approval.
Violetta went to put the key in the lock but Javier quickly grabbed her wrist, his eyes burning into hers with warning. He nodded to the door then pushed her out of the way, grabbing his gun from his waistband and holding it loosely to his side. Camden and I took a step back.
Swiftly, Javier kicked open the door and sprung into the room, his gun drawn. I grabbed my gun from my boot and followed after him, heart racing in my throat as we quickly searched the rooms.
When it was all clear, he waved at Violetta to come inside.
She crossed her arms and huffed her way into the middle of the apartment.
“My landlord is going to kill me,” she scowled and waved her hand at the broken lock on the door.
Javier didn’t smile. “That shouldn’t have been so easy. You need to be more careful.”
“Well, I’m taking off for a few days, isn’t that careful enough?”
He grunted and told her to go pack her bag. She sighed and disappeared into her room, muttering obscenities under her breath.
“Did you think you heard something?” Javier asked me.
“Why, because I was checking my gun and knife?”
He nodded.
“I was just being cautious, Javier,” I told him, slipping my gun back into my boot. “I have learned
He raised his brows in disbelief and I knew he was close to bringing up the foolish mistakes I’d made that allowed him catch me in the first place. I didn’t need the reminder that I wasn’t as good of a con artist as I thought I was.
I guess he could see the warning in my eyes because a small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth and he turned around.
Camden cleared his throat and I looked behind me at him. He was leaning his good shoulder against the wall near the door, observing us. I couldn’t read his eyes, though he was swallowing hard and his jaw looked tense. One hand was on his shot shoulder, pressing down lightly. I wondered if he was in pain or had been taking the pills when I wasn’t looking.
I was about to ask him when a god awful sound buzzed through the room, causing me to jump.
Javier whipped around. “What the hell was that?”
It sounded again, coming from the intercom. Violetta came out of her room, wiping her hands. She looked at our expressions and said, “Don’t worry, it’s probably just a friend” and went for the intercom. She pressed the button and asked, “Hola?”
There was no response.
That wicked feeling was sweeping through me again, causing all the hairs on my arms and neck to stand at attention. This was bad.
While Violetta tried the buzzer again, I ran to the window and looked out. The glare from the sun and the dirt on the glass made it hard to see through so I quickly went into Violetta’s room and out to her balcony.
There was a sea of roofs spreading out before us, the one right next to the building one story below. I craned my neck to look up at the building. I didn’t even know what I was looking for, someone who didn’t belong, I guess.
“What is it?” Camden asked, standing in the doorway.
“That feeling I had?” I asked. “I think we have to get out of here. Now.”
Suddenly the apartment erupted in gunfire and I heard Violetta scream. Instinctively, I ducked, pulling down Camden, and brought out my gun again. Violetta burst into the room as another round of gunfire went off and I quickly motioned for her to come onto the balcony.
“What happened?” I asked her frantically.
She was shaking her head and screamed again when more shots went off. The window in the living room exploded into a storm of shattered glass and then seconds later, a tall man went flying out of it. He landed on the roof below, only a ten foot drop, and then staggered to his feet. The minute he looked up at us on the balcony, he yelled something and pulled out his gun.
I was faster. I aimed, said a prayer, and squeezed the trigger. The gun roared in my hands and the bullet hit the man in his chest, causing him to fly backward. My first thought was,
Then Violetta let out a small sob and it hit me.
It was a good shot.
And I’d actually killed a man.
Me.
Suddenly I heard Javier’s voice ring out from the apartment amid the gunshots.
“Run!” Javier yelled.
Right. I quickly shook my head, trying to focus. There’s was only one place for us to go.
Camden was already climbing over the railing and helping Violetta over.
It was only a twelve foot drop or so. It wouldn’t kill us but it wouldn’t feel good either.
“Ellie,” Camden yelled, “come on!”
I nodded absently, still dazed, and brought my legs over the side of the railing just as Camden and Violetta dropped to the roof. Camden’s large frame landed with ease, sending the terracotta tiles of the roof flying, while Violetta quickly crumpled to her knees, her flip flops providing no traction. Within seconds Camden was helping her up.
The roof was almost totally flat, just peaking a bit at the spine, but I still had to be careful how I landed.
“Jump!” Camden yelled up at me as a bullet whizzed past my shoulder.
I turned to look in time to see Javier bursting through Violetta’s bedroom, simultaneously running toward me and shooting at someone who was in pursuit, the assailant’s gun aimed at me. Javier shot them in the shoulder and in seconds he was beside me, yelling “What the fuck are you waiting for, the circus?”
I stared at him for a moment, wondering why I felt relief coursing through me at the sight of him.
Then he put his hand on my back and pushed me off the balcony.
I screamed in surprise but managed to land in the right spot, my shins taking a beating but I still remained on my feet. Gunshots followed and Javier landed beside me seconds later.
“You ass!” I yelled at him.
“Keep running!” he yelled back and started sprinting past me.
Another bullet went screaming past my ear. Too many close calls and too soon. Too dangerous to even think about it.
I started running, the tiles sliding under my boots, following behind him. Camden and Violetta were a few paces ahead, slowing down as they came to the edge of the roof. Luckily the next building was the same height and there was no gap in between them. In fact, the sea of roofs on the block all seemed to be together, like one giant, distorted house.
Another gun shot rang out and beyond the thudding of my heart in my ears, I could hear the assailants landing on the tiles behind us. Motherfucking shit, they were persistent whoever they were.
We kept running and I willed my legs to move faster as we went from tile, to shingles, to gravel, to stucco, roof to roof to roof. Somewhere in our retreat, Camden and Javier got ahead of us and Violetta started to stagger, her flip flops causing her to stumble so often. I grabbed her by the arm and kept her upright and ran alongside her.
But I knew the men were gaining on us. And I knew we would run out of luck.
I squeezed her arm and told her to keep going and then I stopped and spun around.
A few yards behind us was a lean, dark-complexioned man with an eye patch, ready to take a shot at us. I pulled my trigger before he could, getting him in the stomach by accident.
The man went down with a scream, his gun shooting at nothing. Fucking Mexican pirate.
Unfortunately there were three more men behind him, albeit further back. I didn’t have much time to try my luck. I tried to take in a deep breath, my lungs burning from the air pollution and the exertion, and aimed at them. I fired off three rounds and hit only one of them. The remaining too kept coming.
