Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 63895 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 256(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63895 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 256(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
Closer and closer and bang. A gunshot. The crew scattered, dropping to the floor and crawling for cover. Wyatt crouched with Doc behind a large outcropping of fake coral, which he sensed wouldn’t be bulletproof.
Still, it kept them hidden.
“Where did that come from?” Doc hissed, fear in her voice. She was used to healing, not wounding. This wasn’t her element. Wyatt had to make sure to keep her safe.
“From behind us,” he whispered back, seeing Mustang and Mimic on the other side of the castle, both of them holding jet-black pistols in their grip. Phantom was closer to the door than any of them, gun in his hand as well.
Wyatt didn’t have guns, but he did have other tools. In preparation for something like this, he had hacked into the aquarium’s security system. He opened his phone and went directly into the interface, tapping a button that set off every alarm in a five-mile radius. The sound was blaring, ringing through his skull as if the speakers were set directly between his ears. He pressed another button, and floodlights turned on, lighting up the entire outside area.
“There!” Phantom shouted, dipping out of cover and taking three shots. “They’re behind the ice cream hut. I think I got one of them.”
Doc ducked down and covered her ears. Wyatt put a reassuring hand on her back and tried to think of anything else he could do that would give them an upper hand.
“Got another one!” Phantom said over the teeth-rattling alarm. “I think that was the fucker that shot me in Paris, too.”
“Should only be one left,” Mimic said, shouting to be heard. “I’ll give you all cover. Run to the car. Now!”
Wyatt helped Doc up by the arm and pushed her in front of them, shielding her as they ran toward the door. Gunshots rang in all directions, although it sounded like Mimic was the one shooting off most of them. Wyatt’s pulse pounded, his mouth dry. Panic and fear and exhilaration and adrenaline all mixed together, sharpening his senses, making this all feel surreal.
He ran, bursting through the door, right behind Mustang and Doc. Phantom popped up next to him, the ghost of a man performing his disappearing acts even in the middle of a shoot-out. They ran toward the neon blue BMW, throwing open the doors and jumping in.
“Where’s Mimic?” Mustang asked, looking at the door. She turned the car on, engine roaring to life. The gunshots slowed down, replaced by the roaring alarm. Wyatt had a moment of cold dread enter him as he looked at the closed door, willing it to open.
Come on, Mimic, come on.
Mustang inched the car forward. They couldn’t wait much longer; the alarm would attract the entire Miami Beach police force, and that would be game over—once again.
No, they had to make their run for it. But they couldn’t leave behind one of their own. Wyatt wouldn’t allow that to happen, either.
“I’m going back,” Wyatt said, opening the door, ignoring the tremble in his shoulders. He had to make sure she was okay. Had to get her out of there. Had to—
“There! There she is,” Mustang said, relief flooding her voice. Mimic ran out of the back door of the coral castle and went directly toward the car, jumping into the back seat, breathless but smiling.
“What are you waiting for, babe? Let’s go.”
She leaned forward and gave Mustang a kiss, the two of them smiling as Mustang slammed down on the gas, launching them forward and away from the aquarium. Their hideout had been blown, but at least they were still together, and their plan was still solid.
We’re coming for you, Roman, Wyatt thought as he lowered the window and let the cool ocean breeze swirl all around him, the tall buildings of downtown Miami getting smaller in the distance as they drove, crossing a rainbow-lit bridge and heading north.
Chapter 5
Roman Ashford
The sun beat down on the yard, making the red rubber floors hot and the workout equipment even hotter. Men hung out in clearly delineated groups, the inner workings of the prison on obvious display. Many stayed with their own groups while a few veered away, causing trouble or at least trying to. The electrified fence surrounded the entire yard. The only thing around them was dirt and desert, with a couple of hills rising up in the distance.
Roman took in every tiny little detail, sifting through it as if he were looking for gold in a river. There had to be something that would help them get out. A break in the fence, a set of doors that could be unlocked, a way to jump over the fence. He sat with Bang Bang on a tiered bench, a couple of other men sitting a few levels above them.
“What about the weight machine over there?” Bang Bang asked with a subtle motion of his head toward some workout equipment near the fence.