Hailey's P.O.V.
It's been a month since I left Mexico. To say I was bored was an absolute understatement but I guess it's better than getting a bullet to my head.
The time went so slowly here and I couldn't even pass the time by sleeping because anytime I closed my eyes I would have nightmares. Marcos' eyes haunted me and if it wasn't him it was Carlos'. The dreams were always the same, Carlos finally caught up to us and was about to kill me but I never got to see if he succeeded because I would wake up, panicking and drenched in sweat.
I was tired.
I just got out of the shower, was eating my bowl of cereal and watching some old reruns of Friends, when I heard a noise.
I finished chewing and listened carefully.
Nothing.
"Amy?" I whispered.
She came running out of her room, "Get down."
She grabbed my arm, pulling me down when all of a sudden all I heard was rapid gun fire filling the morning air.
I covered my head, not knowing what else to do as Amy shielded me with her body.
There was a loud crash and the sound of windows shattering. Moments later a loud bang with a bright flash went off, momentarily blinding me. The noise was so loud, I couldn't hear anything after and I was still having a hard time seeing too.
Was I hit?
"Come on," I heard Amy say in a muffled tone as she placed her arm around my back, both struggling to crawl behind the couch.
I rubbed my eyes but everything was still blurry.
Someone grabbed me. I was about to swing and kick to defend myself, when I noticed it was Justin.
"It's just me, let's go. We need to get to the garage while the others hold them back. come on."
Helping us up, Justin wrapped my one arm around his neck and then did the same with Amy, leading us out of the house and into the car.
I rubbed my eyes trying to see, as Justin sped out of the garage. "What the fuck was that noise?"
"A flash grenade. Side effects last just a few minutes. Are you guys alright?" Justin asked.
"Yes." We both said, simultaneously.
Justin was right, my vision was returning and the ringing in my ear had stopped the further he drove away.
"I don't have my picture." I whispered to myself. Struggling to stop myself from crying over something so little when I have a mad man that's trying to kill me.
A few miles down the road I heard engines revving and the squealing of tires. I quickly turning around to see what was going on, Justin slammed on his breaks when a group of SUVS surrounded us.
"Shit. Hailey, get down!" Justin yelled as people started shooting at us again.
I covered my ears and got down as low as I could. Justin and Amy got out of the car and started firing back.
The guns kept going off and I heard people yelling as I stayed low.
"Hailey." I heard a familiar voice call out behind me.
Danté.
My breathing picked up, I looked up with tears streaming down my face as I looked Carlos' brother in the eyes.
He grabbed me hard, yanking me out of the car. "Let's go, we need to talk." He yelled as he started pulling me to another vehicle.
"Danté, por favor. Déjame ir. (Danté, please. Let me go) I tried pleading with him.
He looked me straight in the eyes, "Get in. I'm doing you a favor, Hail-"
He suddenly stopped before he had the chance to open the car door. His eyes were wide as he stood there frozen, staring back at me. Seconds later, blood started pouring out of the side of his mouth, making a gurgling sound as he dropped to his knees, struggling for air.
I looked up, Justin had his gun pointed towards Danté, ready to shoot again if he needed to.
"Danté?" I screamed as he fell to the ground, now noticing the red stain on his back, from where the bullet hit him.
Killing him.
I stood there frozen. Justin grabbed my arm, pulling me to his vehicle again. I didn't realize more agents had showed up to help us until we got back to our car.
Justin helped me back into the car, closing the door behind me. Amy was already in the passenger seat when Justin got in and he took off again, while the other agents stayed back to fight.
I wrapped my arms around my body and slightly cried. Danté said we needed to talk, I'm assuming about Carlos. Or maybe that was just easier to say then, 'I'm about to kill you'.
I was always close with Danté. He made me feel welcome from the moment Carlos brought me to Mexico.
I'm not sure how to feel since Danté was here to kill me but I felt like I just lost another one of my family members.
Hours later, we were sitting in a run down hotel. I hadn't said a word since the shoot out. I could tell Justin and Amy were stressed, as they paced the floor. A lot of their men died today.
"Now what?" I heard Justin ask the person on the phone.
"No!" He yelled as he hung up the phone, running his hands through his hair.
"I'm sorry your men died today. It's all my fault."
"No, it's definitely not. My boss wants me to bring you in, find you a different safe house."
"But?" I questioned.
"I'm not going to do that. Carlos will have men there, waiting… I'm sure of it."
"So now what?"
Justin sat down directly in front of me, "Is there a place in the United States that you can go that Carlos doesn't know anything about?"
"Justin, what are you doing?" Amy questioned.
He held up hand to cut her off, "I have a plan, I'm going off the books for this one but I need to talk to some people first. If you don't like it, walk away, Amy." He looked back at me, "Hailey, I'm talking about no friends, no family, definitely nowhere near Chicago… and anyone that you've talked to in the past few years is off that list."
I've talked to them a few times over the years but secretly since I met Carlos.
"Actually, there is."
******
3 months ago…
"Hailey?"
"Hey Jess."
I was currently sitting in the dressing room at the gym in Mexico. The only place Carlos' men didn't follow me into.
Jessica was not only my cousin, but also my very best friend. My dad had a foster brother, Calvin growing up who is Jessica's father. Even though we're not blood or legally related and Calvin was adopted by a different family, we stayed in touch growing up. Even when my grandparents passed away, Dad made sure we still stayed close.
Calvin moved to Michigan right out of highschool and met his wife, Susan and they had Jessica. We rotated holidays and would spend summers visiting each other.
"Oh my God. How are you? It's been a while?" She asked.
"I know, I'm sorry. I miss you guys, how are your parents?"
"We miss you Hails but we're all doing good. Mom's excited for summer, she loves teaching but needs a break. Dad isn't taking new patients at the chiropractor office, so he's getting more serious about retirement."
"Good. I'm sure they are excited about that."
"Oh, for sure. So how are you? How's your fiancé, Carlos? I still can't believe you're getting married."
"I'm good, and he's wonderful, like always."
"Still spoiling you I hope?"
"He is. We haven't set a date yet, but I'd really like you to be my maid of honor."
She let out a shriek and started crying, "Of course I will, Hails. I can't wait to meet him. Ahhhh why did you have to move? It's not so easy getting to Texas."
I lied to her and her family. Not that I was ashamed but when I found out who Carlos was, I wanted to make sure they were safe. Just in case Carlos and I didn't work out and I never told him about them either. All they knew was I was engaged to a man named Carlos.
"When can I meet him?"
"I'm not sure? Soon, I promise."
"Hold on one second." Jessica said as she muffled the phone. I heard her talking to someone, no doubt her boyfriend, Drew.
"Yay... Okay, I'm back. So, you remember how I always take a vacation at the beginning of the summer since highschool with Drew and all of our friends?"
"Yeah?"
"We want you and Carlos to join us this year. You don't have to stay the whole time if you don't want but I want to see you. Drew loves the idea, especially since he's never met you and only talked to you on the phone. We will have so much fun and we have plenty of space. What do you say?"
"He said yes." I heard Drew in the background.
"Yay." Jessica squealed.
"Who said yes?"
"Drake. Drake is Drew's cousin and technically the owner of this cabin. Well, him and his parents. So what do you say? Hails, I miss you."
"Ummm, can I get back to you? I better ask Carlos, and make sure nothing is going on."
"Yes. But I'll seriously come down to Texas and haul your butt up here if you tell me no."
I started laughing. "I love you."
"Awww, I love you too. Oh and it's completely secluded. It's in the woods, miles and miles away from anyone and the lake view from the cabin is absolutely breathtaking."
"That does sound nice, actually. We'll see okay?"
"Okay."
****I know in actual real life the FBI would never let a witness that's being targeted go out on their own but remember, it's a book and I like different. ☺️ Hope you guys are enjoying the book so far. Please don't forget to comment and vote. I really do like reading comments****
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