Chapter 9

As soon as I finished speaking, I heard the roar of an engine. A black sedan rushed onto the sidewalk. The car door opened, whereupon the rushed, frenzied sound of high heels rang out. It was the woman from the dungeon. Her eyes were bloodshot, her hair was in disarray, and she was holding a gun in her hand. "Lucio!" she screamed. "And you, you bitch—" A gunshot rang out. Lucio tensed, his right hand reaching instinctively toward his waist, but then he froze and didn't take anything out. Within that split-second, a second gunshot followed closely after the first. "Get down!" he bellowed in a deep voice, lunging toward me. We hit the ground hard. Lucio's chest was pressed tightly against my back, his full weight pinning me down. At almost the same instant, the shrill sound of bullets tearing through the air rang in my ears. I heard the tearing of fabric, closely followed by a muffled groan from Lucio. Warm liquid splashed against the side of my face, carrying a rusty stench.