Chapter 5 - The Highway Ambush
Our driver throws the SUV into reverse, but another dark vehicle speeds up behind us, boxing us in.
"Get down on the floor, Emma!" Daniel shouts.
I dive between the leather seats just as the sound of shattering glass fills the cabin. The armed men are hitting the reinforced windows with heavy metal pipes. The bulletproof glass cracks into a spiderweb pattern but miraculously holds together.
Daniel pulls a sleek black pistol from a hidden compartment under his seat. I stare at him in absolute shock.
"You are a CEO," I whisper in terror. "Why do you have a gun?" I demand.
Daniel ignores the question and rolls down his window just a fraction of an inch. He fires two warning shots into the air, causing the attackers to scatter behind their truck.
"Drive through the gap on the left!" Daniel orders the driver.
The driver slams the gas pedal, grinding our heavy SUV against the concrete barrier to squeeze past the blockade. Sparks fly outside the window as we forcefully push our way to freedom.
We speed down the empty highway, leaving the ambush far behind us. I slowly crawl back onto my seat, my entire body shaking with adrenaline.
"Those were not syndicate thugs," Daniel says, his jaw clenched tight.
"How do you know?" I ask.
"Because one of them was wearing a Lakeside High letterman jacket," he replies.
My blood runs completely cold. Tyler. My brother had organized an ambush using his shady friends to stop me from escaping.
My phone suddenly rings, and Tyler's face flashes on the cracked screen. Daniel nods for me to answer it and puts the call on speaker.
"You think you can just run away and ruin our lives?" Tyler sneers over the line.
May you like
"You are insane, Tyler," I cry out.
"Maybe," he laughs darkly. "But you better come back home right now, because we are holding Mrs. Alvarez hostage in her own living room."
