Ava's POV

“Oh shit.” Mina glances in the direction of the siren growing louder with every second.

“Come on. Let's go!” Grabbing Jennie's backpack off the floor, I zip it up before strapping it on.

I step over Yuko's bloody corpse, her wide open eyes gazing at the sky. Just as I reach the back door and open it, Mina's stifled snort from behind me makes me turn around.

“What the fuck are you laughing at?” I demand, one hand holding the door open.

Mina grins. “You look… so ridiculous with Hello Kitty on your back.”

I roll my eyes, suppressing the urge to curse her off, and run through the door. Mina follows, the slam of the door barely heard over the deafening sirens. They are really close, and we have to get out of here right now.

The “backyard” connects to an alley leading out to an empty street. Dogs bark all around us, pawing at the enclosures as Mina and I run past them. The ground still contains leftover puddles from a recent rain, so the water splashes onto our clothes as our boots slam against them.

The faint shouts of police behind us lets me know that they're already in the flower shop and have seen the bloody mess.

“There!” I point at an older black Nissan Pathfinder. I run towards it, Mina's footsteps following close.

I try the driver's door and it doesn't open, so I resort to breaking the window with my arm. The sound of glass shattering and car alarm echoes throughout the street as I unlock the door from inside and brush away the glass from the seat before bending down to hotwire the car.

“What the hell are you doing?” Mina yells.

“What the fuck does it look like I'm doing?” I grunt as sparks fly from the wires. “Come on, come on,” I mutter under my breath as I coax the wiring to work.

“Couldn't we have found a taxi?”

“Are you fucking crazy? Does it look like we have time to hail a taxi, your highness?” The car finally roars to life. “Yes!”

I sit back up and glance to my left. Mina stands there with her arms covering her ears. I look back and through the heavy, gray exhaust emitting from the pipe, I catch a glimpse of red and blue lights.

“Get in!” I bark at Mina. She complies and runs around to the passenger side and  hops in. As soon as she slams the door shut, I shift gears and press on the gas. The tires squeal as they gain traction and the car lurches forward. I glance in the rearview mirror and three squad cars appear in view. I take a right turn before I accelerate.

“You could have taken the Audi instead of this rusty old garbage,” Mina grumbles.

“Would you like to try hotwiring a car running on computers?” I sharply turn the steering wheel to the left, drifting into the next street. The nearest squad car slams into the building, fire bursting out of the hood.

I glance into my side mirror. Through the dark, I can make out two more police cars. I hit the pedal all the way to the floor as the speedometer reaches its limit.

“Holy shit!” Mina yells as I make another sharp turn, smoke flying from the wheels as the car drifts. This time, the police cars make the turn, only for one of them to overturn and catapult in the air. It crashes feet away from our rear bender before exploding into flames. The remaining police car rushes past the debris and keeps up with us.

“Make a u-turn here,” Mina says. I glance at her pointing to the next right turn.

“What?”

“Just trust me!”

I don't trust her one bit, but if she's saying what I think she's thinking...

Shifting the gears, I press on the brakes and abruptly turn the steering wheel to the right. The tires squeal as I make a u-turn into the parallel street. The police car behind us makes the turn as well, only to crash into the dead end which greets them. The car disappears through the wall, the bricks flying behind them as I slow down and pull into the next street.

Nobody chases us anymore as I drive at a normal speed to avoid suspicion. With Fox's and Yuko's bodies back at the flower shop, I've definitely stirred up unnecessary attention. The police will have questions, and even though none of us ever wear KSD logos or anything that even suggests the name, interest will be piqued.

“So what's next, huh?” Mina interrupts my thoughts. “What did that note mean that you know where they are? Where are we going?”

I take a deep breath.  “We're going to see a friend of mine, who will hopefully help us out without any issues.”

Mina scoffs. “Hopefully. Yeah, that's reassuring. You still haven't answered where they took Jennie.”

“Maybe I would have answered if you're not interrupting me all the ti–”

“Like this?” Mina interjects. I glare at her as she grins at me.

“She's at Montague-Court building in Brooklyn.”

“What? What would she be doing there? And isn't that building–”

“Closed? Yeah. Eve took ownership a few years back and sort of turned it into a front for the KSD, since a lot of our clients have recently been in NY. That's why we're seeing my friend, because we need a helicopter to get there in time. They'll be on the roof, most likely.”

Mina inhales sharply. “And how are you going to get your friend to help you?”

“She owes me a favor. Plus, I can bribe her. Money always talks.”

“Do you have enough money?”

“About… twenty grand on me.”

Mina scoffs. “Okay, well, that's not enough to bribe anyone.”

“What, do you have money just laying around?” I glare at her for a brief moment.

“No, but Jennie does.”

Before I can ask, Mina unzips Jennie's backpack and takes out a stack of $100 bills.

“Jennie's parents make her take 60k around with her in her backpack, so this plus 20k should be enough. Unless your friend is a greedy idiot.”

I'm still surprised at this, but I don't have time to question it. “Alright, just put everything in a bag and have it ready.”

I dig into my pockets with one hand and hand the two stacks of $100 bills, which I also always carry around for emergencies. I have another stack, but I'm not about to give that up. When Mina finishes with the money, I decide to bring something up.

“So how come you know those stuff you did back there?” I ask.

“Why should I tell you anything?”

“Because if we're going to be a team and save Jennie, I need to know who the fuck you are.”

Out of my peripheral vision, Mina turns towards me. “Shouldn't that go both ways then?”

I scoff. “Okay. I kill people, specifically men, who hurt women. And I'm betraying the same organization that raised me for Jennie. Your turn.”

Mina slumps back into her seat and looks out the window. “Jennie's parents made me take private lessons from all sorts of different individuals. Former military, kung fu masters, and professional marksmen. They wanted me to be able to have the skills to protect Jennie if and when the time comes.”

“Does Jennie know about any of this?” I turn onto a dark road with no street lights.

“She knows I've trained in combat. That's about it.”

“Hmm.” I pull into a driveway, rocks crunching under the tires as I drive a little uphill.

“Where are we?” Mina asks.

“At that friend's place I told you about.” I park the car and turn off the headlights. “Stay here.”

I step out of the car and softly close the door. The three-story concrete building towers over me as I approach the tall, silver front door. The place is dark save for one room that has a dim light. I glance to my right as I step onto the stairs. My friend's black Jeep is parked in front of the garage, so there's a high probability that she is–

“What the fuck are you doing here?” A woman's voice growls on my left side as the sharp cocking of a gun pierces the air.

“Nat, it's me. Ava.” I raise my empty hands in a surrender.

“I know it's you. KSD has a fucking bounty on your head, you traitor.” The cold metal barrel of the gun presses against my scalp. “Give me one good reason as to why I shouldn't blow your brains out.”

“You owe me, Nat,” I say calmly. “And you know exactly what I'm talking about.”

Nat scoffs. “You couldn't even get the job done well.”

“Sure didn't seem like it back then. You were very satisfied afterwards.”

“Yeah, I didn't want to shatter your ego.”

“My ego??”

“Ava, you got an ego the size of fucking Europe.”

“Point is, Nat.” I lower my hands and turn to face her. The barrel switches to the front of my forehead. She's wearing a mask and a camo T-shirt with brown combat pants. “ You told me you'd return the favor.”

“I don't think this is what I had in mind.”

“I saved your fucking life. What's stopping you from doing the same?

“Uh… not getting hunted down as well?” Nat readjusts her grip. “What do you want from me anyway?

I raise an eyebrow. “Your helicopter. We need to get to the Montague-Court in Brooklyn.”

“Couldn't you have taken a car?”

“Not with the time and my plan.”

“I'm not helping you, Ava. Sorry.”

“How about for money, Nat? Will you do it for that?”

Nat ponders for a second and scrutinizes me. “How much?”

Finally got her attention.

“80k.”

She raises both eyebrows in surprise. “You got that money here?”

“Yep. Mina.” I gesture towards her. I've completely forgotten about her, but at least she has stayed near the vehicle like I ordered her to. “Get the bag of cash and throw it here.”

Mina doesn't say a word as she flings the trash bag towards me. It lands a few feet away from Nat as a few stacks of bills fall out. Nat glances at the money and back to me.

“You said 80k?’ she asks.

I nod. “80 grand. In clean bills. You give us your helicopter, and you'll be a 80k richer. It's either that, or the only thing that will water this grass is your blood. And we both know, you are no match for me. Ego or not.”

Her mouth twitches through her mask before she finally removes the gun. She keeps one eye on me as she picks the money up and looks into the bag as she weighs it in her hand.

My heart stills as she ponders for a few seconds and glances between me and Mina, then back to the bag before waving her gun at us dismissively.

“Fine. You know where everything is,” she finally says the words I needed to hear. A huge pressure lifts off my chest, since I really, really, don't want to kill her.

“Thanks, Nat. I appreciate it.” I gesture to Mina that it's time to go.

“Hey,” Nat says. I stop and turn around. “You really doing all of this for a girl, huh?”

“Yes Nat. And I'll be damned if I don't get there in time to save her.”

Word Count: 1932