SWNOVELS Chapter 30
Gifts
Chapter 30 — Flee-1
Daniel grabs me by the hand, pulling me to the south side of the room where a
terrace balcony runs. Kent is close behind us, providing cover. There's a door
there at the corner of the room and I'm filled with relief when I see it — but
suddenly, a man jumps in front of it —
Aman all in black, wearing a ski mask
I stop short and start to pull Daniel back, but my act is disrupted when I hear a
BANG at my ear and scream again, clutching the side of my face.
The man in front of us falls and Daniel bolts forward, dragging me with him, I turn
slightly to look behind at Kent and see a gun in his hand-
What the — how the hell did he
“Go, Fay!” he yells at me, clearly frustrated at my delay.
I nod and turn my attention back to Daniel, who reaches the door and pushes it
open, pushing me against the wall.
Kent darts out, quickly scanning — then I hear more noise, see his finger pulse
again as he shoots —
There are screams, thumps — I hardly have any time to process anything as Kent
yells “clear!” and Daniel pulls me through the door. We run ahead of Kent then as
he follows closely behind, watching our backs.
All of a sudden, I realize that there are bodies that we're stepping over — there's
blood on the ground — one of the men on the ground moans, reaching for his gun
and I skitter away. Before he can reach it, though, we're beyond him.
Panic is rocketing through me, so much that I can’t think, can only act — can only
follow Daniel wherever he’s leading me —
We run to the end of the terrace and wait for Kent to pass us. He goes down the
stairs first, expertly sweeping the area, firing efficiently at the threats he sees.
Daniel looks anxiously behind us, but no one comes through the door —
“Clear!” Kent shouts up and we start down the stairs. “Fucking hurry, Daniel!” he
shouts, and I almost stumble in my haste.
When we get to the bottom there is a moment of quiet where we huddle together
with Kent.
“Listen to me,” Kent says, his eyes darting between us. “I don’t know who did it,
but this is a setup, targeted at us. They want one of us — maybe all of us his eyes
shift to me, “Maybe just Fay. So we have got to get out of here, fast.”
66
Daniel and I nod and I feel my panic subside just a very little bit under Kent's
expert command. I trust him to know what to do.
His eyes sweep over me then, lighting on my stilettos. “Get those fucking things
off your feet,” he says and I hurry to pull them off, standing barefoot on the
cement at the bottom of the stairs. Then, he looks around once more.
“We're going to make a run for it,” he says, gesturing a hand out towards the golf
course spreading out before us. “Across the
into the darkness. Head for the trees, and then keep going. When I say go, you
two run.” He looks us in the eyes then. “Whatever you do. Don’t. Look. Back.”
I start to tremble, a little, and he steps close to me, taking my face sternly
between his fingers. “Do not fall apart on me now, Fay,” he growls. “Cry at home,
if you must. Never on the battlefield.”
I nod quickly, working to do as he says — pull myself together — and then he
crouches down, ready to cover us as we go. “One,” he says, and Daniel and I
crouch forward.
“Two,” we get ready, and then there's a long pause... almost look back, when
suddenly —
“THREE!” Daniel launches into an all-out sprint, my hand in his. I work hard to
keep up, but he’s faster, more athletic than
me-
Still, I push myself, willing my legs to whirl, to push, to run as fast as I can.
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Gifts
Chapter 30 — Flee-2
I hear the sound of gunshots ringing out behind us, of footsteps
At some point, something tugs on the back of my dress but then it's gone —
When we reach the treeline I look back, just a moment, and see that there's a
body behind me what tried to grab me —
Kent is about halfway behind us, running too, squeezing off live fire as he goes at
dark forms chasing him from the club —
Suddenly, though, he stumbles, grabbing his arm-
“Daniel!” I shout, slowing, trying to turn back —
“Come on, Fay!” Daniel yells, gripping my hand harder and yanking me forward.
“But your dad —”
“He told us to go! Don’t turn back!”
I hesitate, but the decision is made for me as Daniel's hand pulls me forward,
locked around mine. I follow him, my breath coming fast and sharp in my chest,
an ache rising in my muscles as I push, push.
trees — this one larger, a copse of pine.
When we're under their boughs, I fall to my knees.
“Please,” I pant, putting my hands down on the ground as well, ignoring the
spikes of old dry needles that press into my palms and legs. “Please, Daniel -" I
say, sucking air into my lungs “I just need — just one minute —"
“Okay,” he says, crouching down next to me, looking around warily. “I think...
think we may be okay for now — lost them —"
we may have
I nod, agreeing, but not really knowing whether or not he’s right. I concentrate on
the ground, on getting air back into my lungs, the sweet feel of it bringing clarity
to my thoughts, to my panicked emotions.
“What was that,” I ask, looking up at Daniel with worry and horror on my face.
He’s much calmer than me, both physically and mentally. “How are you so okay —
have you done this before?!”
He shrugs. “Once or twice,” he says, putting a hand on my shoulder. “It doesn’t
get...better. But you stop being so shocked, after your first time.”
Haugh ruefully, then, realizing that Daniel means that this won't be the last time
this happens to him, or to me. This is part of the life.
I open my mouth to ask more when a dark figure comes into sight. Both Daniel
and I scramble back-
“Dad,” Daniel says, rushing over to him. “Are you all right?”
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I'm fine,” Kent growls, but I can see
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that he's clutching his left arm with
his right hand. Daniel bends down to
look at it but Kent flinches away.
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Seriously, it's not deep,” he murmurs.
u« fs n
The phone is in my pocket,” he says
next, nodding down at his suitcoat.
“ P f
Get it out, text Carlos. Drop a pin to
let him know our location and tell him
" .
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Daniel nods, taking the phone out of his father’s pocket and following his
instructions. As he does, Kent turns his eyes to me. “Are you all right, Fay?
You're not hurt?”
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I shake my head no, but then realize
) >
that I'm trembling all over. He
“ »
watches me closely. “Um,” I say,
trying and failing to put a smile on my
“pr )
face. “I'm really okay? I don't know
”
why..." I look down to survey my
. . “ 1. ’
shaking limbs, “I don't know why I'm
S » 5
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I ’ . ”
You're in shock,” Kent murmurs,
coming closer to me and going down
)
on one knee so that we're face to
: “
face. He looks me in the eye. “I need
»
you to take a deep breath, Fay,” he
says. I open my mouth to protest — I
) 4
don't know why — but he interrupts.
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“No,” he says sharply. “No arguments. Just look at me.”
I do. I lock eyes with him, taking in his serious face, his steely control. The gun
still clenched in his left hand.
God damnit, I start to shake harder.
“With me, Fay,” he says, holding my gaze, speaking softly. “One,” he says, taking
a deep breath in. I do the same, pulling as
Then, again. “Two,” he says, taking another deep breath. I do the
same.
We continue like that for a while, until count fifteen, when Daniel interrupts.
“Okay,” he says. “Carlos is here —" he points into the darkness beyond the grove
of trees. “About five hundred feet that way, there's a road. Carlos is on it. He says
it's clear.”
“Let's go then,” Kent says, standing up. I stand up with him. He breaks my gaze
for a moment to hold out the gun to Daniel, who hesitates and takes it. Then, with
his free hand — slick with blood, I notice — he takes mine.
Kent nods to me. I nod back. And then the three of us quietly walk through the
night, Daniel running point, Kent walking quietly next to me.
I look down at our joined hands, then, as we head towards the car that will take
us home to safety and wonder, passingly, why it is Kent who holding my hand
right now. And not Daniel.
B
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