ALVARA

vii

― ALVARA

IT'S TIME FOR US TO BE led into court. Kaiser and I are shoved out of our cell. Silently, they lead us. The guards are unfamiliar-looking.

Remi is among them. Her comically long ponytail swings in front of my face tantalizingly like a charmed cobra. I quash the childish impulse of lunging forward and yanking her hair to see if it's real or not. It looks too shiny.

Kaiser's hand accidentally brushes against mine as we walk side-by-side. Once, I would've been repulsed and batted him away, but the hate in me is suppressed, not gone. There are more important things on my mind, like what I'm going to say at to the judge. Hell, did I even get a chance to talk to my lawyer?

My heart beats normally, though there is a ringing in my ear.

The four guards behind us are far away. Odd that they didn't handcuff us, but given my stature and Kaiser's indifference, I guess they don't think they need it.

I feel nostalgic and angry when we pass my former office. I see Aleksander's blonde head bent in her cubicle and Janus spinning in his chair, clearly on break. How ironic that a traitor and a brainless idiot can still work for the FBI while I, the most dedicated of them all, am on my way to my sentencing.

I expect us to take the elevator to the floor above us, where the court is. But instead, Remington flicks her fingers and leads us straight to through a side door that leads outside. It isn't the main entrance but there are still quite a few people milling about. A receptionist, two guards posted at the door. Pathologists in their sterile gear and investigators on their way to their offices with a lifesaving cup of coffee in their hands.

Kaiser is unbothered, following Remi with lazy, unhesitating steps. But I see the tenseness in his shoulders and the way his eyes are alert, even when he looks like he's about to nod off.

Casually, I glance over my shoulder. The two men and two women in their guard uniforms are still there, tailing us.

Remi saunters towards the door confidently, addressing the two sentinels standing ramrod-straight. "Here to take these two criminals on their daily walk through the park," she says sunnily, flashing her FBI badge. I feel a flash of indignance. No guard took me and Kaiser on a stroll through the flowers - in fact, there were no guards watching us at all.

My back is stiff from tension as I listen to Remi's interaction with the two sentries with bated breath. Something is off. Very off.

The two glance at each other. "We weren't aware that Kaiser Hale and Alvara Parker were scheduled for their... walk today. And this isn't even the right door."

Remi's gaze turns dangerously sweet as she says in a low voice, "Are you questioning your superior?" The four guards have caught up and their hands rest on their numerous weapons on their belt. The two sentries eye their fellows warily.

"And you four are...?"

His answer is a knife to the gut.

Remi swiftly dispatches the other guard who was in the middle of opening his mouth for a bloodcurdling scream. I whirl around - the four people behind me and Kaiser are unmoving. My ex-best friend swings the corpse over her shoulder and another of the guards take the other one.

All of this happened within three seconds.

I check behind me to see if there's a reaction from the people in the hall, but there is none. I realize that the four Remi took with her are blocking their views. Kaiser is still beside me, face expressionless. But I see the gears turning in his head. A flash of anger in his eyes before nothing again. Clearly, he did not expect this, either.

We make it through the yard with no incident, my heart beating a strange tempo. The wind sounds odd in my ears. Freedom, freedom, freedom.

Suddenly, Kaiser whips around and punches the man behind him.

The poor guy doesn't stand a chance, reflexes too slow. He falls like a stone.

The other three are looking to Remi for orders, who spins around a second too late. Kaiser is already choking the other man while the two women try to fight him off. Their efforts are futile.

"Kaiser. What are you doing?" Remi says in a low voice. I'm inclined to agree.

He shoves the unconscious man's body off him calmly, sizing up the two remaining women. "Stopping you from doing what you're doing."

The sentence boggles my mind. "Kaiser," I say quietly.

He doesn't even look at me. "Remington," Kaiser says, voice controlled even though he's panting. "I will never, ever return to the mafia. If you lose your position here, your father will flay you. Consider your choices wisely." His gaze darts around, presumably looking for an escape route.

Remi narrows her eyes at him. They're unnaturally shiny. Is she going to cry? "I knew you'd say something like that, you useless lump of flesh." With one hand securing the corpse over her shoulder, she produces a syringe out of nowhere and stabs him with it.

Kaiser falls gracelessly. Remi and the other woman take him, while the guard who was just being choked rises to his feet, gasping. Wordlessly he takes the unconscious man in his arms and looks to Remi for instructions.

"Hey!"

I look over my shoulder. Two other sentinels, presumably here to take up their shift, march towards us.

Remi stares at me while struggling with the dead sentinel over her shoulder. Her eyes are asking a question - are you willing to escape a life sentence with the best friend you had once trusted with your life?

The answer is yes.

I shove the Kaiser to the burly male guard carrying his dead companion. "Leave him, he's dead," I say.

The guard stares down at his friend, already stiff in his arms. His bottom lip trembles as he drops him and picks up Kaiser, who's still knocked out.

"Here!" Remi yells. She sprints to a SWAT vehicle and opens the door. The driver is Elison, who's grinning like a maniac.

We run.

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WE SIT ON THE WHITE BENCHES inside the SWAT while holding on for dear life. Remi is in the front seat with Elison, shouting incoherent things while we hear the pings of bullets bouncing off the vehicle.

We are completely silent in the back, all trying to catch our breaths. The male guard has Kaiser in his lap while the two other women are sitting on each side of me.

The car suddenly swerves and I'm thrown forward, nearly kissing the man in front of me. I dodge just in time, choosing for my face to get slammed into the wall. Awkwardly I climb off Kaiser's unconscious body before resuming my position.

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING, STEALING THE MOST CONSPICUOUS VEHICLE ON THE COMPOUND?" Remi screams.

"DID YOU WANT US TO LOSE OUR HEADS AS THE LITERAL FBI CHASES AFTER US?! IT WAS THE FIRST BULLETPROOF VEHICLE I SAW!" Elison howls.

"TURN LEFT! TURN LEFT! DO YOU NOT KNOW WHERE YOUR FATHER'S HOUSE IS?!"

"I THOUGHT WE WERE GOING TO YOURS!"

"YOU BRAINLESS APE, I THOUGHT WE TALKED ABOUT THIS BEFOREHAND! TURN LEFT, NOW! WHY THE HELL ARE YOU SO SLOW IN YOUR TURNS?"

"YOU TRY DRIVING SUCH A LONG AND HEAVY CAR!"

"YOU HAVE AN RV LICENSE!"

"THAT'S KAISER, NOT ME!"

Why the hell does Kaiser have the license to drive an RV? I wonder, before blacking out.

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Bit of a shorter chapter, sorry about that!