Page 87 of Twisted Obsession

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Ansel

The gas pedal of my black Audi touched the floor. The stars had aligned tonight and kept the local cops from spotting me because I’d broken every traffic law made. I glimpsed the aftermath of two near-miss accidents that I’d almost caused. My side mirrors showed that I’d avoided as many more.

I swiped and dialed D. With D, shit that took days or weeks was reduced to hours—like catching a plane versus driving.

“Ansel?” he answered.

“D, can you track my Mercedes? I’m texting you the VIN number. JG and Regina might be compromised. I can’t get either of them on the phone and Marcus and Scott aren’t answering either.”

I couldn’t track the car the legal way since it was under one of my aliases.

“Give me a second,” D’s voice sounded. I could picture his fingers weaving magic into the keyboard or computer in front of him.

As I waited for D, I continued driving towards the safehouse in case JG and Regina were already there.

“Ansel, they are on the John-James expressway, near mile marker 128,” D confirmed.

“Fuck!” I roared as I slammed my foot on the brake, making the car scream as a cloud of white smoke flew from beneath it and littered the atmosphere.

Going way too fast, I yanked the steering wheel, spinning the car in the opposite direction. The car protested my demands by squealing, jerking, and wobbling along the highway. The angry roar of the engine sounded, but I was more determined than the ton of twisted metal. D’s information confirmed that eight miles of distance separated me from Regina.

“D, are they moving?”

“No,” he confirmed, and I didn’t miss the hint of concern in his word. “You need me there, Ansel? I’m close. In Vegas. A quick plane ride, and I’ll be there in a few hours or less.”

“Yes. I think DG6 is back on the prowl and if they put a fucking hand on Regina…” Unable to finish the sentence, my hard breaths filled the cab of my car. “If you can swing it, come,” I stated to D before hanging up.

This was going to be a long fucking night. It was also the longest eight miles of my life as I sped past one-twenty. The swish of slower cars blew past my view in a blur. When I came to a screeching stop at mile marker 128, I didn’t see anything amiss.

Two tall and isolated telephone poles affixed with dim lights illuminated the area with scarce lighting. Not even the moon’s ominous glow, as it peeked through billowing clouds, helped break the darkness apart.

Smoke floated into the darkness, catching my eye, billowing against the dark landscape on the other side of the interstate. The lights on the poles hummed with electricity and seemed to allude to some ominous shit going down.

Pop! Pop! Pop!

The unmistakable sound of gunfire pulled my attention across the freeway. I squinted against the darkness. Was that a dark car turned on its side? I prayed it wasn’t JG and Regina. My eyes adjusted and made out three vehicles parked near the overturned car. I jumped from my car, leaving it running on the side of the median.

I hopped the cement barricade that separated the interstate and sprinted across three lanes of traffic, nearly getting clipped by a white Toyota that honked and kept going.

More shots rang out, and I acknowledged that I was in the middle of a gunfight. If shots were being exchanged it meant that Scott, Marcus, and JG were taking out whoever had come after Regina. I prayed my crew recognized me sneaking into their active firefight.

Upon further inspection, both sides appeared too busy shooting at each other to notice me. My heart dropped when the view of the car turned on its side became clearer. It was my black Mercedes. The realization stabbed me in the heart. The knife twisted as her name fell over my lips.

“Regina.” I prayed she hadn’t been hurt. “What have I fucking done?”

More gunfire revealed that the concentration of it came from the area nearest the Mercedes. When I was about to step towards the flipped car, I lifted my gun ready to pull the trigger at the figure that ran towards me.

“It’s Scott man, don’t shoot,” he called out, running hunched in a zigzag pattern towards me. He bent, breathing hard. “Marcus is out there getting some sniper bonding time with Tina. He’s lighting their asses up as I try to make it to the Mercedes. I believed JG is hurt. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to keep us back. There were at least ten, and we’ve taken out three so far.”

Considering Scott’s words, I weighed my options. Seven of them left against, me, Scott, and Marcus. It would be lucky sevens tonight because nothing was stopping me from getting to that car.

“They are trying to keep us from getting to the Mercedes,” Scott’s faint words sounded and confirmed my thoughts.

An explosion of fury overwhelmed me before I stepped away from Scott with him yelling for me to hold up. I put my faith in Marcus and Tina to keep a bullet out of me. There was no way I was waiting. Regina could have been in that car bleeding to death.

The swish of hot lead as it whizzed past my head should have stopped me, but I kept charging onward. The first shadow that filled my view, I aimed and let off rounds until the unmistaken cry of the wounded sounded. The first vehicle I came across had been damaged on the passenger side and abandoned.

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