LINDEN
“Grace? I called her name again, but she entered the driver’s seat unscathed.
When I turned around, pointing a gun at the quick, heavy footsteps in our direction, I saw Jasper instead. I couldn’t contain my happiness. Relief filled my chest to see him alive. I ran towards him.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” His eyes widened to see before he hugged me tight. I could see he was also happy to see a familiar face.
“I could ask the same thing.”
“Can we cut the reunion short?” Called out Grace.
We sprinted to the car. I took the passenger’s seat. Jasper went to the backseat, and Grace hit the gas towards the main road.
“How did you two get here together?” Amused, he asked.
Grace ignored his question. Instead, she said, “Let me guess, you’re burned. Your cover is blown.”
“We are supposed to meet a buyer today, but Ilya suddenly felt unease in the morning, the paranoid he already was. I instantly knew something was going on. When he asked me to pick up the package from the shipping container that just arrived, my gut told me something else. He changed his mind at the last minute. Someone was waiting for me there to kill me and stuffed me in the drum and threw me into the ocean. That’s how he dumped three of his men last week.”
“Jesus Christ.”
“And that one you just killed?” Grace drove crazy to escape Ilya’s territory, even if this was all Vasilyev’s. Until we crossed the border, we were in grave danger.
“Two, you mean? If I was just three seconds late, you two almost got in the head.”
“Thank you, brother.” I patted his knee.
Jasper gripped my shoulder. “I wouldn’t even ask why you were in my post. Why are you both here?”
“The list is stolen. You’re compromised, Jas. I’m sorry, man,” I answered instead.
“How did that happen?”
“I would love to say, I hope computer doesn’t exist,” Grace answered. “Vermont hacked the system and stole only that file, called Kappa. I came as soon as I was informed, and then I found Linden lurking in your post.”
“What are we gonna do now?” he asked.
“Hopefully, no one will follow us, and we can get all home safe.” Grace took a quick U-turn.
“And you, Gabe, why are you here? Shouldn’t you be coloring room and assembling crib?”
“I broke up with Estelle to save your ass,” I said the shorter version as I glanced at the side mirror for possible hostiles. So far, so good, but my pulse was still accelerating as they could follow us to the crossing or shortcut in the road.
“What the fuck, Gabe? Why the fuck did you do that?” Jasper asked, not sure if he was surprised or horrified.
“Tell you later.”
“I should be humbled that you chose me over Estelle, but that’s the stupidest idea you ever told me. How far are we, Grace?”
“Three miles out. We’re actually going there since you reported late and expected to find you there. So you came empty?”
“Not really.” He picked up something from his jacket and showed a brown ledger.
“Son of a bitch.” I laughed. Jasper laughed as well.
As we got far outskirts, the weather got chilly. The fog was getting thicker. The road was pretty empty, and the more hostile it was, as the enemies could come from anywhere.
Grace quickly noticed my uneasiness. “I’m driving as fast as this car can.”
“Where did you even get this piece of shit anyway?”
“Where did you get your gun? It doesn’t look like a standard issue at Osmium.”
“Bought from the local thug with twice the price as in the store.”
“I can’t believe you came back for me,” Jasper said in amusement.
“My father-in-law just blackmailed me. I can’t let him win. The next time I face him, I’ll make sure I face him with my fist first.”
“He’s a monster-in-law, huh?” He chuckled.
“More like an evil-in-law. He conspired with Weston to take Estelle out of the chair position. But I couldn’t let that happen. Moses did the magic in the stock market so Cade and I could buy the shares. And they were too confident and willing to sell. He and Weston ended up being kicked as the shareholders.”
“So you and Cade now have shares in your wife’s company?”
“Yeah. That’s why Gustav keeps grudges against me. He paid someone to sabotage the launching of Star Cosmetics products. A TikTok star reviewed the products. It was a mess. Her videos were trending for two days, and the sales and orders dropped drastically. My poor wife barely ate and slept. So, I helped investigate. After we found out Gustav was the culprit, Estelle decided to file a complaint against the woman and leave her father alone. I confronted Gustav.”
“And blackmailed you in return.”
“Yeah. That son of bitch has a photo of you and Ilya. I’m sorry, Jas. It’s all my fault.”
“Partly, brother. It’s Weston’s fault, and I know what I signed up for. This job is dangerous. And now I should apologize for your marriage and for putting your life in danger here with me. And I appreciate your effort.”
“We got company. Hostiles inbound, six o’clock.”
I looked at the side mirror as soon as Grace informed us. “Shit. How many rounds you got?”
Two Mercedes Benz G-Class were tailing us with our old model Toyota Corolla.
“I have one extra clip,” Jasper confirmed.
“Mine too,” Grace affirmed.
“I don’t have extra ammo.”
“And we’re still three clicks away,” Grace said nervously.
“And then what? There’s no military post in that area,” I said.
“Do you think I don’t know that?” Grace exhaled loudly.
The bullet started flying in our direction. I ducked my head. Even if I fired, hitting the hostile tailing us wouldn’t be successful, and I had to conserve my ammo when this situation got tough.
“I hope your motorboat still works.”
“Just keep driving,” Jasper told her.
“It helps me calm when I talk.”
“You two shouldn’t have come to me. I can manage to escape alone. I have a plan.”
“Just shut up.” I blindly fired back.
“Those motherfuckers will never leave me alone from now on.” Jasper began shooting. “You will be all in danger.”
“They’re close and targeting the windshield. The next time they shoot is the tire. We’re over without backup. Just shut up and stop whining about why we’re here.”
“So your multi-million dollar company is useless when their boss is in danger?”
“No one knows I’m here, Grace. I didn’t want someone to tip off Gustav and call Ilya. My last resort is my wife finding the letter.”
I was shooting back while Jasper laughed out loud. I could read him if he was nervous or too calm and confident.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. You broke up with Estelle, but you depend our lives on your angry wife. Why the fuck did you do that? Nice plan, man.”
“Well, when my family is involved, I tend to act based on my emotions, asshole.” I laughed nervously. “Honestly, I’m terrified. I still wanna see and apologize to my wife.”
“I’m dying here anyway, so the least I could do is fight back, kill those fuckers, and die for my country. And what letter was that?”
The back windshield broke, and glass scattered.
“Love letter. Are you okay?” I asked Jasper.
“I’m fine. Not hit.”
I heard something from a distance, but it was interrupted by a loud splash of air. I could say we were still lucky that the car didn’t fly and exploded in the air with us inside.
They just shot the tire. And they were getting closer. And we were closer to our deaths.
“Shit. I didn’t expect to die and be killed by these assholes. Ilya will gladly rip my head off my body and throw my dick to his Laika.” While the car struggled to move forward, Jasper kept talking.
I closed my eyes and thought of going home to my wife, my family, and the people I loved. If I wouldn’t make it, at least I tried to save Jasper and my marriage, but I wouldn’t get the chance to hold the child. That was a bummer.
“Shut up. No one will die today. Except them.” The moment those words came out of Grace’s mouth, an explosion erupted behind us, leaving a colossal smoke behind.
“What the fuck? Did I just hit him?” He thought he did that. Jasper just turned lunatic, laughing wildly in the backseat.
“That was close,” Grace expressed.
When I looked through the windshield, a familiar helo came into view— a military helo. That explained what I heard. It must have been close all this time.
“Well, I thought your bullets magically turned into an RPG.” I chuckled, somehow relieved.
“Well, shit. They’re backing,” Jasper said as we watched the last hostile make a U-turn.” Let me guess, our backup?”
“More likely our rescuer.”
The tire screeched against the asphalt, and the car skidded to a halt. The helo landed in the middle of the road.
“Are you sure it’s here to rescue us?” Grace asked.
“Only one way to find out.” I climbed out of the car with bullet holes but remained alert and kept my gun ready on my side.
“You look like shit!” Lynx just jumped down the helo, fully geared up. And I’d never felt so relieved to see a familiar face after we were just followed and shot by Ilya’s men.
“It’s ours,” I told Grace and Jasper.
“Good to see you.” I hugged Lynx.
Sax, Quinn, and Kye followed.
“You have a big explaining to do to your wife.” Kye hugged me tighter. “Jesus, you made us all worried. Please, stop doing that. No one is capable of running Osmium but you.”
“I know.”
“I could punch you, but watching you like in a Fast and Furious movie, I’m giving you a pass.” Sax fist-bumped into me.
“Thank you, brother. For having my back.”
“I’m glad you’re okay.”
They went to hug Jasper and introduced them to Lynx.
“Are you ready for exfil before reinforcements arrive?” Quinn asked.
“This is Grace,” I told them, and they just smiled as everything became clearer.
Sax raised a brow at Grace. “So you are the reason behind his secrecy, huh?”
“If I tell you, then I have to kill you.” Her answer made everyone laugh.