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“Lana!”
“I don’t know, Elia. I can’t control the traffic.”
I groaned again and pinched my nose. I looked ridiculous right now—in full wedding makeup and hair, but wearing a wifebeater and pink booty shorts. It was the only thing I could find in the back of Lana’s car.
But I knew if I had to wear that wedding dress for another second longer, I was going to lose it. I rubbed my fingers over my palms, glad to be free of the engagement ring after I had thrown it in the back, where the wedding dress was haphazardly tossed.
“Maybe I could make some calls,” Lana continued as she switched lanes, passing traffic. “The DA’s office in New York might be able to protect you. But it’s not going to be easy to get witness protection up and running on such short notice. And your case has multiple layers of complexity attached to it too.”
“No.” I shook my head. “You have already done enough for me, Lana. This is my choice. I’ll find a way to make it work, trust me.”
“Listen,” she replied. “The only thing I trust right now is that you’re about to land us in a world of shit. The one thing we need right now is time. You’d have to testify to the New York marshal’s office that you have reason to seek protection…”
I peered in the rear-view mirror as Lana’s explanation droned on, my stomach sinking with a wave of unease. A car behind us swerved into another lane, and my eyes landed on a sleek black car driving not far behind us.
I glanced back at the traffic ahead of us. It was almost noon, and the highway had long drained from its rush-hour flow. Something about the way that car was moving—aggressive and deliberate—began setting off alarms in my head.
“Lana…” I started. But she must not have heard because she continued to talk.
“… might be days before I can even find a judge to expedite the approval for a witness protection notice. I mean, they are just swamped right now with all the arrests that have been coming down the pipeline…”
“Lana,” I repeated, urgency creeping into my voice.
“… and that’s not even taking into account that Aleksey is going to be actively looking for you. I mean, we’re talking weeks at the earliest.”
My hand flew to my side, searching for the familiar weight of the gun in my purse. Panic seized my throat, and my heart sank when I realized that I hadn’t brought it with me.
“LANA!” I shouted.
“What?” she asked back.
“Is there a gun in this car?”
“Yeah, in the glove compartment,” she replied. “…Why?”
I opened up the glove compartment and took out a pistol. I checked to see if it was fully loaded. It wasn’t.
“You don’t keep this thing loaded?” I asked incredulously.
“You know I’m not even supposed to legally have that, right? I’m not a cop,” she replied. “There should be a magazine in a bag under your seat.”
“Why don’t you keep them in the same spot?”
“It’s the law, Elia!” Lana’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. “Do you know how much trouble I’d be in if I got caught with a gunandammo in the same spot?”
“Well,” I sighed as I fumbled around under my seat for the bag. “Don’t panic, but I’m pretty sure we’re being followed.”
“What?” Lana looked in the mirror quickly. “What do you need me to do?”
I looked back at the car that was following us, but it had disappeared.Oh no.“Just keep driving.” I fought to keep my voice steady even as my heart pounded. Suddenly, a black blur came into view, and my blood ran cold when I recognized the car that had followed us and the man in the driver’s seat.
It was my husband-to-be. His dark eyes were cold and blank, like that of a shark.
He slapped a paper against his window.PULL OVER. NOW.
I shook my head in horror and turned to Lana. “GO!”
In a panic, Lana stepped on the gas and we sped further ahead. I doubled back down, trying and failing to keep my hands from trembling as I finally found the bag and pulled out a single magazine. Quickly, I slammed it into the gun and racked the slide.
