Chapter 5 - The Heir to the Throne
The impact sounded like a bomb detonating inside the cabin.
Shattered glass rained down like lethal confetti.
The heavy SUV lifted off its right tires, completely suspended in the air for a terrifying second.
Nora screamed as gravity aggressively reasserted itself.
The vehicle violently flipped onto its side, scraping across the wet asphalt with a deafening screech of tearing metal.
Sparks illuminated the dark interior in flashing, chaotic bursts.
The SUV finally slammed against a concrete barrier and came to a dead stop.
Nora hung sideways, suspended by her seatbelt.
The air smelled intensely of gasoline and deployed airbags.
"Nora," a voice groaned from the darkness.
It was Roman.
He was pinned beneath the crushed roof of the SUV, blood streaming down the side of his face.
"I am here," she coughed, choking on the thick white dust.
She fumbled wildly with her seatbelt buckle.
It finally clicked, and she dropped painfully onto the shattered window below.
She looked toward the front of the vehicle.
The driver was slumped over the steering wheel, completely motionless.
Tommy was kicking violently at the cracked windshield, trying to break it outward.
She turned to look for her brother.
Leo was gone.
The back door on the upper side of the flipped vehicle had been forced open.
The cold night air poured in through the empty frame.
"He took it," Roman grunted, struggling to push a crumpled piece of metal off his chest.
"Leo took the locket."
Nora crawled toward Roman, her hands cutting on the glass.
"We need to get out," she said frantically.
"I smell gas."
Roman grabbed her wrist with his bloody hand.
"Listen to me carefully, Nora."
"Your brother did not come to save you tonight."
"He works for Chicago now."
Nora froze, the words hitting her harder than the car crash.
"That is a lie," she whispered.
"He just shot at them in the alley."
"He shot the mercenaries they hired," Roman corrected, wincing in agony.
"He faked rescuing you so he could get close enough to see if I had the locket."
"He is the heir to their throne now, Nora."
"He traded Dad’s stolen money to buy his way back into the syndicate."
Tommy finally shattered the windshield completely.
He reached in and grabbed Nora by the collar, dragging her roughly out onto the street.
"Boss, we have to move," Tommy yelled into the wreckage.
Sirens were wailing loudly in the distance, growing closer by the second.
Tommy reached back in and hauled Roman out of the crushed metal frame.
Roman could barely stand.
His leg was bleeding heavily from a deep laceration.
"The safehouse is three blocks away," Roman gritted his teeth.
They hobbled into the shadows of a dark, abandoned construction site just as the first police cruiser arrived.
Nora looked back at the burning wreck of the SUV.
She realized she was entirely alone in the world again.
Her father was dead.
Her brother was a traitor.
And the only person keeping her alive was the monster she had spent three years running from.
They pushed through a rusted chain-link fence.
Suddenly, Tommy stopped dead in his tracks.
May you like
He slowly raised his hands in the air.
Five laser sights cut through the darkness, settling directly on Nora's chest.
