Page 35 of Drowning in Darkness

Agent Thompson takes up guard at the door, firing shots at anyone brave enough to follow.

I search the external cameras. The guy with the battering ram is doing his best to break inside. “One guy, no vehicle,” I tell her. “I’d just drive.”

“Agreed,” she mutters. She doesn’t hesitate, even knowing this is likely to kill another person. But we all know that if they get to her, she’s dead.

Camryn opens the passenger door and drags Stephanie inside the SUV. “Get in and stay down,” she instructs as bullets rip through the garage door, raining sparks across the bodywork.

I pull up the camera, giving me access inside the vehicle.

“Fuck,” she grumbles.

“Fuck, what?” No answer. She slumps over Stephanie. No, no, no. She can’t be hit.

“I’m fine,” she snaps.

Lie. Big fucking lie. I can hear the pain in her voice.

Camryn’s gun hand shakes as she grabs Stephanie by the neck of her sweater and forces a key fob into her palm before slumping over, clutching her shoulder.

I scan the feeds. They’re all converging. They need to get out now, or this might be the last time I ever see Stephanie.

Thompson barrels into view, clutching his side. He opens the rear door and groans as he climbs inside, while Stephanie scrambles across the console into the driver’s seat before grabbing onto Camryn’s shirt and yanking on it.

“What are you doing?” he barks.

“Trying to pull Camryn inside so I can get us out of here.”

Thompson leans over to help, and by some miracle, her body disappears inside the vehicle. Stephanie reaches over and slams the door shut.

“You can do this,” she mutters.

“Yes, you can,” I coax. The engine roars to life.

“Driving is like riding a bike, right?”

Oh, fuck, the last time she drove was years ago. I meant she could smash through a garage door and run down a man.

“Parking brake off,” Thompson groans. “Let’s go, King. It’s bulletproof glass, so don’t panic about them shooting at us and end up with your eyes off the road.”

It’s a natural reaction to get out of the way of a bullet hurtling toward you. Ineffectual, but instinctual.

“Now or never,” she whispers as she slams her foot down on the accelerator and rams the SUV into the garage door. Every muscle in my body locks.

The garage door buckles outward, and she hits the guy head-on and keeps going as she bumps over his crumpled body.

The SUV rockets over the lawn and topples down the fence, avoiding the blockade of vehicles Christopher’s guys incorrectly thought would stop their escape. That’s because Stephanie doesn’t think like normal prey. In fact, she doesn’t think like prey at all. For all her soft edges, she is also a quiet force.

One of the pursuing men fires after them, and the rear window explodes. So much for bulletproof glass. What in the hell were they packing? Stephanie ducks but keeps driving. Good girl.

“Where to?” she demands. “Fuck no, guys. Come on, don’t die on me.”

I hack into the vehicle’s audio system and push the call from Camryn’s headphones to the speakers.

“Left,” I demand. Rather than startling, she settles at the sound of my voice. “Now, right at the junction. Don’t stop. You’re clear.”

Her breathing slows through the speaker.

Camryn presses her hand against her shoulder, blood soaking between her fingers while sirens rise somewhere in the distance.