Chapter 3 - The Escape
Santiago did not hesitate for a fraction of a second.
He threw his massive body over Ruby, driving her flat against the closet floor.
A high-caliber bullet shattered the hallway mirror exactly where her head had been just a moment ago.
Deafening gunfire ripped relentlessly through the thin walls of the apartment.
Santiago dragged Ruby blindly toward the kitchen, putting a solid load-bearing wall between them and the sniper outside.
Ruby groaned in pain, her hands slipping on her own blood.
"Stay down," Santiago ordered, pulling a secondary weapon from his ankle holster.
He risked a quick glance around the corner of the kitchen counter.
Through the shattered living room window, he saw a black van parked on the roof of the adjacent parking garage.
He recognized the tactical gear of the men stepping out of the van.
They were not rival mafia soldiers.
They were wearing the specialized body armor issued exclusively to the Moretti syndicate.
Ruby was telling the absolute truth.
His own people were trying to erase the only person who could translate Sophia's secret.
Santiago pulled his phone from his pocket and crushed it beneath his heel.
They could easily be tracking his GPS signal.
"Can you walk?" he asked, turning back to Ruby.
She nodded bravely, her face pale and covered in cold sweat.
"Good," he said, wrapping his strong arm tightly around her waist.
"We are taking the fire escape down to the alley."
They moved into the dark bedroom and climbed out into the freezing rain.
Santiago practically carried her down the rusted iron steps.
They reached the alley just as heavy boots kicked the front door of the apartment completely off its hinges.
Santiago shoved Ruby into the back of a stolen sedan he had spotted earlier.
He hot-wired the ignition in seconds and floored the gas pedal.
They tore out of the alley, leaving the assassins shooting blindly into the dark night.
Santiago navigated the slippery streets, checking his rearview mirror constantly.
"Who did Sophia name?" he finally asked, his voice dangerously quiet.
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Ruby looked at him with tears mixing with the rain on her face.
"She said the killer was the man who always brings you coffee."
