One Way Ticket to Anywhere | ✔️

Chapter 16

Chapter 16:

"Sebastien Koyombo, as I live and breathe. I never thought I'd see you again." An African man with a heavy accent said, stepping off the motorcycle and throwing his leather jacket over his shoulder. He had about 7 other men with him all well built and heavily armed.

Was this him?

Had Muuaji found us?

I looked over at Sebastien's impassive face. I wish I could tell what he was thinking.

The man that had spoken stepped closer to us and I gulped, my palms clammy from anxiety.
He came so close to us I could almost taste the smell of old cigars that rested on his pallet.

"Muuaji is getting closer. The locals tell me you've been here for almost a month. How fucking stupid are you? It's like you're begging to get caught." Looking straight at Sebastien he said, "Have you forgotten everything I've taught you?"

I blinked. Was this man trying to help us? I was dumbfounded.

"How do I know that you're not working with him again, Kutoboa? How do I know that this isn't all a trap?" Sebastien's voice was clipped and guarded.

Who was this man? And who were his men? How many fucking man could one man even employ? I was so glad I hadn't decided to take my chances with Muuaji.

The man-Kutoboa, unbutton his pants and let them slip down to his ankles. He stood there, half-naked, and pointed to a scar on his inner thigh in the shape of an M. "I was branded by him. I have the mark of a traitor. I got it after I helped you escape all those years ago."

"Where is Muuaji now?" Sebastien asked as Kutoboa pulled up his pants.

"Athens."

Sebastien's eyebrows raised in alarm and he grabbed my hand.

"Raegan, we need to leave now."

Kutoboa turned his head to me as if noticing me for the first time. "This is her? This is the girl?"

Sebastien's grip on me tightened. "Where can we go that's safe, Kutoboa? Where are you heading?"

"We're heading to Amsterdam. We have a safe house there that should keep us hidden for at least a while. As long as you're not stupid." He looked directly at me as he said that.

Yes, I was the stupid American who had gotten herself caught up in a gang war.

Sebastien's eyes flicked over to me, but he didn't make eye contact. "I'll take care of her. She'll be under my watch."

March 21st, 8:34 PM
Amsterdam, The Netherlands

We had immediately boarded the private plane that Kutoboa owner. Sebastien and I hadn't spoken on the entire flight over. I had told him I loved him and he had claimed me as his property.

It was awkward all around.

I was shoved into some rundown apartment on the edge of the city. Sebastien, Kutoboa, and his men had left the apartment to "patrol the area" or some bullshit like that. They had left one man to watch the apartment. More accurately though, they had left him to watch me.

The room I was in had one window and we were on the third floor. About two rooms away was a fire escape that led to the street. It was connected to my room with a thin railing that rested right under my window.

It would be an easy escape.

Now this was exactly the type of stupid thing they had told me not to do. But I was angry at Sebastien for leaving me in fucking Amsterdam with a fucking guard outside my door. I was angry at him for claiming me as his property. But most of all, I was angry at him for not loving me when we'd been through hell and back together.

So I slid open the window, walked cautiously across the railing, climbed down the fire escape, and hopped down onto the street. I walked carefully for the next few blocks because I knew Kutoboa and all of them were in the area, but once I made it out of the neighborhood, I rejoiced.

For the first time since I had been out of the States, I was alone and not chasing after Sebastien.

I felt as free as I had on that flight to Venice all those weeks ago.

I breathed in the air that smelled of cannabis, marijuana, wet fish, and incense. "Coffee shops" were around every street corner and people were stumbling out of bars with smiles so big, they could only be as high a kite. Neon lights lit up the dark night and the buildings that were squished together like dominos stretched on for miles. The canals gave me flashbacks to Venice. The last city that I had felt like this in.

The feeling of nothing but the buzz of travel. No gangs, no violence, no abandonment, and no hitman Sebastien.

I laughed out loud and spun in a circle. The cold air nipping at my cheeks.

"Raegan?"

I froze at the American voice I heard behind me. I recognized it immediately. That voice had shaped almost all of my childhood memories.

I turned around slowly and looked him in the eye, shaking my head, because the last time I had seen him had been in an airport parking lot a life time ago.

Hands in his pockets, blonde hair whipping in the wind, he stared at me dumbfounded.

Matt.

It was Matt.

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What do you think about Kutoboa? Do you think he is who he says he is?

Why do you think Matt is in Amsterdam?

Do you think Raegan will go back to Sebastien or go with Matt?

Thank you for reading and please vote, comment, and share! Come back next week for another installment.