Pop!
I cringed, expecting an explosion of pain. But...I felt nothing and looked back. The driver of Dr. Bendari’s car had crawled out from the rubble to shoot Red.
I slowed down and tried to catch my breath.
My only remaining ally faced me, shouting, “Keep running, more will come,” before limping forward and pointing his weapon at the first guy, Shooter.
Pop!
Pop!
Dr. Bendari’s driver collapsed, and my eyes went wide. Why... How... Then I watched as Shooter fought to get vertical; despite his obvious pain, his focus was sharp as it landed on me. That was why. That was how. One pop had come from Shooter, and the other had come from Dr. Bendari’s driver.
Shooter stumbled forward, taking something small, round and black out of his pocket, biting something off it and throwing it at Dr. Bendari’s car. Grenade!
I spun and ran—
Boom!
The world went eerily quiet as a violent gust of white-hot air picked me up and threw me into a tree. I bounced backward, losing what little breath I had, shaking my head to clear the fresh surge of dizziness. Smoke filled the air, choking me, turning my line of sight to a hazy black and white.
A slight ringing erupted in my ears, growing louder, louder still, until it stopped as quickly as it had begun, and the world around me came back into focus.
I stood, almost fell. From the corner of my eye, I could see flames engulfing both cars—and Shooter still standing. Swallowing bile, I rushed into the forest.
Rearrange list: call Cole, then hide.
I stuffed the photos into my backpack and grabbed my phone. I was careful to alternate between watching the path ahead of me and looking at the names in my contact list. Around a thick tree trunk. The Cs. Over a rock. COs. Ragged breath scraped my nose and lungs.
I almost shouted with relief when I found COLE.
“Answer,” I muttered when I heard the first ring. “Please answer.”
“Ali,” he said a moment later.
A sob left me. “Cole.”
His concern came immediately. “Baby, what’s wrong?”
“There was a car crash. They shot him. Shot him. He’s dead. A bomb. Now they’re after me, and I don’t know what to do.”
I could hear the static over the line, knew he was running as quickly as I was. “Where are you?”
“What’s going on?” I heard Veronica ask in the background. “Where are we going?”
He was with her.
“I don’t know,” I said, too numb from the shock of everything that had happened to react. “I didn’t watch.”
“What’s around you?”
“An abandoned road. A forest. I’m in the forest.”
“Where were you before? What direction were you headed before the crash?”
“Nana’s house.” The words left me, barely audible as I panted. “Walked out of neighborhood. South, toward coffee shop. Picked me up. Farther south. Followed. Crash. Smoke. There’s so much smoke.”
“I’ll find you,” he vowed. An engine roared to life. Tires squealed.
“Cole,” Veronica called.
That was the last thing I heard. I tripped over a limb and hit the ground with all the grace of a china shop bull, my cell skidding out of my grip. Frantic, I threw a glance over my shoulder for Shooter. No sign. Maybe he’d passed out from blood loss. Maybe he’d died. Fingers crossed.
I clambered to my feet, searched, but couldn’t find my phone. Decided to leave it behind. My legs stiffened even as I trudged deeper into the woods, and all too soon, I could barely chug forward an inch at a time. I scanned the area.
Bad news: as naked as the trees were, they wouldn’t offer much coverage if I climbed.
Good news: Shooter would have to look up to see me.