When Daleyza passed through the door, she saw the second man, an absolute giant, standing around the corner of the detached garage in the alleyway, scanning their surroundings. The man who had opened the door took her other arm and followed Ildefanso. Swiftly and silently, they moved through the yard.
A flash of movement to their right caught Daleyza’s eye. Between the worn fence slats, she saw a darkness that shouldn’t be there, as if someone hunkered down, looking through an open space into their yard. Something must have tripped her escorts’ awareness as well because both dropped their hands as they moved into a slightly different formation designed to fully block her body.
A hushed whooshing sound was followed quickly by the soft thump of weight hitting the ground, and the space between the slats now showed a thin line of grass in the neighboring yard.
“Belleza, be prepared to run,” Ildefanso whispered, his voice barely heard over the soft patter of the rain that had restarted.
She said nothing. She didn’t need to. His back might be to her, but somehow, he knew she heard his instruction.
The two men formed a shield in front of them. “Go,” the escort ordered. He didn’t need to shout. He didn’t need to push. She just knew it was urgent.
Ildefanso’s hand gripped hers as they pushed off the balls of their feet, running toward the garage. A barrage of bullets from the opposite direction hit the side of the building, ripping up the siding, and the giant covering them returned fire.
A black SUV came tearing down the alleyway, stopping on a dime in front of them. The rear passenger door opened, revealing another man, all in black, who helped her into the vehicle. Her ass had barely cleared the door when a tinging sounded behind her, and then she felt a burn across the back of her leg.
Jesucristo, that hurt!
The door hadn’t even closed, and the SUV was speeding down the alley toward the side street. With a deafening boom and a cacophony of tinkling glass, the back window blew inward, sending her and the man in the back seat ducking to the floorboard. Within seconds, he popped back up, lowered the side window, and leaned out to shoot repeatedly behind them.
On her other side, Ildefanso was hanging off the side of the vehicle, his body forming a flimsy barrier between her and the outside. She heard him grunt as he got slammed between the frame and the door as they careened around the corner.
The giant, now in the front seat, yelled, “Where the fuck did you learn to drive, Medusa?”
The driver ripped the hat off her head, and pink-colored hair tumbled down around her shoulders. “You’re such a baby about how I drive. You’re out of there, aren’t you?”
Perhaps the weirdest part of this scenario was the dog sitting in the open trunk area, tongue lolling, head tilted as it looked at her.
Subconsciously, she registered that the last man in the group clung to the back of the truck, desperate to stay attached and trying to fire at the same time. But the woman driving had no concern for the two men gripping the roof bars, and their accuracy was mediocre at best.
Without thinking, she reached around Ildefanso’s back, where she knew he always kept a weapon, and pulled the pistol free from aholster. Her finger jammed down on the sunroof button. Before anyone knew what was happening, she was standing on the back seat, facing backward out through the ceiling, pulling back the slide, chambering the rounds, and shooting at the vehicle that was following them at breakneck speed.
Three shots later, the windshield shattered and both front tires were flat. It careened into a tree and exploded on impact.
13
AUGUST 21, 2024
Steel
He watchedher standing as tall as her five-foot-seven frame allowed, her hips braced against the edge of the open sunroof, her black hair streaming around her as she fired from her perch. His heart ruptured at the sight of her. The woman was as magnificent as when he’d first fallen in love with her. More so.
With her pinpoint accuracy and cool nature, she took care of her target, then dropped back into the vehicle as fast as she first appeared. Now, instead of looking at her over the roof of the SUV, he stared at her through the open door. If someone looked at her right at this moment, they’d never know she’d just shot a man in the face without blinking an eye.
Mierda!That was hot. Being near her was like being exposed to radiation—so hot it melted the flesh right off your bones. Once, he’d been the luckiest bastard on earth. He’d lived with her. Been allowedto love her with abandon. Slept by her side. Created a new life with her.
Now? Those experiences felt like a lifetime ago and as untouchable as the winds of fate that had separated them.
Since they no longer had someone chasing them, Medusa was able to slow down and drive like any other person out on the road. Sort of. She always drove like a bat out of hell, but at least now she just drove like she was from Illinois instead of a war zone. Demon backed through the driver’s-side passenger window, ripping his balaclava over his head and onto the floor. “Everybody okay?”
Nemo propelled himself into the back of the vehicle, immediately checking on the dog, while Steel swung himself through the passenger-side door, pulling it shut behind him.
“Why must you drive like you’re on fire?” TB roared.
A voice came over the stereo system. “She does it on purpose, TB, just to hear you bitch.”
“You’re just figuring that out now?” Medusa asked.
All the men, except him, laughed. His eyes were still riveted on Daleyza.Gloriosa.
