Ava's POV
“Oh shit.” Mina glances in the direction of the siren growing louder with every second.
“Come on. Let's go!” Grabbing Jennie's backpack off the floor, I zip it up before strapping it on.
I step over Yuko's bloody corpse, her wide open eyes gazing at the sky. Just as I reach the back door and open it, Mina's stifled snort from behind me makes me turn around.
“What the fuck are you laughing at?” I demand, one hand holding the door open.
Mina grins. “You look… so ridiculous with Hello Kitty on your back.”
I roll my eyes, suppressing the urge to curse her off, and run through the door. Mina follows, the slam of the door barely heard over the deafening sirens. They are really close, and we have to get out of here right now.
The “backyard” connects to an alley leading out to an empty street. Dogs bark all around us, pawing at the enclosures as Mina and I run past them. The ground still contains leftover puddles from a recent rain, so the water splashes onto our clothes as our boots slam against them.
The faint shouts of police behind us lets me know that they're already in the flower shop and have seen the bloody mess.
“There!” I point at an older black Nissan Pathfinder. I run towards it, Mina's footsteps following close.
I try the driver's door and it doesn't open, so I resort to breaking the window with my arm. The sound of glass shattering and car alarm echoes throughout the street as I unlock the door from inside and brush away the glass from the seat before bending down to hotwire the car.
“What the hell are you doing?” Mina yells.
“What the fuck does it look like I'm doing?” I grunt as sparks fly from the wires. “Come on, come on,” I mutter under my breath as I coax the wiring to work.
“Couldn't we have found a taxi?”
“Are you fucking crazy? Does it look like we have time to hail a taxi, your highness?” The car finally roars to life. “Yes!”
I sit back up and glance to my left. Mina stands there with her arms covering her ears. I look back and through the heavy, gray exhaust emitting from the pipe, I catch a glimpse of red and blue lights.
“Get in!” I bark at Mina. She complies and runs around to the passenger side and hops in. As soon as she slams the door shut, I shift gears and press on the gas. The tires squeal as they gain traction and the car lurches forward. I glance in the rearview mirror and three squad cars appear in view. I take a right turn before I accelerate.
“You could have taken the Audi instead of this rusty old garbage,” Mina grumbles.
“Would you like to try hotwiring a car running on computers?” I sharply turn the steering wheel to the left, drifting into the next street. The nearest squad car slams into the building, fire bursting out of the hood.
I glance into my side mirror. Through the dark, I can make out two more police cars. I hit the pedal all the way to the floor as the speedometer reaches its limit.
“Holy shit!” Mina yells as I make another sharp turn, smoke flying from the wheels as the car drifts. This time, the police cars make the turn, only for one of them to overturn and catapult in the air. It crashes feet away from our rear bender before exploding into flames. The remaining police car rushes past the debris and keeps up with us.
“Make a u-turn here,” Mina says. I glance at her pointing to the next right turn.
“What?”
“Just trust me!”
YOU ARE READING
The Lethal Encounter | ONC2024 Longlister
RomanceA cold-hearted assassin must choose between loyalty to her organization or love after falling for her charming target. Ava became a KSD assassin at only sixteen years old. Fueled by anger, hate, and the hunger for revenge, Ava has forgotten what com...
