Page 35 of Being Bold
Just breathe, Selene.
She felt like Bo spoke the words inside her head. Focusing on the steady rise and fall of his chest, she fought to keep the fear at bay. She wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that, forehead to forehead, breathing each other in. Until something thudded in the living room, dissipating the calm she’d gained.
Please let Yumi be okay!
Bo pressed a finger to her lips again in a sign to be quiet, then pulled away. One minute he surrounded her, and the next he’d disappeared. His absence spiked her fear, sending her heart pumping overtime. Her whole body trembled, then her legs tensed, desperate to flee. She tried to take another calming breath, knowing bolting anywhere right now would be a mistake. As she waited, she strained to hear anything over the pounding of her heart.
She stifled a scream when a dark shape appeared in front of her. Bo grabbed her hand, tugging her from behind the door.
“We need to move before the others come looking for him,” he spoke, but not to her.
Glancing beyond his shoulder, she let out a breath in relief. Yumi stood in the hallway. Surging forward, she hugged her friend.
“Be safe,” Yumi whispered in her ear before Bo tugged her toward the front door.
She swallowed around the lump in her throat. They weren’t out of danger yet. Bo cracked open her apartment door, then reached again for her hand. With his rough palm encasing hers, a sense of calm settled over her nerves like a weighted blanket. No matter what waited for them outside, she wasn’t alone. Leading with the gun in his right hand, he cleared the door, and they stepped onto the landing.
The shorter man who seemed to be the leader was nowhere in sight, which meant he was probably searching the apartment next door. Hoping he stayed in there long enough for them to escape, Selene urged Bo toward the freight elevator.
They were almost to the passageway with the lift when the leader of the men in suits stepped out of it. He seemed startled at first until he noted Bo’s weapon and reached for one of his own from inside his jacket.
The next few moments happened so quickly that Selene felt like she was slugging through mud.
Bo fired at the man who dove for cover behind the hallway wall. The sound of the gunshot bounced off the cement of the open breezeway. She flinched, covering her ears, but Bo pushed her toward the stairs.
“Selene, run!”
She blinked at him, and then everything seemed to move forward fast. Dropping her arms, she ran, nearly tumbling downthe open stairwell as she took them two at a time. The sound of more gunshots kept her moving. When she heard feet pounding on the stairs behind her, she prayed it was Bo, but she didn’t stop to check because if it wasn’t . . . a dry sob caught in her throat.
Please let him be okay!
When her feet hit the bottom floor, she raced through the breezeway into the frigid night air. Her breath rasped white clouds in front of her as she pushed her legs. Fear clouded her brain so that she thought only of escape. Her body responded on instinct, keeping her moving without any heed to direction.
Away. She had to get away.
The trees surrounding the apartment cast menacing shadows, warning her not to enter the woods. Her mind replayed the screech of the mountain lion, and a shudder skittered down her back. The last thing she needed was to get lost or run into one of those animals.
She veered north where the land sloped into a retaining pond with a fountain. It graced the entrance to the community, but with the water feature broken, the pond had frozen over in this weather.
Minutes later, she whimpered at the stitch in her side sharp enough to double her over if she let it. Her lungs felt like they’d burst, forcing her to slow. Pain filtered through the fear, making her pay attention. She’d stopped at the edge of the pond, but she’d run far enough that she’d nearly reached the road.
Where’s Bo?
She turned around and started to shake. One of the suits had caught up to her. She hadn’t even heard his pursuit.
“About time you stopped running.” He stood ten feet away, his breathing coming out in harsh pants.
“Who are you?” Selene started backing away with the question. She didn’t know where Bo was, but surely, he’d show up if she stalled.
Please God!
“I’m nobody but you . . . you’re not supposed to be here.”
Did they work for Mr. Dao? If not, what could he possibly mean by that? Instead of asking, she kept retreating as she said, “I live here. You’re the one who’s not supposed to be here.”
He grinned at that, his teeth flashing white in the moonlight as he pulled a gun from inside his jacket. “That’s far enough, Miss Coleman.”
The man knew her name, which meant he likely worked for Mr. Dao. She ignored his order, but her stomach knotted at the news. If he was going to kill her, she’d at least die fighting. “What do you want?”
