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“That’s just so rude. At least promise me the first one of you to have a daughter will name her after me. This world needs a Mia.” She winked at the camera before throwing things down to create a barricade.
“Damn it, Mia,” Zach snapped. “Put those guns down and stop walking. You’re still bleeding. You need to wait for us. There’s nothing you can do.”
Aaron came running back. “We’re almost getting the truck gate open. We can create an offensive and surround them. We have the advantage.”
“What about other bombs?” Zach asked.
“We’re still working on them, but if we get one more out, we can corner them all inside.”
“Hear that, Mia? We’re coming to you,” I vowed. “Just hang in there.”
“You know what I was remembering? The day you brought Izzie to my parents’ for the first time. You looked so overwhelmed, like a teenager introducing the girl he wants to take to prom. And bang later.” She giggled weakly. “Then Gabe let on that Zee likes to give away kisses. Danny was about to get divorced. I felt like the surrounding affairs were being put in order. That made me feel peaceful. You have no idea how exhausting it was to take care of all of you.” A loudbangcame through the call, and she paused. “They found me.”
“No! No, no, no. We can get to you. We just need a few more minutes.” Zach was desperate.
She stared at us through the camera, and her remorseful smile brought tears to my eyes. “There’s no time,” she whispered, shaking her head, and I noticed her eyes and the tip of her nose were turning red. “I’m just so glad I got to see you guys again.”
“Don’t say that,” I begged over Izzie’s sobbing. “This isn’t what you promised. You can hide, you can run, I don’t care. Just wait a little bit more. You can’t—this can’t happen.”
The banging became louder as Michael and the others tried to break into the vault. Mia positioned herself behind the barricade, a move that would gain her only a few more seconds.
“You’ve got to move on. All of you. No rearview mirrors. You have so much to live for.”
My cheeks were wet, not only from the rain.
“What about you?!” Zach shouted.
“We always say that tomorrow we rest. You can do it tomorrow. But for me? When this is over, it’ll be my time to rest. I’ve already lived a life full of love. We’ll always have our memories.” She took in a shaky breath. “This is my love letter to you all. Don’t be sad for me. Just leave the porch light on, and don’t forget to lock the door. Somehow, I’ll find my way back to you.”
She prepared herself and started praying. Under any other circumstance, hearing her mumbling “Our Father” would bring me peace. At that moment, her prayer seemed ominous. A bad omen. It resembled a funeral instead of a blessed mission.
As the vault door was finally broken, she looked at us one last time.“They’re here.”She gulped. “It was an honor serving with you.” Then she shot at the camera and disconnected the call.
Hearing the guns blazing from outside put us in motion. Danny, Zach, and I ran toward the building, just as Aaron signed us over, indicating we were ready to barge in. We finally broke into the storage, and a myriad of officers followed us inside. It didn’t come as a surprise when we were met by firing guns. The echoing sounds of shooting reverberated through me.
It wasn’t the first time we found ourselves in those kinds of situations. We matched their attack and raised them our rage and protection. One of our own was inside, and she was a priority. Killing them was a bonus.
We split as we advanced into the storage, but we all had one goal: get to Mia. From the radio we shared with Aaron and his men, I heard one of them saying they’d found someone under the shelves.
That’s one less, just a few more to go—my father among them.
We weren’t sure how many were facing us, and how many were getting into the vault. All we heard was the constant shooting from there.
Zach signaled he was going up on the platform, so Danny and I continued our path at the storage, from under the stand. We heard a few arrests being called behind us, but we weren’t naive enough to believe it was over.
Danny and I were still perusing the area, getting closer to the other vault door. So close. That’s when I heard Danny grunt. One of the men who opened fire against us tackled him to the ground. Danny was a beast of a man who could handle himself, but not against a rifle at gunpoint. I fired at the man and ran toward them, away from the vault.
I had so much pent-up anger inside me that feeling his nose crunch under my fist was beyond satisfying. I kicked away the gun from him as Danny stood up. There was a level of vicious satisfaction as the man stared at Danny that didn’t sit well with me.
When we finally had him down, we heard the shots from above us, where Zach still was. Taking advantage of our distraction, he punched Danny and took off.
“Aaron, we got a runner,” I yelled into our radio.
More shouts and thuds echoed from up the platform, and we’d yet to get to Mia. Danny and I were about to split again so we could help each sibling, when we heard another series of shots inside the vault and the hidden door downstairs bursting open. Mia appeared from it, all bloody, then threw a grenade inside the space, slammed the door closed, and limped as fast as she could.
Ten.
She saw me standing. “Run!”
