Page 96 of When Lies Unfold

I shouldn’t be surprised when she rubs her face against my hand before backing away. This particular creature has always been incredibly intuitive.

She purrs before cocking her head to the side as if to say, Go ahead and leave. I’ll stand watch.

With a firm grip on the railing, I lift up, prepared to swing my other leg over, when a voice rings out.

“The fuck do we have here?”

Nonono. This can’t be happening. Dammit!

Andro emerges from the shadows, the glint of his gun reflecting in the meager glow from the distant lights.

Hatred encases each word as he sneers, “You’re fuckin’ up my life, bitch.”

Striving to keep my voice calm, I discreetly adjust my grip on the metal railing. “I haven’t done anything but help you.”

He strides forward but abruptly stops when loud purring erupts. “The fuck?” Disbelief bleeds from his voice.

When he resumes his advance, I scramble back over the railing as he aims at the panther bristling with tension beside me. I barely have time to firmly plant my feet in the grass when an all-too-familiar masculine voice sounds.

“Andro.” Pure, unadulterated menace drips from Santiago’s tone, drawing his nephew to a stop. “Move the fuck away from ’er.”

Steady but filled with intent, Santiago’s footsteps are muted as he moves closer. As if privy to his approach, the security lights mounted along the compound’s outer walls turn brighter.

Now that the surrounding shadows have lost a fraction of their dark obscurity, it’s easier to see Santiago’s gun is trained on his nephew.

Andro’s features twist with angry resentment. He gestures to me while addressing his uncle. “You’re aimin’ at me instead of the bitch who was tryin’ to escape?!” His gun jerks with each of his movements. “You know she was gonna go spread our shit to the cops!”

“I wasn’t!” I blurt this out without meaning to. Ignoring Santiago, I focus on Andro. “I only want to escape this place!” My voice cracks with desperation. “I want nothing to do with any of this! All I want is to be left alone!”

Belleza edges closer to me, her purring growing louder. She’s smart enough to sense the danger. I lay a hand on her back and stroke her fur in an attempt to calm her.

When she leans back on her hind legs, her front ones poised, my lungs constrict because I know what that means.

She’s ready to attack because I’m being threatened.

“It’s okay,” I coo, but there’s no mistaking the panic threaded in my voice. “Don’t?—”

It happens in slow motion, in a way that makes me feel utterly helpless. Belleza launches herself at Andro, and I scramble to push her out of the line of fire.

But I fail.

1 An extremely venomous pit viper commonly found in Costa Rica

41

LOLA

I barely register the burning pain in my shoulder when the second shot rings out and Belleza’s body collapses to the ground.

“Noooooo!” Horror assails me, icy dread filling the marrow of my bones. Shouting ensues, but it turns muffled, drowned out by my thundering heartbeat.

I drop to the ground beside her limp form, my hands searching for the bullet’s entry. Please let it be non-life-threatening. Please! The bottom of my stomach drops out the instant my hands encounter sopping wet blood already matting her fur.

I will my hands not to shake as I inspect her wound, my eyes pinching closed at the rapid outpouring of blood. But when Belleza lets out a wet-sounding cough as though she’s choking, and her tongue falls limp past her mouth, panic gouges deep into my chest.

Ohgodno. These are all glaring signs the bullet has penetrated her organs and she’s bleeding internally.

Ragged emotion coats my whisper. “Nononono.” Scrambling for my bag, I grab my cayenne pepper with shaking fingers and apply as much as I can to her wound.

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