Trust Me

Chapter 26

The sound of the shattering glass died and silence took over. Ranalla could hear her own heart beating loudly. The weight of Vince's body pressed her into the couch. After what seemed like hours, she felt him move, which gave her a rush of fresh air. She changed position slowly as she looked around to gauge what had happened.

As he pulled back, Vince pulled himself off of Margaret, too. He had thrown himself over them as he caught a glimpse of the dark figures moving quickly toward the house. The flying glass soon followed.

Ranalla sat up and looked at her mother's bewildered face. Margaret gasped as she looked at Ranalla. Blood poured from a gash on her forehead from glass that had found its way to her. Her mother reached out to wipe the blood from Ranalla's face. Ranalla shook her head and looked around.

She saw Vince sprinting out of the room and through the door that led into the kitchen and to a back door. Pulling her eyes from his retreating back she was drawn to the various figures pouring into the front of the house that had been destroyed. Assault rifles were pointed in every direction. One man who appeared to be the leader motioned for two men to check out the right side where the kitchen was and others to check out the hallway that led to the bedrooms.

The same man moved forward toward the women who were visibly shaken. They stood up from the couch as the man reached up to remove his dark mask. A smiling face emerged. "Are you ladies okay?"

Margaret and Ranalla nodded. "What happened?" Margaret asked in shock.

"You're safe now." He turned to acknowledge the all clear from the others in the rescue team. "Come on. Let's get you out of here." He reached out to take each woman by the arm.

Ranalla looked over her shoulder toward the door she last saw Vince. Where had he gone?

Vince saw the men moving forward out of the corner of his eye. He only needed a second more of her father's attention to be distracted. He was given it.

As her father moved his finger to pull the trigger, Vince threw himself on the two women beside him. He had barely got them covered as he felt the glass fly forward. Pieces found themselves buried in his back as he threw himself on the women. As the noise of the shattering glass died down, he raised his head, where it rested on Ranalla, to see her father running out the back door located in the kitchen.

Without another thought, he shoved himself up and began running after the fleeing man.

He raced out the door into the bright sunlight as the sounds of rescuing footsteps could be heard in the living room. The figure of her father moved quickly into the thick woods. Vince caught a glimpse of his bright jacket. Increasing his speed, he moved forward and pulled the gun out of his back pants where he had left it to surprise her father.

The tree limbs swayed where the older man had shoved them aside. Vince followed the trail with increasing speed. His breathing became labored as he topped a small rise. Coming down off of it, he stopped short as he found the end of a gun pointed at him.

Her father stood smiling behind the weapon. "I knew you were good. That's why I hired you. In fact, you seemed almost too good. Now I know why."

Vince breathed heavy from his run. "Pull the trigger. Why wait?"

"Just one question."

"What?"

"Why? Which one of my projects was the reason you deceived me?"

Vince smiled. "None of them."

"What? None? Then why?"

"Margaret asked that we save her daughter."

"All of this for that worthless piece of crap?"

Vince raised himself up straight. "Need I say more."

"No, you don't."

Birds flew from the trees above at the sound of the gunshot.