Page 51 of The Maverick (WaterFyre Rising #7)

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

VANESSA

As I drove to work the next day,I stopped by the grocery store to pick up some water bottles and healthy snacks for the refrigerator in the gallery's kitchen.

I bought some fruit, water, juice, and trail mix for Willow and me. I ate her last pack a few days ago.

As I loaded my car, I heard a scream.

“Leave me alone! Help me!”

I stiffened, remembering the traumatic event I’d experienced all those years ago. I rushed to help and saw two men harassing Miranda.

“Help!” I shouted as I reached for my phone and dialed 911.

This was too familiar. My heart hammered, but I wasn’t a young, helpless girl anymore. The men spotted me and pushed Miranda to the ground. She was bleeding profusely from her stomach.

The man with the ponytail held a bloody knife and glared at me. “Get her!”

The infuriated men rushed toward me, looking like they wanted to kill me. A group of people exited the grocery store and hurried toward me.

“Help me!” I waved them over. “They stabbed her!”

The two criminals saw the people and tried to run away, but three men rushed after them. A battle erupted as three bulky men shoved the criminals to the ground.

I overheard one of my rescuers calling for assistance. He must’ve been an off-duty officer.

My body trembled as I pressed a hand to Miranda’s wound, trying to stop the bleeding. “Help is on the way,” I told her.

Tears streamed from her eyes as she looked at me. Her pupils weren’t dilated.

“It wasn’t me yesterday.” She winced. “They did something to me . . . Can you get my phone?” She looked over at her purse lying on the floor with the contents scattered everywhere.

I reached for her purse and found her phone.

“They want me to blackmail him with a video . . . They’re evil . . . Here’s the code to my phone.” She drew the code on my arm. Another wave of pain overcame her, and her breath hitched. “He didn’t have a son with me . . .”

She cried out in pain as blood gushed from her wound. Streams of red slipped through the seams of my fingers and oozed onto her clothes. Fear tightened my chest. It didn’t look good for Miranda. I looked around me. Where was the ambulance? Why was it taking so long?

“Be careful . . . These people are dangerous . . . They want him to stop searching. . .” Her eyelids fluttered.

“Searching for what?”

“Ashton . . . I don’t remember . . .” She moaned as she looked at me. “You look like someone I knew from elementary school.”

This wasn’t the time to bring that up.

“Save your energy,” I urged.

Miranda shook her head and tapped her forearm.

“They injected me with something. It’s making me weak .

. . I’m bleeding too much . . . I won’t make it.

” She gripped my arm. “If you know of a girl named Van Lam, tell her I’m sorry for being such a bitch to her .

. . I made her life hell back then . . . ”

“I’ll let her know.” Tears dripped from my eyes. “She forgives you. Stop talking. Save your energy.”

“You have to be careful, Nessa . . . They’ll hurt you . . . Be smarter than them . . .” Her face paled from the excessive blood loss.

My hands were covered in her blood. “Who are these people?”

“I don’t know . . . My trainer . . . he—” Her body shook with a seizure.

Medics finally arrived and took over. I stood off to the side, watching them try to save her. Foam spilled from her mouth. When her eyes rolled back and her hands went limp, I knew she was gone.

Shock filled me. Why was this happening? People I knew were dying. Emmanuel, and now Miranda. I feared for Attikus and our friends.

The police officers tried to handcuff the men, but they fought back. One of them reached for an officer’s gun, but the other officer shot him dead.

“They’re on drugs or something!” said the officer as they handcuffed the man with the ponytail.

Were these guys linked to the man who had attacked Attikus and me in Maui and to the driver who killed Emmanuel?

I tucked Miranda’s phone into my purse before the crime scene officials arrived. After answering some questions from the police officer, the EMT cleaned my hands.

What was on Miranda’s phone? Why were these people protecting Ashton? Was Attikus getting too close to his enemy?