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“Yes, it’s my mother’s phone,” Alina says before promptly giving the number. “I didn’t know you could track them in real time.”
“All in a day’s work,” Luka replies. I can practically hear the smug grin he’s wearing. “Alright, I’m locked on and I’m in the grid network, too.”
“I need you to give us all greens,” I tell him, laying onto the gas pedal. “Clear the way for us until we’re out of the city.”
I hear theclick click clackof his keyboard in the background. “You’ve got about thirty seconds before the system boots me out. You should be free and clear once you’re outside the city limits and on the highway.”
“Thanks, Luka,” Alina says.
“Good luck.”
Just like that, every intersection ahead of us suddenly turns from red to green. Cars move forward freely like an unstoppable current. I’ve got my eyes trained on Violetta’s car. It’s really flying now, but I’m as determined as ever to catch up. I’m not going to let that woman get away. After everything she’s done, I’ll make sure she faces justice.
By the time we get to the outer limits of the city, there’s no question we’re following them. We’re the only other vehicle on the road chasing them down at top speed. When I see one of the men roll down their window and stick a gun out to fire at us, I have to swerve to the right to avoid taking a bullet head on.
“They’re shooting at us!” Alina screams.
“Shoot back!” I tell her over the roaring engine.
This is nuts. Crazy. We’ve only got a quarter of a tank of gas left. If we don’t put an end to this soon, Violetta will get away. We can’t afford to lose her. If she manages to slip through our fingers, there’s no telling what kind of havoc she’ll wreak upon us in her revenge.
I keep the car steady, narrowly missing bullets as Alina sticks her arm out of the window and fires the gun. She’s out of practice, something that shouldn’t matter, and won’t ever matter again. I’ll keep her out of this life after this is all over.
As we speed down the road, she shoots a few more times, which does deter the man from shooting at us. Luck is on our side when a car pulls out in front of Violetta’s forcing the SUV to jerk to the right.
The driver loses control, and they hit a pothole, which sends the vehicle careening off the road and into a ditch. It flips onto its roof, the windows breaking and showering its occupants with shards of glass. The engine smokes and sputters out, hazard lights blinking on and off uselessly.
I bring our own car to the side of the road and come to a stop. I look at Alina and say, “Stay here.”
“I’m going with you,” she answers defiantly. Her stubbornness is both endearing and maddening.
We get out of the car together and approach carefully. The wreckage is horrifying. The driver is dead, eyes still open in shock. Two guards sit in the back, both breathing but unconscious. Even from this distance, I can see bones sticking out in various spots. And Violetta…
The woman coughs and groans as she undoes her seatbelt, body slumping onto the roof of the overturned car. She crawls out of the broken window, glass piercing her palms and knees. She doesn’t notice us in her disorientation, so she struggles for a few feet to get away from the scene of the accident.
Her eyes are bloodshot. Her hair is stringy with sweat and blood. It’s an incredibly dark night, but the dim silver moonlight gives away the broken bridge of her nose and her shattered teeth. Violetta barely has enough strength to stand on her own two feet. Instead, she collapses onto her back, lying helplessly in the muddy roadside ditch.
She notices us then, her face twisting with hate. “You.”
Alina remains at my side, her own expression impassable. “Hello, Mother.”
The tables have turned; victory has never been more delicious.
Violetta looks like a kicked dog. Defeated, alone, and scared. I can’t speak on Alina’s behalf, but damn if it isn’t time for this woman’s comeuppance.
“Little bitch” she seethes, her words slurred by broken teeth. “I should have known you’d side with them. How could you betray your own family?”
“You’re one to talk. How could you treat your own family like shit?”
Violetta cackles. It’s a truly awful, wet sound from the back of her throat. “Because you’re not mine.”
I look at Alina; her eyes are wide with shock. “What?”
The woman tries to roll her eyes but winces in pain instead. “Your father had a mistress. You’re a bastard. I would have put you out of my house when he died, but he’d made provisions against that in his will.”
Alina takes a deep breath, her lips curling into disgust. “So that’s why you were so cruel? Because I wasn’t your child?”
“You were in the way.”
