Page 115 of Sapphire

“Someone’s following us,” the driver says. “Buckle up.”

My heart races as Mateo puts me beside him and pulls the seatbelt across me.

We turn and see the black SUV getting closer and closer.

“I think he’s going to hit us,” Tomas says.

“Okay, everyone, brace yourselves for impact. We’re going to try to get you all to safety.”

And just as he says those words, bullets hit the car.

I scream as they ping off the metal.

“Get down,” one of the big guys yells at us.

The driver is swerving, and we are being thrown around like rag dolls; thank goodness I’m wearing a seatbelt. I’m so scared it’s Nikolai and his crew coming to take me back.

Mateo shields me as the man who bought me opens the window and fires back. There is rapid gunfire exchanged.

“Shit, Brooks, they’ve shot out the tires,” the driver yells at the big man.

“Where’s the bag with the guns?” Brooks asks.

“Next to me.”

There is silence, then the sound of metal. The car swerves as another round of gunfire hits it.

Then another loud pop.

“Fuck, we’re on the rims!” the driver screams.

“Stock up, man. Police are ETA ten minutes; we are going to have to hold them till then.”

A lot can happen in ten minutes.

Then there is a massive bang and the car shudders.

“Fuck, they’re ramming us— not sure if I can hold them anymore,” the driver says.

“Brace yourselves, guys, it’s going to get ugly,” Brooks tells us.

Mateo pulls me in tighter. There’s another big bang as they ram us again, and the back window shatters as a bullet goes through it.

I scream. I’m so fucking scared. These maniacs are trying to kill us.

We get bumped again, and this time we are pushed sideways. We hit something, and the world turns upside down, repeatedly as if we are in a washing machine. My body is flung around, my head hits something hard, and everything goes black.

I come to from the haziness, and as my ears pick up the sound of gunfire, the adrenaline in my body kicks in, but I stay where I am, slumped on the ground. Slowly, I open my eyes, surveying what is happening before me.

“Give her to me!” Nikolai screams as he and his bodyguards take shots at Brooks and the driver.

“Zoe, are you okay?” Mateo whispers behind me.

I turn my head and see him and Tomas huddled behind a big clump of grass in a ditch on the side of some deserted highway in the middle of the fucking desert in Morocco.

“Yeah, just sore.” I rub my body, checking myself, trying not to draw Nikolai’s attention. Everything aches.

Mateo gestures. “You need to come to us.”

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