Found her
I jump off the sofa, my mind already running weird with the imagination of what my uncle must be doing to Keirah as punishment for trying to escape him.
And the secrets he would have found hidden on my laptop. When I stand up, I see the laptop on the bed. And I sigh in relief. Before walking to the laptop, Keirah's scent hits me.
My uncle hasn't found her. I breathe in more... She is still in the room.
I breathe in her scent, which calms my nerves, and I smile before turning back to look for her.
Closing my eyes to allow my nose to find her. The strong scent hits me, and I know where she is hiding. Then I open my eyes to Keirah hiding behind a corner by the door. The door she woke me up with.
She was trying to force it open. As our eyes meet. The fear I see when I look into her eyes. I feel broken. Is she still traumatized by what happened yesterday?
I thought everything had turned out okay after we made love.
She is so angry and scared as she looks me deep in the eyes. By the look in her eyes. I am assured there is no way we are having a civilized conversation in her state.
I take steps closer to her, and Keirah runs as fast as she can around the closed space of my bedroom.
I don't want to chase her. I am sure I am fast enough to catch her. So, I let her be. If I chase her, it will be too hard to convince her to stay around me. She is already trying to run away.
“Stay away from me… Please let me go ... please...” she sobs as she holds herself in hiding, curled on the floor by the corner under the bed.
Then my phone rings and I walk back to pick it up. James shouts from the other end. “GET OUT NOW!!”
“What? Why?”
“Your Uncle found out about the secret room. He is on his way there now!”
By James's announcement. I feel like I am going crazy, and I freeze as I speak to James.
“How did he find out?... Who gave this security detail away? ...don't answer that we don't have time for that explanation, just get Zia now to the escape helicopters.”
“It was Cement. He has been on my trail since yesterday…. I already have momma here on the way to the rooftop.”
“Fuck the bastard. I am going to kill him. Please protect Zia for me. Get her on the helicopter safely. And help me get a rope for Keirah to bring her up there too. I will cover you when you fly.”
“What about you?”
“I will be fine. Now hurry!” I announce before dropping the phone.
When I raise my eyes to Keirah, who is shivering with fear, I am not prepared for what I am going to do to her in the following minutes. But for her and for me to stay alive, we need to do this.
“Stand up out of there,” I command her, and she tries to force her body under the bed. Under any other circumstances, this would have been funny, but I don't have time for all this.
I walk up to her and pull her out of her hiding. My hand is closing around her neck while pulling her from behind her back.
She screams in pain, kicks, and thrashes as she tries to break free. But it is all useless.
The last thing Keirah feels is a knock on her head before losing consciousness. Tears stream down her face as she lay still.
I feel hurt.
I hate what fate has put her through in the last twenty-four hours she has been in my world.
A security breach alarm on my laptop makes me watch the security footage.
Through my laptop, I see the heavily dressed man and my uncle moving fast and covering the penthouse passageway. They walk through the passageway with shields and helmets.
And after seconds, their sounds are clearly on my doorstep.
Bombs and everything are already being set on the corners by my penthouse door.
With a burst of energy, I pick up Keirah, wrap her in a rag, and carry her through the window to tie her to a rope that is held by James on the top for me. The helicopter blade's rotating sound is already being heard on the rooftop of the penthouse.
And it gives me hope that Zia and James made it safely to the escape helicopters. But before James could pick her up properly,
Gunshots flow at James from the other wing of the hotel.
I scan the area to see Cement on the other side of the building shooting at James. I walk back into the bedroom at a fast pace, determined to kill Cement finally.
I pull out and pick up my Barrett M82 sniper rifle from under the bed. And cock it up in seconds. I set it up and aim at Cement, but before I can shoot the whole penthouse shakes, like an earthquake or tsunami kind of hit and I lose my focus.
And in seconds that follow, all the walls in my penthouse passage explode. The walls crumble, and they fall to the ground. I watch as my uncle's man gets in and they set more bombs on the glass wall of all my rooms, one after the other.
My uncle is truly determined to get to Keirah.
I am out of time. If I choose to stay then we will both be found here in the following second. I choose to run away, aware of Cement trying to gun us trusting I can kill shoot him down before he successfully shoots at us.
I carry the gun and try to walk out. Hoping to make it out and jump to the rope holding Keirah before I am buried under. And gunning Cement down before he guns us down.
Before I take a step the whole glass walls explode before I can move. I cover my face to protect it from the glass dust. And when I open my eyes, a cloud of dust fills the whole penthouse area.
‘Cough...’ I can't breathe as I hold my hand to my nose to get the present air in the dusty, smoke-filled room.
Two flashlight jackets enter my room and run to pull back Keirah's body from the rope hanging by the balcony and I leap out into the man in front of me.
I take his gun off him, slamming him onto the wall before I shoot him in the head and aim at the other man who stands still unbothered, trying to untie Keirah from the rope.
When I turned my eyes back to one, I shot early. He is standing again, aiming a gun at me.
Fuck… Fuck… They are wearing bulletproof suits. Well, my uncle knows me, and he came too prepared for me.
Two men enter from another corner, then two more, and before I know it, I am surrounded.