Page 61 of Escape You

“Jac, let’s —”

My words, a gasp, and a single shot blared in my ears as my face smacked the wet ground. Darkness danced in my peripheral vision with Rossi’s guys coming in and out of focus. Sticks and rocks crunched under Rossi’s Italian shoes. The mud on his pants smelled of fresh grass and something sweet that reminded me of Mia’s hair, her scent, and her soft lips.

“He’s not dead, Boss.”

“We promised her we wouldn’t kill him.” He sat on his haunches next to me, cocking his head to look me in the eye. The hate he felt for me oozed out of every one of his pores. “But if he dies out here on his own…that’s not my fault. Leave him.”

My eyes fluttered closed as if they weighed a ton. It wasn’t her. It wasn’t her. She wouldn’t betray me like this. We’re supposed to be a family.

Car tires rolled away in a sad procession. Silence and darkness covered every inch of the abandoned store and made my body feel heavy and exhausted. Mia. I couldn’t blame her. At least now our baby would be safe from someone like Rossi. She was free.

19

We're Badass

Mia

“What the fuck is going on, Vic? You’re going the wrong way.” I hit the back of the passenger seat before I shifted my weight to look behind us at Tyler’s brake lights. One minute they were there, and the next they were gone.

“That has to be Rossi’s guys.”

“Oh, you think? Of course, that was them. So why the hell are we driving away from Tyler? Go back. Right now.” My voice went up several octaves. Vic pulled on his ear, but other than that, he stayed the course. “Pull over, Vic. That’s an order.”

He let out a breath and took the next exit with his headlights still off. At the end of the road, he pulled into a convenience store parking lot. We sat in silence for what felt like hours. My mind raced with all the scenarios of what Tyler could be going through right now. A shot kept ringing in my ears.

“Was that a gun shot?” I asked. “It was, wasn’t it.”

“I don’t know. It was too far away to know for sure.”

A cramp in my belly made me double over. I took a deep calming breath and pushed all thoughts of Tyler out of my mind. The only way to help him was to stay focused and not lose my shit. “Let’s assume those were Rossi’s guys. Why the antics?”

“To scare him.”

“Why? Tyler has left the penthouse before. They didn’t think it was a big deal. No, this was something else. Fuck. They know about him. That has to be it.”

“We don’t know that.”

I met Vic’s gaze. He seemed calm, but the tapping of his fingers on the console gave him away. This was bad. This was really bad. “We need to go find him.”

“They got him off the turnpike. And, Mia, if they found out about him, you can’t get anywhere near that. Do you understand?”

“I do. But I…he’s the father of my child. I can’t just let him die like that. Maybe we can help somehow.” I dropped my head between my hands.Breathe.

“How do we find him? He could be anywhere right now.”

“You should’ve stayed on him.”

“If I hadn’t turned around, we would be in the same boat as Tyler.” He put the SUV in gear again. “If I were them, I would’ve taken the first exit and then driven to an empty street. Let’s do that.” He got back on the highway toward the next exit.

I grabbed his laptop off the front seat. “Give me your password.”

He mumbled a bunch of numbers, letters, and symbols as I typed fast. I opened the maps application and scanned the area around us. It was a long shot, but the alternative was to sit in the back seat while Vic drove around in the dark looking for an ideal place to shoot someone.Tyler, don’t die on me. Please.

At the next intersection, my heart stopped when two black cars zoomed across a couple of streets down. “Today’s our lucky day.” I set the computer aside.

“I wouldn’t exactly call it lucky, but I get your meaning.” He killed the lights again and let the tires roll forward. Sure enough, when we reached the spot where we’d seen Rossi’s guys, an abandoned general store loomed against the dark sky. “That has to be it.”

“Hurry.” I fought the urge to get out of the car and run off to find Tyler on my own. “They left in a rush. That can only mean one thing.”

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