REFORMATION (Sample)

Chapter Five

She turned her head from the window to watch him again for the umpteenth time. This time, she was rather surprised to find him with his head leaning back against the headrest of the seat and his eyes, closed while his fingers were interlocked and placed between his thighs. He had a kind of serene expression on his face as if he was meditating. Her plan was that why he let his guard down, she would seize his gun, threaten him at gunpoint to let her get out of the car which after she would flee for her life and travel out of the country immediately before he or Gambetta could find her. Now, she watched him keenly and tentatively leaned forward, stretched her hand and quietly began to reach for the gun on the lying on the seat beside him. It had been years since she had shot one but she was certain she could get a hang of it, afterall, this was just a handgun and it was mostly what her father's guards used.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." His voice startled her and she tore her gaze away from the gun only to realize that his eyes were still closed and slowly, he turned his head to the side, opened his eyes to stare at her and she stopped with her hand midway to the gun. His eyes crawled over her arm as if measuring the the short distance left between her hand and the gun and what he said next made her gasp softly. "Give me your purse."

She straightened up on her seat, feeling nothing but despair and dread at being caught red handed. How had he known what she had been about to do? She had been careful and quiet enough and yet, he had caught her. Now protectively clutching her purse to her stomach, she suspiciously asked. "Why?" She eyed him warily.

"Just give me your purse." He opened his palm towards her.

She adjusted the strap on her shoulder and defiantly stared at his open palm. "No."

"Don't make me repeat myself, Andrea, your purse!" He ordered, his voice brooking no further defiance. When he realized that she wouldn't bulge, he suddenly reached for it and while she struggled to keep it from him, he ripped it off her body, ripping off one side of the strap and he unzipped it without taking his eyes off her and emptied the content of the purse on the seat. Among all the things she had in her purse, he took the three things that interested him for now- her local and international passports. He opened one and held each leaf up.

"What are you doing?" She blurted in fear due to the way he positioned his hold on the passports.

He held her gaze but didn't reply and she watched in horror as he ripped the passport into two. He did the same to the other two passports and threw them on the floor while she felt like bawling out in helpless tears. How had he known that she had her passports with her? Did he now read minds too? She stared in dismay at her torn passports on the floor then looked up at him as he spoke a bit aloud this time but not to her but to the driver in Italian. "tirare la macchina sopra." As he took his gun and slipped it into his waistband behind him, he selected the four credit cards among her pile of things which he had emptied on the seat.

(Pull the car over.)

The driver obeyed and pulled by the side of the bridge. Immediately, the door was opened by one of his guards and Dante grabbed her wrist and dragged her out, making her almost stumble as she got off the car. She looked around and realized that they were on a bridge with a vast flowing river underneath it and the his other escorting cars at the front and at the back of the limo had also pulled to the side of the bridge too and most of them besides the drivers had left the cars to come surround them both in a form of protection. Wondering why he had asked them all to pull over, he stepped on the curb bordering the railings and tossed the credit cards into the river and she was already panting in anger and dread of what he was going to do next when she heard him speak to one of his men in Italian just as his second in command was just closing the door of the car too after stepping out.