UNMASKED

#19

"What are you doing here?" Matthew asked as they sped along the road at a speed that was definitely not legal.

"You must have seen my note," Eli said with a grin that bordered on gleeful.

"I saw your stupid note and honestly hesitated to come and get your scrawny ass," Adria said, ignoring Matthew for the time being.

"And yet, you promised to do your best to make sure I don't die," Eli pointed out with a smug look that made Adria glare at him through the rear view mirror.

"Why is he even here," Matthew asked, deciding to ignore the two bickering. "He's supposed to be back in the apartment. Where it's safe."

"Then tell him that. The little shit ran off on his own."

"How?" Matthew asked, probably because he knew there were men supposed to keep an eye on the building just in case.

"I used the fire escape," Eli said, almost proudly. He didn't mention that he'd slipped and nearly died. Matthew probably wasn't ready to hear that particular detail.

"He tased one of my guys." Adria added.

"I said I was sorry."

"While you tased him." Eli didn't think Adria emphasizing that point was very helpful.

"Oh my God," Matthew groaned, as he lowered his face into his hands. Again, not a very helpful attitude to have.

"I only tased him because he wouldn't let me leave."

"Because you were going to get yourself killed!"

"Well, I'm alive so shows what you know," Eli said and, for one terrifying minute, thought Adria would let go of the steering wheel so she could turn and choke Eli to death.

To be fair, Eli might have been right about that. They just never go the chance to find out whether Adria would finally snap and murder Eli with her bare hands because that was precisely the point at which they noticed a couple of cars—three, in total, from the glimpse Eli got of them—speeding up to them.

"Fuck." Eli was almost amused that they'd all said that in unison.

He was not so amused when Adria stepped on it, mostly because Eli wasn't a fan of going at a speed that would end up with him as a smear on the pavement if anything went wrong. And sure, Adria seemed pretty confident about her driving skills, but Eli couldn't say he felt the same way. Still, Eli was willing to put up with her manic driving. If only because he didn't think the guys chasing them would have anything pleasant in store for them if they caught them.

As if to illustrate his point, the unmistakable sound of gunfire was heard a second later and Eli nearly had a heart attack when a bullet whizzed by him, punching a hole in the rear windshield. Not that Matthew was in any better shape.

The bullet might have missed, but it was a close call that had Matthew's face going white. Which meant it was shove-Eli-to-the-ground time. Eli didn't even complain as Matthew pushed him down, shielding him as best he could, as if the point of the whole trip wasn't to stop Matthew from getting shot.

"Stay down," Matthew said, voice sharp.

"Oh, did I have another choice?" Eli asked, feeling fairly fed up with the situation. There were only so many times one could almost get killed before annoyance won over fear.

"Motherfucker!" Good to know Adria was finding the whole thing about as fun as Eli.

They swerved—a sudden, jerky movement that had Eli slipping sideways while Matthew kept him relatively steady.