Page 14 of Heartbeats Amidst Chaos: Part 2

She tossed her head slightly.

“My date’s at 7:30.”

Elio’s eyes returned to her face, and he frowned slightly.

“Date—like, with a guy?” he asked, and Rissa almost giggled. Was he jealous? Were they enough to each other that jealousy was a thing now? She tilted her head, tempted to let him stew on it just to see what happened, but changed her mind as he stepped closer, his eyes mesmerizing.

“No. My best friend—college roommate.”

“The journalist?” Elio asked. Rissa paused.

“How did you know—” Before she could finish, a harsh voice shouted from behind her.

“Hands up! Elio Accardi, you are under arrest. Put your fucking hands in the air!”

Elio’s head flew back as if he had been struck, and he stumbled backward a few steps, away from Rissa. Jolted with shock herself, Rissa turned to see no less than seven police officers rounding the corner of the diner, their guns drawn and pointed in a two-handed grip past her to Elio. She suddenly couldn’t breathe.How? What? Who?

“Hands up!” one of the cops screamed again. “And get down on the ground!”

Rissa spun back around to see Elio slowly obeying, lacing his fingers at the back of his neck and wincing as he lowered himself to his knees on the cracked pavement. His gaze flew from the approaching officers to Rissa, his face falling from dazed shock to betrayal.

He thinks I led them here,Rissa realized, her stomach plummeting. There was no way she could tell him that she hadn’t, not surrounded by officers, two of whom rushed forward to twist Elio’s arms behind his back, securing his hands with a pair of thick zip ties.

His face had drained of color, his chest rising and falling heavily, and as they pulled him to his feet again, he swayed, staggering slightly.

His head injury.“Stop,” Rissa cried. “He’s going to pass out!”

Before she had even finished speaking, gunfire exploded from the opposite direction the cops had come from. Bullets crashed into the brick wall of the diner and hit the ground, spitting up bits of pavement.

Rissa screamed, dropping to the ground and scrambling backward toward the building. Around her, the officers were also ducking and scrambling for cover. Elio was being dragged by the two who had zip-tied him, though they were bent over and cringing as the gunfire rattled on.

Rissa couldn’t tell if he was still conscious or not.

One of the cops suddenly released him to return fire toward the mechanic shop behind the diner, and Elio abruptly came to life, scrambling to his feet and headbutting the man who still held him. As chaos unfolded around them, he sprinted out of the lot and disappeared down the street—without a backward glance.

Rissa’s heart was in her throat as she huddled against the diner wall, but she did not intend to be left behind to take the fall again. Gathering her courage, she stood and ran as well, flinching at the whistle and snap of the bullets still whizzing around her and smacking into the wall and pavement.

The sounds of the gunfight faded slightly as she left the alley behind her, but suddenly, there were running footsteps behind her. Glancing over her shoulder, Rissa saw that it was not a cop chasing her, but a figure wearing all black from a black beanie to a black mask across the lower part of their face. Her pursuer held a gun but was too busy running to use it.

Rissa’s heart lurched with panic. Turning back around, she ran as if her life depended on it, which, she guessed, it very well might. She was grateful that she had chosen to wear flat sandals, and the short skirt of her dress left her legs free to stretch to their full length.

She sped down another shadowed alley and swerved onto the sidewalk rather than trying to cross the main street. People shouted and dodged out of her way. She veered into another alley and then another, gaining enough distance from the figure chasing her to pause and look around for a place to hide.

There was a rusty hatchback parked against the curb. Her lungs burning, Rissa grabbed the handle of the back door and was relieved when it creaked open. She flung herself into the back seat and shut the door quietly after her. Then, she leaned forward and hit the lock button, securing all of the doors.

She scrunched herself onto the floor along with a filthy mélange of empty soda cans, cast-off shirts, fast food wrappers, and who knew what else. She almost gagged but held it back just in time.

Above her, one of the back windows was rolled down an inch. She wished she had noticed it sooner.

Running footsteps pounded into the alley and past the car. A moment later, they came back, slower. There was a shout from further away, and Rissa’s pursuer, a man, replied, “No, I’ve lost her.”

Rissa barely breathed as a scuffle of footsteps and murmur of a voice approached. The second man said, “What about Elio?”

“We’ll meet up with him in time,” a woman answered confidently. “He owes us another job. And you know me, I always collect what I’m owed.”

The voices receded, but Rissa found that her tension did not. Even after she had convinced her pounding heart that her life was no longer in danger, her mind continued to race at top speed.

What had the woman meant about Elio? How did they know him?

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