Her Bodyguard

Chapter Twenty-Six

There were two men lying on the floor, close to the main doors of the house. The bodyguards that had been stationed there were knocked out. One had a bleeding wound on his arm, and their weapons were nowhere to be seen. Calida sighed. The agency had sent trainees instead. The door hung open, and Calida could hear voices. She peeked inside the house. The lights had been dimmed a bit inside, but it wasn't dark yet.

Calida pulled out her gun and stared at it. Her boss would be mad if he had to do another cleanup. She made sure to check her magazine, and it was full. She'd expected this, but then, she'd hoped they would leave for Italy without any hassle. The air crackled with tension as she cautiously stepped closer to the door.

I could still hear the voices as I grew closer to the entrance. It echoed from inside. Too focused and already in a sour mood because she didn't know if Izar was safe or not, she leaned against the wall of the front door, measuring her breaths as she tried to slow it down while planning a calculated entry.

With one fluid motion, Calida walked through the doors, her gun in front of her. Two of the men turned in her direction, and Calida dug her hand into her jacket, pulling out the second gun from her holster. She pulled the trigger, wasting no time as her shots rang through the living room, hitting their target. Calida had the element of surprise on her side, and both men dropped to the ground. They were dead.

Calida knew the sounds of gunshots would attract chaos, and it did because the situation escalated as the remaining four men scrambled to the living room. Calida didn't wait for them to act. She ducked behind a wall immediately. Shots rang through the living room as Calida stood behind the wall. She took a deep breath, peeked at the men, and fired a shot.

One man gasped and hit the ground with a loud thud. The gunshots resumed. Calida frowned. The Agency would be mad about all the damage they were doing. But they were equally at fault for sending two incompetent bodyguards in training. When the shooting ceased, Calida emerged and pulled the trigger.

The bullet hit one of the men between the eyes. And the other one got hit right in the middle of his forehead.

"Bull's eye!" Calida grunted.

The last man was gone. The smell of gunpowder hung in the air. Calida looked around, and he was nowhere to be seen. He was probably out of bullets. She chuckled as she walked up the stairs.

"There's nowhere to hide, and you have no more ammo. Your options are kill me and leave, or don't kill me, and I kill you. I don't have all day, and I have to be in Italy soon," Calida said, shoving her guns back in her holster.

The open window let streams of light inside the wide hallway. The last man was standing at the end of the hallway. His eyes bore holes into Calida as he glared at her. She ignored his silly attempts at trying to frighten her. She'd just emptied her bullets into his friends, and he was only an insignificant thorn that needed to be pulled out. He could be dangerous for all she knew. She hadn't left anything behind that would lead Diablo to her, so how did he know where she was?

"So, what's it going to be? An easy death or a hard one? I'd go for easy if I were you," Calida said.

She'd had enough, and it was evident as she stood in the hallway. The man stared at his gun. The magazine was empty. He tightened his expression and threw the gun away, taking a combat stance instead. Calida chuckled at his weak view before making a move.

She was fluid, like liquid gold. Her movements were calculated. He had a weakness in one leg. His stance, but he seemed like a pretty good opponent, maybe.

He lunged forward when he thought she'd lost focus for a second. Calida moved, sidestepping him gracefully. She leaned backward to evade any more blows. Then she blocked a double jab and pushed the man back. He hit a door handle and groaned loudly.

He came for her again, and Calida grabbed him, blocking another blow. She elbowed him, hitting his ear. Calida had him off balance suddenly. She seized his arm and threw him against the wall. When she pushed him back, she punched him and hit his upper lip. A tooth came out of his mouth as he spotted a burst lip. He attempted to beat her, but she deflected it. Using a tight fist, she hit his Adam's apple. He stopped moving as he clutched his throat. Calida delivered another punch, this time to his temple. That was it. His head snapped in the left direction with a sickening crack.

"Well," Calida said quietly, catching her breath. "You'll not be the first to die from a blow to the head. I hope they use your body for the good of science or something."

Calida brushed her suit. There were blood stains on it now. She groaned she would have to change it before heading for the airport.

"Izar! Where are you? Izar! You can come out now," Calida yelled.

She heard a door creak open and turned in that direction. A disheveled and disoriented Izar walked out of the room. Their eyes met, and before Calida could warn her to stay away, Izar already had her hands around her bodyguard.

"It's alright now. You're safe. We're going to leave here," Calida managed to say, fighting the urge to touch Izar.

"I thought..."

"Shhhsh! Nothing, nothing will ever happen to you under my watch, not even a scratch. I'll ruin anyone who hurts you. Anyone at all." Calida said, pulling Izar away so she could look at her eyes.

When Izar gave her a nod, Calida walked her to her room with her hands over Izar's eyes so she didn't have to see anything gory.

"Go get ready. I'll pack the things in the car. I'll be back here by the time you're done." Calida told Izar.

Izar disappeared into the room while Calida carried the packed bags to the car. After a second trip, she decided to change into a clean suit. She grabbed a trash can and burned the old case in it.

Someone was selling them out, someone who was well aware of their location at all times. Calida couldn't stop thinking about it even as she helped Izar get to the car. She jumped into the driver's seat and started the car.

"In a few hours, we'll be in Italy. You'll be safe. We're going there to end everything. I know you think it's a bad idea, but it's not." Calida tried to convince Izar once more.

Izar looked out the car window. She was too shocked to say anything. She knew what Calida was trying to do, and maybe it was for the best. There was no other explanation for everything that was happening. She wanted this to end so she could take her bodyguard and return to how her life once used to be. The only problem was that she wasn't sure when that would happen. She had no idea if her life would ever return to normal after all the horrible ordeals she'd been through. But hope was the only thing Izar had left, and she would cling to it for as long as she could hold one. There was nothing else to do.