Chapter 4 - The Fatal Crash
I immediately slammed my foot onto the brake pedal, turning my head to look into the dark backseat.
A man dressed in black was rising from the floorboards, holding a garrote wire stretched tightly between his leather gloves.
He lunged forward, looping the sharp steel wire expertly around my throat before I could raise my weapon.
The wire dug deeply into my skin, cutting off my air supply and sending stars dancing across my vision.
I stepped hard on the accelerator instead of the brake, sending the heavy sedan rocketing forward into the street.
The sudden, violent acceleration threw the assassin off balance, loosening the wire just enough for me to breathe.
Nora screamed and lunged across the center console, clawing desperately at the man's eyes with her bare hands.
The assassin cursed and tried to swat her away, but Nora fought with the unmatched ferocity of a desperate mother.
I yanked the steering wheel sharply to the right, aiming the speeding car toward a row of heavy construction dumpsters.
I shouted for Nora to brace herself just before the front of our sedan smashed violently into the solid steel container.
The airbags deployed with a deafening explosion, filling the cabin with thick, white smoke and the smell of burnt powder.
The massive impact launched the unbuckled assassin forward, sending him crashing through the windshield and onto the wet pavement.
I gasped for air, tearing the loosened garrote wire from my bleeding neck.
I kicked my jammed door open and stumbled out into the rainy street, pulling a dazed Nora out behind me.
The assassin was lying completely motionless in the street, surrounded by shattered glass and twisted metal.
Sirens began to wail in the distance, indicating that the police were rapidly responding to the massive collision.
We could not afford to be arrested and detained while Carmine held Leo hostage at an undisclosed location.
We sprinted down a narrow side street, blending into the shadows as police cruisers sped past the intersection.
My ribs ached with every step, and the cut on my neck was bleeding freely onto my ruined white collar.
I realized that Carmine’s men were actively hunting us on the surface, and nowhere in the city was truly safe.
We ducked into a 24-hour laundromat, hiding in the back corner beneath a row of noisy commercial dryers.
I pulled out the burner phone and dialed the only contact I knew was completely isolated from Carmine's influence.
Marcus was an old-school enforcer who had retired years ago, a man who owed my father his life.
I told Marcus our exact location and begged him to bring heavily armed support and an untraceable vehicle.
Marcus promised he would be there in exactly ten minutes, swearing on his life that he would protect us.
May you like
Exactly ten minutes later, a dark van pulled up to the curb, and Marcus stepped out alone.
I smiled in relief and walked toward him, but my smile vanished when he raised a shotgun and pointed it squarely at my chest.
