Diego held a stopwatch in his hand. He had driven them to a remote area and stopped on the side of the road. It was training day. He told her to get her sneakers on and run into the woods as if she was being chased by Armand’s gunmen. He was going to time her.
Navigating in the woods would be more difficult than to run on the streets. He did his own training that way when he started out. He thought it would give her the simulation of the real thing.
She was reluctant at first, she didn’t think it was a necessary exercise. Acting out her spoiled girl attitude and underestimating her circumstances was the first mistake she could do to jeopardize her own safety. It was almost impossible to convince her the kind of danger she’s really in.
“I’ll give you a two minute head start,” he said.
“And then what?”
“I’ll chase you.”
She was stretching her arms and legs at the edge of the woods. Her breaths were forming mist in the air that morning. She nodded.
“You have to run as fast as you can … two minutes head start is way more than what you’ll get in real life … find a place to hide if you need to catch your breaths,” he added.
She looked at him doubtful. “Okay.”
“Ready?”
She nodded.
He pressed the stopwatch, “Go.”
She sprinted into the woods. He watched her disappear and looked at his stopwatch. He looked around. They were totally alone. It was in the middle of nowhere, no one would stop there unless they were dumping bodies or whatnot.
He took a gun from his case and put the silencer on. He took extra magazines and stuffed them in his belt. At the two minute mark, he ran after her.
It wasn’t hard for him to track her. She left footprints everywhere and disturbed the leaves along the way. If her chasers bring sniffer dogs, she will be in even more trouble.
He found her hiding behind a big tree after 10 minutes in. The mist from her breaths were visible from a hundred meters away. He was careful in his movements, he can’t let her spot him if he wants it to be as real as possible.
She wasn’t even paying attention to her surroundings. She was just hiding and catching her breaths.
He aimed for the tree and took a shot at it.
She jumped and screamed, “What the fuck?” she turned to look at him.
He shot the tree again near her face this time.
“What the hell are you doing?”
He aimed the gun at her, his face was intense, “You’d be dead by now, run Ari … or I will shoot you.”
She looked at him in horror, not believing if he really meant what he said. “But …”
He shot the ground next to her feet, she jumped and screamed again. He shot the ground a few times after that and kept her on her toes. “Run Ari!”
She turned and ran as fast as she could. He followed right behind her.
She was panicking this time, she couldn’t figure out where she wanted to go. She was losing direction and all the while Diego kept shooting at things near her and almost grazed her skin a few times.
“What the fuck, Diego? Why are you shooting at me?”
He didn’t respond. He focused on preying on her and refilled his magazine to shoot some more. He was going to use all four magazines to hunt her down.
She was almost out of breath, but she kept running, she wasn’t sure what sick game Diego was playing. Maybe he was really going to shoot her. The thought had crossed her mind and kept her going in panic.
She stumbled a few times and got back up. Diego was right behind her and shot at her every chance he got. She was terrified the longer he let the game play out. She was really thinking he was going to kill her in that woods.
Her vision started to blur, she was running out of breath and panicking. She stumbled over a large root that was covered by leaves and fell on the ground face down. She couldn’t get herself back up this time, it was pointless, he was a lot faster than her, there was no way she could out run him.
She covered her face with her arms as she struggled to breathe. She heard his footsteps approaching, she couldn’t even form a word out of her mouth.
He stood over her with the gun still pointed at her, “There were at least 5 times you could’ve died … but now, you are definitely dead.”
She looked at him in horror, “Are you going to shoot me?”
He didn’t reply immediately, “Is that what you want?”
She was gasping for air and laid on the ground, “Just fucking shoot me already.”
“If you’re thinking about going back to him, I might as well just kill you now,” his eyes darkened, he really meant what he said.
Their eyes locked. She wasn’t denying it.
“I saw it in your eyes, Ari, you really think he’s not gonna kill you after all this? Just go back to him … kiss and make up? He killed your parents for God sake!”
“We don’t know that for sure.”
He shot the ground next to her head. She screamed.
“Really? Are we going back to that now? You have gotten this far to go back to that? What the hell is wrong with you?”
She stood up slowly, “I don’t know, Diego … why don’t you tell me? What the hell is this training for? I failed all your tests miserably, you said it yourself … I won’t last two days out on my own … So what’s the point? Huh?”
He lowered his gun, “Oh so you think going back to him is the most logical thing to do? Because he said all those things on TV yesterday? Hey I killed your parents but I love you? I need you to come back to me so I won’t be alone? And then he fucks those other girls because he loves you?” He was telling it right to her face.
She pushed him, “Shut up! Shut up!”
“No, I won’t shut up … has anyone ever told you that your life is worth fighting for? You can live without him, Ari, you were caged all through your life that you can’t even see there’s a whole world out there where Armand Lombardo doesn’t exist … and you can be free of his constant control of your sanity … or are you just too spoiled that every challenge you face only drives you back to him?”
“Damn if I do, damn if I don’t, Diego … I have a shitty choice right now, don’t you think? Where could I go now? He will find me, he said it, you said it, and he will … it’s only a matter of time, and what am I supposed to do? Turn into wonder woman in two days?”
“You should’ve thought about that before you plan all this, don’t you think? You think this is some kind of a game? Hire a professional to kidnap you and then change your mind because you can? Shit! Ari … I’m putting my life at stake here and for what?”
They paused.
The thought of her going back to Armand was even more horrifying than the thought of her running away without any survival skills. The way she reacted to Armand’s speech on TV the day before had somehow made him feel a little jealous.
“I can make a deal with him.”
He looked at her intensely, and took a deep breath, “My life is basically fucked the moment I accepted this job, isn’t it?” he ran his hand through his hair, “If you go back to him … than all this will be for nothing, I basically signed my death certificate when I agreed to this,” he kicked the ground.
“Shit! Tell me why I shouldn’t just kill you right now? And make all this worthwhile?” He walked over to her and pressed the gun to her chin.
Their eyes locked. She was trying to read him. As intimidating as he was with his gun to her chin, she felt something else was fueling his anger this time. It wasn’t just the stress of the job. It was something else that she was feeling too.
“I don’t know, Diego … Why haven’t you killed me? You had plenty of chances, it would make it easier for the both of us,” she held his hand and pressed the gun harder on her chin, “Please … help us both … maybe I should’ve hired you to kill me instead … but they say you don’t kill women?”
She can feel his breath on her face, the look in his eyes was intense, but it wasn’t because he wanted to kill her. She leaned forward and touched his lips with hers. The brute and angry assassin was a gentle kisser. She dug her fingers into his hair and pulled him closer, she slipped his tongue inside his mouth, she was taken by the tenderness of their kiss.
He had been wanting this ever since he had her under his surveillance. The kiss felt exactly like how he imagined it would be and more. But this was the woman who was thinking about going back to her husband just before she kissed him.
He broke away, “What are you doing?”
“I’m sorry …” she was surprised by how she felt as well, “I’m sorry I’ve got you in so much trouble.”
He held her arms, “I can kill him for you … and then we both will be free … it’s that simple.”
She was silent, then she covered her face. She had to make a choice between her own life and Armand’s, even then she couldn’t make the conviction of killing him. She started to cry.
He let out a long frustrated exhale and pulled her into his embrace. What the fuck had Armand Lombardo did to this girl? It was defying logic. She was smart and strong but when it comes to Armand, she turned into a whole different person.
Diego kept silent. It was useless. There was no way she will ever agree to it. There was no turning back for him. At that point, if he wants to have a peaceful retirement and maybe even start a family, Armand must die first. He will have to do it on his own.