Page 50 of His Savage Bride
I see her answer the phone and watch her mouth moving as she says, “I assume that’s you across the lot?”
“I’m going to open the rear door, and Jacob is going to come to you. Send Gregory over to me,” I instruct her as I reach over and push the button to automatically open the hatch. “Did you hear me?” I call to the rear of the Explorer. “Get out there and go to your mother.”
“I’m going, but you’ll see me again, you murderous cunt,” Jacob hisses as he thrashes his way out of the back of the Explorer and gets his feet under him. “This isn’t over, you hear me?”
He’s still running his mouth as he walks past my window. I’m glad I left him handcuffed as even in his crippled state I wouldn’t trust him not to try something against myself or the Bianchi boy. For his part, Gregory glances at Irina once Jacob starts walking over, and at her nod, he jumps and races over towards my Explorer.
I roll down my window so that I can talk to him, intending to ask him to raise his shirt and let me check him for any surprises, like the one I sent with Jacob. That thought is chased out of my head, however, when Jacob reaches Irina and jumps into theback of the van just as she pulls a pistol from behind her back and levels it at me.
“Get down!” I scream at Gregory as I duck behind the dashboard. Bullets shatter the windshield in front of me as I twist the key on the detonator that I had ready at hand. A red LED lights up the button, and I slam my thumb down on it, then release it, again and again.
I didn’t need to keep pressing. As soon as I release it the first time the van in front of me explodes, sending Irina Volkov sprawling as she’s peppered with shrapnel. As I look over the dash, I see a mushroom-shaped fireball ascend into the sky as the van is immolated in flames. I reach a trembling hand over to the handle and open my door, trying to see if Gregory is okay.
I see the young man cowering in the grassy ditch just in front of the Explorer. “Get up! Come on!” I yell at him, just as I hear the screeching of brakes behind me. I turn towards the sound and see an old green pickup truck has pulled up behind my Explorer. There are two men inside, and as the driver begins to get out, I can see he’s holding a gun.
I leave the door open and run around the front of the Explorer to grab Gregory just as a gunshot rings out behind me. “What do we do?” Gregory gasps at me as I pull him down.
“I don’t…” I start to say when a black Expedition that I recognize immediately roars across the parking lot and slams into the open driver door of the green truck, pinning the man shooting at us. I can hear him scream as more gunshots ring out, and I realize Jamie and Chris have come to my rescue.
“Move!” I order Gregory. I pull him around to the driver side of the Explorer and open the rear passenger door, shoving him into the backseat. I slam the door and see Chris through the open passenger window of the Expedition behind me. He’s wearing a ski mask, but I recognize his voice when he calls out to me.
“You guys all right?” he yells.
“We’re fine, get out of here!” I wave him off.
“What about her?” he asks, waving with his pistol behind me.
“Just go!” I repeat as I climb back into the driver’s seat. The Explorer is still running, and I see what Chris was referring to when I spot Irina crawling across the parking lot, trying to reach the gun that had flown from her hand in the explosion. Blood is blossoming all over the back of her pants and jacket from dozens of wounds, but she’s still moving, and in an instant, I make a decision. This will be the last time I encounter this bitch. This ends right here.
I drop the Explorer into drive and bounce across the grassy ditch, then angle the wheels and run her over. I can hear her scream as the SUV thumps once, then twice across her. I come to a squealing stop, drop the Explorer into reverse, and back over her again.THUMP, THUMP.
I pull back far enough to get a good look at her body, twisted and mangled, then drop back into drive and accelerate over her one more time for good measure, making sure to angle the tires for her head.
Jamie and Chris have already pulled out of the parking lot, and I weave my way out into the street behind them. I glance into the rear-view mirror and see people running from around the park towards the commotion, but no one was close enough to get a good look at what happened.
“Who are you? Do you work for my dad?” Gregory gasps at me as he gets situated in the back seat and fastens his seat belt.
“I’m your rescue. Now hush,” I admonish him as I dig Maximo’s phone out of my purse, then scroll through his contacts while trying to concentrate on getting back to the highway. I find Jamie’s contact information that he had given me earlier, then type the numbers into the burner phone.
“Jamie? It’s Constance,” I tell him as soon as he picks up. “Thanks for the help back there.”
“It was good that you had us on standby,” he replies. “Your ride is pretty fucked up; those bullet holes are going to make it noticeable.”
“I’m going back to the estate now with Gregory. I’ll park it in the garage until I can make some sort of arrangements to get rid of it…”
“Don’t worry,” Jamie interrupts me. “I got a guy that does auto glass. He delivers things for me while going around town doing repairs. I’ll get him out to fix the glass, then once it’s presentable, we’ll get the Explorer to the junkyard and dispose of it. You just park it and I’ll make the calls. Sound good?”
“Yeah, sure. Thanks again, Jamie.”
“It’s not a problem. You did all the cooking, Constance, the least I can do is the dishes, you know? Now, I’m going to call Tony and have him ready to go when you get back. He’ll get Gregory back to his father. Is the kid all right?”
I glance back at the young man who is shivering in the seat behind me. “You okay, Gregory? You’re not hurt, are you?”
“I don’t think so,” he replies before I see a tear race down his face. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared in my life. What…what is all this about? What’s going on?”
“Your father will explain everything. We’re going to get you home soon, okay?”
“Okay.” He exhales a heavy sigh of relief. “Okay. Thank you, whoever you are, for saving me.”
