Another bullet severs the atmosphere, so close it causes me to fold, and I lose my footing again. My body crashes forward, tumbling straight off the verge and onto the main road.
I land with a sickening crunch into a ditch, the air ejecting from my lungs with the impact.
My lungs wheeze as I try to sit up, completely winding myself.
Tyres screeching on the damp road forces me from my dazed state, the squeal shattering the night as rubber skids to a stop as I fight to rise to my feet.
“Indie, move!” Regina screams, hauling open the passenger door as I force every muscle inside me to move.
Run.
Run.
Run.
Chants rapid-fire in my head, wielding the mantra as willpower to get to safety.
I’m going to be covered in fucking bruises and woodland. That’s if a last-minute bullet doesn’t lodge into my skull.
Just as I throw myself into the passenger seat, I feel it.
The hairs on the back of my neck rise to attention, and I snap my head towards the verge.
He’s there.
The distant light encasing his silhouette with a wicked halo against complete darkness, watching the violent rise and fall of his shoulders, his gun lowering as he watches me.
All I can see is the whites of his eyes as he stares at my bare face.
Fuck, I really shouldn’t have left the mask.
“Drive,” I bark, slamming the door shut as Regina hits the gas, the force whipping me back against the seat.
“What the fuck was that?” she shrieks, barrelling down the road.
My gaze shifts to the wing mirror as I tug my seatbelt on, making sure we aren’t being followed.
“I don’t know. I’m not going back to find out. We need to contact Victoria when we get home and find out what the fuck that was.”
She sent me into a death trap; she should have at least gave us warning her ex was kitted out like a fucking trigger-happy mountain of maniac.
“Someone drove up the road when you got into trouble.” She struggles on a breath. “He wasn’t alone.”
I force a swallow, trying to lubricate the walls of my throat from the bitter, cold air that’s burned it. My palm clutches my chest, afraid my heart might fall out if I let go.
After what feels like hours, we reach home safely with no tails. Regina puts the car in the garage, and we both unload as we run in the house. We usually leave our car in the street, but we’respooked, and if we left it outside, we may as well have a fucking sign saying, “here we are,” even after taking the plates off.
All this time, we’ve never come close to being caught, never mind being killed.
Regina jogs to the hallway, pulling a photograph off the wall to open the alarm system controls. Her fingers batter off buttons, heightening the sensitivity of the alarms and internally locking all the doors and windows.
Her hands are pressed against the wall, head dipped between her shoulders.
“You’re not going back to finish him off. I don’t care what the hell she says or offers to pay. This is one we’re going to need to cut our losses with.”
She leans down to put the photo back on the wall, turning to me.
I drag my hands through my hair, a twig clattering onto the hardwood as my fingers get stuck in the knots.
