Page 29 of The Debt

“Step away from her,” Vasco’s voice said from some meters away.

Archer straightened while ab African American man she’d never seen before came to assist her. “Are you okay?” the man inquired. “You must be Mira, come with me.”

He assisted her to her feet as she tried to focus on what was happening. The man held her arm and was guiding her to the silver car when she realized there was a faceoff between Archer, her gentle soul, and her demon that was Vasco. Mira stopped, her heart in her mouth when she saw that Archer was aiming a gun in Vasco’s direction. But that wasn’t why her heart ached. It was the muted sound of a gun with a silencer, and the sound of slug hitting flesh that had her blood draining from her head.

“Archer!” she screamed rushing forward as the sound of a gunshot was heard. “Archer, my love.”

At lease he didn’t go down without a fight. Archer was sinking to the ground while Vasco grabbed an arm that oozed blood. He was marching forward, his gun aimed in their direction as Mira sunk to her knees beside the man who tried to save her.

“Archer, what were you thinking?” she cradled his head in her arms as blood covered the front of his suit.

Vasco was closing the space and all she could think about was how evil a bastard he was. There was honking and shouting as traffic began to back up on the roadway. Tears blinded her as pain ripped through her core. The only man she’s ever given her heart to was lying in her arms, his skin turning pale and he was unresponsive. The weapon he shot Vasco with was still in his hand while his friend hovered over him.

“Archer, stay with me. The police and ambulance are on their way,” he said.

Without thinking, she picked up Archer’s revolver. Setting Archer gently down, she stood to her feet, squeezing the trigger in the direction of the approaching villain … the man who had held her captive by keeping her father hostage. When the first bullet hit him, his eyes widened in surprise.

With courage, angrily wiping her tears with the back of her hand, she stepped in his direction, sending off another round. This one hit him in the gut, but not before a slug hit her upper right shoulder. The burning pain spread quickly across her body as her right arm went numb.

The good thing was that Vasco was now down, lying on the pavement. She knew she would survive but wasn’t sure about Archer. As she lay on the pavement in the middle of the road, the sirens sounded in the distance. Mira was hopeful that this would be over soon and that somehow she would know what happened to her father.

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