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“He found us?”
The grim look on his face said yes. And then someone else entered our room. It was Joseph.
“Take Mya out through the garage and to the boat down below.”
We were staying at a house on a canal in South Florida. It was beautiful and perfect…for escaping.
“Let’s go, Mya.”
“But what about you?” I instantly was worried.
“I’ll be right behind you, I promise. Go.”
I did as I was told, following Joseph out through the garage and down the stairs that led to the boat off of the canal.
I had never gotten on it while we were staying here, because now every slight movement made me seasick. Now I wasn’t thinking about my queasy stomach at all, or the contractions that seemed to be getting stronger and coming faster.
“Oh God,” I mumbled, “Please, not now.”
I placed my hands over my stomach and said repeatedly in my head, “Not now. Not now…please not now.”
And where was Dario?
“Joseph,” I said, “I’m worried. I don’t see him.”
“Get down,” Joseph said quietly, pulling his gun out as we heard footsteps approaching. To my relief, it was Dario.
He climbed on board and said to Joseph. “Now.”
I expected Joseph to pull away, but instead, he reached for something that resembled a remote control.
At that very moment, Ivan and two others came out, their guns pointed at us.
And then, just like that, the house exploded behind them. I screamed and covered my ears. And felt the gentle motion of the boat as Joseph started sailing away.
“I’m sorry for the noise,” Dario said, “I had to make sure there were no survivors. I’m done with running.”
I looked behind me at the ball of flames and smoke where the house had once stood. The blast was so strong shards of the house were floating in the water.
Before I could feel anything remotely like relief, a contraction hit me, the force of it making me bend over and gasp.
“Are you okay?”
I tried to breathe through the pain, and then finally, when I could, I said, “It’s the baby. It’s coming. Fast.”
CHAPTER FORTY
Dario
“Oh God,I can’t do this, I can’t do this,” Mya said over and over. She grabbed my hand and squeezed it with all her might.
I looked at Dr. Kali. “Can we postpone this?”
He looked back at me as if I had temporarily lost my mind. Honestly, I felt that I truly had.
I’d read all the books. I watched my fair share of videos about the birth process, but nothing could compare to the way I felt watching her in pain and knowing that I could do nothing about it.
“When is the epidural supposed to kick in?”