattled the windows of the Range Rover. Buffeting winds caused it to slightly rock, and rain pounded so hard it almost drowned out their panting breaths. They might have kissed forever if someone didn’t shoot out their windshield.
CHAPTER 14
At first,Leila thought the storm caused the glass on their Range Rover to break, but Grayson yelling, “Get down!” quickly had her flattening.
“What’s happening?” she asked as he smacked the button to open the rear hatch.
“Someone’s shooting at us,” was his grim reply as he rolled out of the vehicle into the pouring rain.
What? Who? Questions she didn’t bother to yell because Grayson was gone. However, she could guess who would want to cause harm. Hassan must have found them.
More gunshots rang out, this time distinguishable from the thunder, as the bullets shattered more windows. Spraying glass and a fear of getting trapped led to her tugging on her rubber boots before sliding out the still-open rear door. The storm immediately drenched her.
The interior light of the truck barely penetrated the torrential downpour, leaving visibility limited to a few paces. Of Grayson, she saw no sign.
A crack of lightning illuminated the landscape and heightened her fear because she spotted someone standing, holding a weapon. Immediately, she dropped, making herselfinto a small target as she debated what to do. Hiding seemed smartest since she lacked a weapon.
Bang.
Another bullet hit the Range Rover, making the decision for her. She slunk away from it, disoriented by the lashing storm with the occasional lightning flashes more blinding than helpful. When a wave rolled over her feet, she gasped and retreated. The poisonous waters would provide no shelter but rather a more agonizing death.
Crack. Jagged bright light immediately followed by thunder. As the rolling noise faded, a strangled scream had her spinning and scanning the impossible murk. Had Grayson been shot?
With no way of knowing, and fearful of crying out, she followed the shoreline, the splashing of water her only guide in the dark and terrifying morass.
Grayson suddenly shouted. “Where are you, coward? You want to fight, then face me like a man.”
The challenge led to a flurry of gunshots, and she reflexively dropped to her haunches. No pained yelling followed, and she remained unharmed, but, of concern? The proximity of the shooter. It sounded as if they’d fired nearby.
Though she strained to see, she could discern nothing, and so she remained crouched, too afraid to move. A crunch of gravel had her sucking in a breath.
Grayson or someone else? If she couldn’t see them, they couldn’t see?—
Flash.
The brief illumination proved to be her downfall as Hassan snarled, “There you are, whore.”
Before she could pop to her feet and run, Hassan tackled, pinning her body to the ground, his heavier weight impossible for her to shift. His hands found her throat and began to squeeze, a vise that no amount of tugging loosened.
“Leila!” Grayson called for her, but she couldn’t reply for she lacked breath. Her lungs screamed for air, and her hands scrabbled looking for something, anything, she could use as a weapon.
Her fingers danced across a rock, and she gripped it. It proved heavier than its fist-size would have suggested, or was it just the approach of her death making her weak? As she felt herself fading, she smashed it against Hassan’s head.
He grunted, and his fingers relaxed enough she could draw in a breath, even as she swung again, and again, smashing the stone against his temple, not knowing if the moisture hitting her face was rain or blood. Not caring.
Over and over she struck until the body atop her went limp. Dead or unconscious, she couldn’t tell, despite the fact Hassan lay heavily atop her. She hyperventilated as she tried to shove him off.
A flash of lightning had her blinking, and when the roll of thunder ended, she heard Grayson huff, “I got you, Leila.” Grayson heaved Hassan from her body and, as he hauled her to her feet, exclaimed, “Are you okay?”
“Ye-ss-s.” Her voice shook. “I think I killed him.”
“Good job,” was his gruff reply before dragging her into a hug.
It took her a moment before she realized she still gripped the killing rock. Just as she would have dropped it, the sky lit up with several branches, so bright she could clearly see.
Her mouth rounded. “I can’t believe it.”
“What?”
