Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 22760 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 114(@200wpm)___ 91(@250wpm)___ 76(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22760 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 114(@200wpm)___ 91(@250wpm)___ 76(@300wpm)
Marco tightens the grip on his gun and aims it at me. From this distance, I’m too far to rush him before he could get a shot off.
He opens his mouth as his finger squeezes the trigger, but then there’s a sound from somewhere behind him. At the last second, he turns his head, and the gun lowers. It’s my only chance to take him out, so while he’s distracted, I bend down and grab the butcher’s knife from where I dropped it.
I throw myself at him, and the weight of my impact causes him to drop the gun. We fall to the floor, but I’m stronger and quickly pin him to the ground. In the distance, Nolia tries to muffle her cries as I plunge the knife into his chest. Marco’s mouth opens in a silent scream, but there’s no sound before his eyes roll back. With one last twist of the blade, the last breath leaves him, and I grab the gun next to him.
“We have to go,” I tell Nolia as I hold out a hand to her. She looks at it, and that’s when I see the blood. Before I can wipe it off, she grabs my hand with hers and I’m pulling her behind me through the secret door. “Stay close to me,” I order as I pass her the extra gun. “Keep this but don’t shoot it unless we have to.”
“Okay,” she says, and her voice is strong. That’s my brave girl.
“There’s a car in the garage,” I whisper when we go through the back entrance to the first floor of the house. There’s another door that’s hidden, and it leads through the upstairs kitchen. “We can go through the kitchen and get out that way.”
“But what about all the guards?” Nolia asks when she peeks out and sees one pass by.
“Can you play along?” I ask and she looks confused before nodding her head. “All right then, come along, prisoner.”
Her eyes widen as I push open the door and grab her upper arm. “What are you doing?” she hisses.
I move my body so the gun she’s holding is behind her back while I keep my gun at my side like I’m using it to guard her. “Be quiet or I’ll show you what your mouth is good for,” I say a little too loudly, and Nolia blinks up at me.
“Hey!” The guard that’s patrolling the hallway stops in front of us and looks us over. “I thought she was supposed to be in the basement.” He narrows his eyes on me. “And you were supposed to be locked up?”
“Marco had a change of plans. He wants to take her to the party room,” I say, and the guard instantly relaxes.
He looks Nolia up and down with a sick grin and all thoughts of me being locked up float away. “All right. So we’re partying tonight?” he asks, still keeping his eyes on Nolia.
“Yes. Marco wants me to tell everyone to meet there now. He’s having the usual party supplies brought in.”
“Excellent. I’ll make the call.” The guard licks his lips and smiles at Nolia. “And I’ll see you there.”
He takes off in the direction of the party room, and Nolia lets out a breath I didn’t realize she was holding. “I wish I could kill them all with my bare hands,” I say.
“We can’t just leave,” she says as I pull her into the empty kitchen and open the back door.
“I have to make sure you’re safe. Then I’ll deal with everyone else.” I’m not going to argue this point with her. We are running out of time before someone notices we’re gone.
“Wait.” She pulls on my arm and points to the stove in the kitchen. “Isn’t that gas?”
I look at the cooktop, and understanding dawns on me. “That could work,” I say, and we hurry to it. “But we’ll have to break the gas line. If someone smells it too soon, they could turn off the burners.” Tugging the stove away from the wall, I see the gas line feeding to it. “Back up.”
When Nolia is behind me I raise my leg up and then drop my boot down on top of the gas line. When it snaps in half, the scent of gas begins to fill the room, and I go over to the microwave.
Grabbing a handful of metal forks from the drawer next to it, I toss them inside and set the microwave for five minutes. It won’t be enough of an explosion to burn the entire estate down, but it will create a distraction, and that’s what we need to escape.
“Let’s get out of here,” I say. I grab the keys next to the door, and we rush out to the garage.
We climb into the truck that’s normally used for deliveries, and I hit the button for the garage door. When it opens and I pull out, I can see a few guards in the distance heading for the party room. We don’t have much time now.