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Piper

The bullet went right over my head and lodged itself in the wall.

I stared at the hole in disbelief, too shocked to be afraid.

When a second hole blossomed beside the first, I bolted inside and slammed the door shut.

A third bullet ripped through the door and I dropped to the carpet, whimpering in fear.

I wasn’t thinking about my safety when I unlocked the front door. I was wondering what to have for supper. If I hadn’t bent down to pick up the newspaper, I’d be dead.

“Give it up, you little slut. Drake wants you dead, you’re dead,” a male voice bellowed from outside.

Presumably the guy holding the smoking gun. Shit! Drake was heir apparent to a mafia don. We’d dated briefly, back when I was working at the blackjack tables in Vegas, waiting for my big break. That was months ago, though.

The sound of heavy footsteps approaching spurred me into action. I needed to get out of here.

The front door was out of the question, and the back door seemed like a bad idea.

Stood to reason these guys were pros. They’d timed this for when my neighbors were all at work, and the guns had barely made a sound.

That meant they had high end silencers. They’d have someone watching the obvious escape route.

I stayed low and crawled to the bedroom, still confused as hell.

Drake and I parted ways just after I discovered his mafia ties.

I thought it had been a mutually agreeable split.

I didn’t want anything to do with the mafia, and he was the kind of guy who liked new conquests.

Once he had me, I quickly lost my appeal.

Why would he suddenly want me dead? Not like I knew anything that could hurt him.

My head snapped up as I heard pounding against the front door. Sounded like someone was attempting to kick it down.

“Let me in, bitch!”

I didn’t bother to answer. Thank goodness I’d automatically turned the deadbolt when I slammed it shut. That bought me a few precious extra seconds.

Cautiously raising myself up, I peered out the bedroom window on the north side of the house. There was no one in sight, and a thick hedge separated the side yard from the view of the street.

The sound of wood splintering in the front hallway made the decision for me. After opening the window, I clambered out, shutting it as quietly as possible behind me so as not to give myself away.

The last time I’d done the window escape act, it had been to avoid the landlord when my mom failed to pay the rent. I’d become a pro at it as a kid. Who knew that talent would come in handy years later?

Dropping to the ground, I scurried to the fence and climbed over it into the neighbor’s yard. Luckily, they weren’t home, so their pack of yappy little dogs weren’t outside to give me away. I hurried to the garden shed at the bottom of the yard, putting the solid building between me and the danger.

I heard the back door to my house open. “She come out here?”

“Nah. I would have seen her. Little slut must still be inside.”

“Yeah. You keep watching. I’ll go find her.”

“Sure thing. Remember, he said he wants pictures.”

“He also said we could play with her first so long as we get the job done.”

“Yeah. I got excited when it looked like an easy kill and forgot about that. Try to knock her out if you get the chance. We could take her to the warehouse. I could use some fun, and I like them scared.”

I covered my mouth to muffle an involuntary whimper.

I had to get out of here fast. Taking a deep breath, I carefully peeked around the corner.

A dogwood tree shielded me from sight as I watched one of the thugs head toward the house, pausing when he reached the door.

The other stayed put, a gun held casually in his right hand. Both were concentrating on the house.

I withdrew to safety behind the shed, looking around wildly at the unkempt ground. I needed something to distract the guy outside once the first was inside. Spying a good-sized rock, I picked it up and waited. Two against one weren’t great odds.

Finally, the first guy disappeared back inside. Counting to ten to make sure he wasn’t going to reappear, I hefted the rock high in the air, aiming for the yard on the far side of my house. I held my breath, watching it arc through the air before heading downward.

The rock must have hit something metal, making a satisfyingly loud clatter as it landed. The creep watching the back door automatically turned toward the sound and started in that direction.

I sent a quick prayer of thanks up to the heavens.

Staying low to avoid detection, I sprinted in the opposite direction.

Working my way through backyards, I put as much distance as I could between me and Drake’s minions before I dared to slow down.

When I felt I’d gone far enough to be safe, I plunked myself on the ground under the branches of a weeping willow in a vacant lot and took a deep breath.

My heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to explode.

I needed to calm down and figure out what to do next.

I hadn’t had time to shed my cross-body purse when things went south, so I still had my wallet and phone.

My car was back at the house and there was no way I was going to try going back to retrieve it.

I needed to get as far away as possible though, and without wheels that meant public transport.

I had no idea how far-reaching Drake’s network went, but I had to assume that as the heir to a mafia syndicate, it was wide.

Would they be able to tell if I bought a ticket on a bus or a plane ?

And where the hell would I go? Sure, I had my wallet, but I wasn’t exactly rich, and I didn’t have a supportive family to fall back on. My mom was still in Vegas but that was the worst move I could make. Vegas was Drake’s home base. Someone would be sure to spot me and report back to him.

That left my father.

Having a Vegas stripper as your mom, you grow up fast. And cynical.

All the time I was growing up, my mom swore she had no idea who my father was, and I believed her.

I’d seen the endlessly changing parade of bed partners while I was a child.

The list of possibilities for my father was probably longer than the line up for free booze at a frat house party.

When I turned legal age, I did one of those DNA ancestry things, though, and I’d found him.

An FBI agent. How ironic is that?

Turns out he was a pretty good guy though. He didn’t bat an eye when I confronted him, just asked why he’d never heard of me before. I have a feeling he already knew the answer to that one.

I wasn’t a “Daddy’s little princess” kind of girl -- too late to go down that road.

He wasn’t the doting father type either, so we got along okay.

It helped that I lived in the West, and he lived in Georgia.

We’d only met in person once, but we kept in touch, and just knowing I had one stable parent kind of made me feel almost normal. Almost.

Now it was time to find out just how much he cared. I tapped on his number in my contact list and waited for him to answer.

“Hello, Piper. What’s up?” He sounded relaxed. Given the time zone difference between coasts, he was probably settled in for the night and watching whatever sport was currently being broadcast.

“Hey, Dad. Funny thing happened when I got off work tonight. Got a minute to talk?”

“Sure.”

“Remember me telling you I’d been dating a guy named Drake, and it didn’t work out so well?”

“Yeah. You’re not pregnant, are you?”

I rolled my eyes. “No. That would be really bad. See, what I didn’t mention was the reason I bailed was because I found out Drake had mob connections.”

“Mafia? Are you serious?” He didn’t sound relaxed anymore. “Exactly what kind of connection are we talking about?”

I gulped. “He’s being groomed to take over his father’s operations. As in he’ll be the next don. They run most of the illegal activity in Vegas.”

Dead silence greeted my statement.

“Dad?”

“I’m here. Just trying to digest this. Ignoring the part where you were dating a mafia kingpin, you split with that guy months ago, so what happened tonight?”

“Someone tried to kill me. They said Drake ordered it.”

“That doesn’t make sense. He let you go and ignored you for months.

Why would he suddenly want you dead? No offence, but my experience with those kinds of guys is they’re pretty casual about their affairs.

Once they’re done, they’re done, and they move on, especially if you were never involved in family activities. ”

“Exactly what I thought we’d done. We said goodbye and both moved on. I even took a gig in San Diego and left the area so I’m nowhere near him. Haven’t seen him since the break-up. I have no idea what the hell is going on, or why he suddenly wants me dead.”

“Did he ever discuss his business dealings with you, or did you ever overhear anything you shouldn’t have?”

“No. I was clueless, until he suddenly decided to fess up. I had a feeling he wanted out. He knew I wouldn’t hang around once I found out.”

“Okay. We can figure that out later. Right now, we need to get you safe. Where are you?”

I looked around. “Hiding under a willow tree a couple of blocks from my house. Empty lot on the corner.”

“Right. I’m going to send someone to pick you up and bring you here. Give me a few minutes, and I’ll call you back with details.”

“Thanks.” I let out a sigh of relief. Glancing down at my phone, I realized it had been less than an hour since I’d left work. Amazing how quickly life could change.

Ten minutes later, my phone buzzed. Dad. I hit accept.

“Good news. One of the groups we use for security happens to have an agent in your area. He should be there to pick you up in twenty minutes or so, depending on traffic. Just a heads up, he’s on a bike. You okay with that?”

“A bike, as in a motorcycle?”