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“I can’t go to jail,” I hiss, my stomach tightening. “I have a job, and an apartment, and…”
“Relax, princess. You don’t have anything anymore except for me. You gave all that civilian crap up once you joined the Bratva,” Ivan says, shooting me a fierce warning look. “Just stay calm and follow orders.”
I nod, feeling a shimmer of hope knowing that he’s with me. I’ve never had any legitimate run-ins with the police before one of them tried to kidnap me. I just don’t know what I’d do if I ended up in jail over it.
I mean, one of them died because of me. I watched them shoot him to pieces and I did nothing. That makes me complicate in his murder.
An awful thought creeps into my mind as Ivan moves toward the door. What if they came for me? What if the shooting was caught on video outside the gas station and they’ve been following me ever since?
Ivan opens the door an inch, peering outside as the sound of the engine grows louder. He stiffens, closing the door quickly and spinning on his heels to face me. “There’s someone out there, and they’re not moving. I think they know about us.
“What are we going to do?” I ask, trying to keep the fear out of my voice and failing miserably.
“We do what we have to do,” he says, pulling a phone from his pocket. “I’m going to call in reinforcements, but we can’t stay here. We need to start moving away from the lab. We can circle around back and go from there.”
“We’re just going to make a run for it?” I ask, putting my hand on my gun. I almost want to go out shooting, just to know what it feels like to be in the action. I’m already a criminal. What would stop me from acting like one?
“We shoot only if necessary,” he warns, pushing my hand away from my gun. “Don’t do anything to draw more attention to us. It’s bad enough as is. The Red Hitters are drooling for a chance to start a full-out war.”
“We’re already in a war,” I hiss. “Those motherfuckers came at me once. If they do it again, I’m shooting them. Period.”
He sighs, shaking his head, but a smile creeps onto his face. “I should’ve known you’d be like Dimitri. That man was as cold as ice when push came to shove, and he loved shootouts. As dangerous as they were, he seemed to thrive off them.”
“I guess we’re not all that different, then,” I reply, puffing out my chest.
“Yes, but the difference is that he was a lot more experienced. Sure, you can hit some targets on the range, but there’s a difference between a bright orange piece of stagnant metal and a man running through the field at night.”
He’s got a point, but I feel the urge to push back. He doesn’t trust me with my gun, and I need to prove to him that I’m capable.
I unholster my weapon, holding it up. “I’m ready to kill, Ivan. I promise you I’m not going to take the coward’s way out.”
He grits his teeth, pulling the door open again and peering out. He closes it again, and shakes his head. “The car is still there, but I don’t see anyone. I’m texting Donovan for backup, and then we’re getting the hell out of here. I suggest you put that gun away before you shoot something by accident.”
I narrow my eyes at him, but I respect that he’s the boss. Holstering my weapon, I wait for him to text Donovan, and then we slip out the front door.
The night air is cool and clear, slipping into my lungs with the same refreshing nature as cold water at two in the morning. The trees to the back of the field rustle in the breeze as Ivan I huddle behind the shack, planning our next moves.
“I don’t know what they’re here for,” Ivan mutters, looking around the corner for the dozenth time.
“Maybe they’re not here for us,” I whisper.
“That’s a possibility, but then why are they here at all? There’s not another farm. They’d have to go a quarter of a mile down the road.”
I’m all out of ideas, but Ivan doesn’t seem satisfied not to know. With the manila folders clutched in one hand, he uses the other to pull out a pair of binoculars. “Night vision,” he says with a grin, pressing them to his eyes and peering around the corner again.
“You see anything?” I whisper, my impatience getting the better of me after only a few short seconds.
He looks back at me, putting the binoculars down. “Yeah, and it looks like a lone scout. We could probably ambush him.”
My heart jumps up into my throat. “What? You’re serious?”
“You wanted to shoot your gun, didn’t you? Now’s your chance, unless you were just putting on a show for me earlier.”
22
Lily
“I wasn’t putting on a show,” I say to Ivan, pulling my gun out of its holster. “I’m more than willing to blast that fucker if he’s with the Red Hitters.”
