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Stephanie couldn’t hold back a scream as I tossed her onto the passenger seat. I heard the pounding of boots coming from at least eight men, the roar of an engine. That meant the Ghost already had a full army at his disposal. Goddamn bastards. I would do a clean sweep of the streets myself after this was all over.
In the distance, I heard a siren. At least one of the unlucky neighbors finally picked up a phone and called the police.
Just as I threw open the driver’s door, bullets pinged off the hood, one slamming into my back. I was tossed against the vehicle, the wind knocked out of me. The pain wasn’t as bad as the horrible sound of her shrieks as I jumped inside. I gasped for air then started the engine, immediately throwing the gear into reverse, jamming my foot down on the accelerator.
“No. No. No!” she bellowed, grasping onto the dashboard as her body was pummeled from side to side.
“Get down. Stay down!” I ordered, snarling as I noticed the size of the goddamn vehicles headed in our direction. I’d been followed. Of that I had no doubt. I had to warn the others about their new methods.
“Hold on, baby. Just fucking hold on.” As additional bullets pinged off the car, I kept backing up, zigging and zagging to try to avoid the bullet stream, my grip on the steering wheel white knuckled. Finally, the windshield was hit, sending fissuring cracks across both sides. While bulletproof protection had been installed, the windows reinforced, the glass was the weakest point. I pushed her down, keeping my hand on her head as shards of glass hailed across both front seats.
When I was close to an intersection, I spun the car around, the tires squealing. I almost lost control, the vehicle tipping over but regained almost instantly, two tires thudding on the pavement.
The moment I pressed down on the accelerator again, headlights popped into the rearview mirror. “Goddamn it.”
“They’re still following us.”
“Don’t worry. They can’t outrun the Ferrari.” At least I knew the area and how to handle the Italian sports car, the engine capable of outrunning anything. I swerved around a corner, constantly glancing in the mirror. Her house had gone up in flames, the sky littered with a vivid orange hue.
She threw her head back, still shaking from the ordeal. “It’s all gone,” she said, her voice hoarse from screaming. As she rubbed her neck, I noticed a single tear trickling down her cheek.
“They’re just things, Stephanie. They can be replaced.”
“Yeah, I know. He’s not going to stop. Is he? Until he kills us. Bastard.” Her voice shaking, she beat her fist on the console.
I rested my hand on her leg, making another series of turns. “Don’t worry. You’ll be protected.”
“And what about you?” She turned toward the front then gasped, leaning closer. “Oh, my God. You’re bleeding. You’ve been shot.”
I quickly glanced down at my blood-soaked shirt, the rush of adrenaline keeping me from feeling the pain. “It’s okay. It’ll all be fine.”
“No, it’s not going to be fine. It’s never going to be fine again. You know that. Not while that piece of shit is alive. How could he escape? How?” While her words were terse, she was calmer than I would have expected.
“Because he had help, Stephanie. My organization has been compromised because an entire network is determined to take us down.”
“What are you talking about? Who?”
“It’s one long story I don’t have time for.” I wasn’t about to get into the harsh discussion that was needed, but I couldn’t wait but for so long.
“Then you’ll kill them.” She said the words in such a matter-of-fact way as she removed my hand, shifting as far away from me as possible.
“I’ll do what’s necessary. Nothing more. Nothing less.”
I took several deep breaths before reaching for my phone, finally placing the gun on the dashboard. After taking another glance into the rearview, I dialed Kirill’s number. Every attempt at controlling my anger had failed.
“This is getting to be a habit,” Kirill answered.
“We have an active situation. Sergei has friends.”
“I heard from your father. Volkov. What are you dealing with?”
“Explosives. That’s the easiest way to take out as much real estate as possible. By my count, at least eighteen of the fuckers were assigned to eliminate me, all military trained. Likely old KGB operatives.”
There was no doubt she was listening intently.
“What the fuck?” he snarled. “When the fuck did that begin?”
“One of the many questions to be answered. Get your men organized. Have every damn soldier surrounding our properties. I want the bastards tracked down one way or another.”
