Narrow Escape

---

Chapter Ten:

The silence that followed my words was thunderous.

Scarlett’s gaze didn’t falter, but her jaw clenched, a storm brewing behind her eyes. Liam stood frozen, fists at his sides, trying to control the fury simmering beneath the surface.

“You’re making a mistake,” Scarlett said coldly.

“No,” I snapped, chest heaving. “The mistake was ever trusting either of you.”

I turned, but I barely made it three steps before the lights went out—every bulb in the house popped with a hiss and a spark. Darkness swallowed the room whole.

I froze. “What the—”

“Get down!” Liam yelled.

Before I could react, he tackled me to the floor just as glass shattered above us. A bullet embedded itself into the wall where I had been standing.

Gunfire.

My breath caught. My heart thundered like a drumbeat of doom. I didn’t scream—I couldn’t. Fear locked my voice away.

Liam covered me with his body, tense and alert. “They’ve found us.”

“No kidding!” Scarlett hissed from the corner, ducking low. “You led them here!”

“I had no choice!” Liam barked.

“What’s going on?” I whispered. “Who are they?”

“Stay down, Isla,” Liam muttered, pulling a pistol from the back of his waistband. “We don’t have time.”

Scarlett pulled a sleek blade from her boot, eyes glinting with something I hadn’t seen before—something deadly.

The front window exploded, shards flying. I flinched.

“They're breaching the house,” Scarlett growled.

Liam yanked me to my feet. “We have to go. Now.”

“Where?” I asked, panic rising. “We’re surrounded!”

Scarlett smirked grimly. “You’ve got a tunnel, right, Liam?”

He nodded. “Basement.”

We sprinted down the hall as more gunshots echoed. I could hear footsteps on the porch—calculated, heavy. Whoever they were, they weren’t amateurs.

Scarlett shoved over a tall bookshelf as we passed. It toppled with a crash, blocking the hallway.

The basement door was flung open. Liam motioned for me to go first.

“I can’t see!” I gasped.

“Keep moving!” he urged, following close. “Just trust me!”

We descended the creaking stairs in darkness. I stumbled once, and he caught me. Scarlett slammed the door behind us and locked it.

The basement was damp, the air thick with mildew and secrets. Liam pushed aside a rack of old coats and hit a switch. A panel in the brick wall clicked and slid open, revealing a narrow, dark tunnel.

“You’re kidding,” I whispered.

“I built it years ago,” he said. “For this exact reason.”

Scarlett gave him a dry look. “Paranoid much?”

“Prepared,” he said flatly. “Go.”

I hesitated, staring into the darkness.

“Isla,” Liam said firmly, “whatever happens, don’t stop. This tunnel leads to the cliffside. We’ll come out near the cove.”

“What if they find the entrance?”

“Then we run faster,” Scarlett replied.

We moved. Fast.

The tunnel sloped down, the walls damp and crumbling. My breath echoed around me, shallow and quick.

Behind us, distant thuds. The basement door was under attack.

“How far does it go?” I asked, voice shaky.

“Half a mile,” Liam said. “We have to keep—”

A blast shook the tunnel. The sound of concrete splintering.

“They’re inside!” Scarlett snapped.

We ran.

Liam grabbed my hand, urging me forward. “Faster!”

My legs burned, lungs screaming, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t.

Suddenly, Scarlett halted. “Wait.”

“What?” I gasped.

She crouched, ear to the tunnel floor.

“We’re not alone.”

Liam drew his weapon again, every muscle in his body taut.

From ahead came a soft shuffle. A whisper of breath. Someone was already in the tunnel.

Liam pulled me behind him. “Stay close.”

A figure emerged from the shadows. Tall. Masked. Armed.

They lifted their gun.

Before the shot rang out, Scarlett launched herself forward, blade flashing.

The masked intruder grunted, stumbled. Gunfire erupted in the confined space, deafening.

Liam pulled me down, shielding me. Scarlett wrestled with the attacker, the two of them a blur of movement.

Another shot. Then silence.

Scarlett stood, panting, the figure slumped at her feet.

“Dead,” she muttered.

I stared at her. “Who are you?”

She wiped blood from her arm and didn’t answer.

Liam checked the fallen man, face grim. “One of theirs. An enforcer.”

“Why are they after me?” I asked again. “Tell me the truth.”

Liam’s eyes locked on mine, shadows lurking in his gaze. “Because your father wasn’t who you thought he was."

“What?” I whispered.

“Keep moving,” Scarlett said. “Talk later.”

We reached the tunnel’s end. Liam pushed open a rusty door, and moonlight spilled in, bathing us in silver.

We emerged into a thicket near the cliffs, waves crashing below.

Scarlett scanned the horizon. “We’ve got ten, maybe fifteen minutes.”

“Until what?” I asked.

Liam pointed toward the hill. “Until they realize where this leads.”

He grabbed my hand again. “We have to get to the safehouse.”

“There’s a safehouse?” I blinked.

“Yes. And that’s where I’ll finally explain everything,” Liam said.

Scarlett scowled. “She deserves the truth now.”

“I know,” he bit out. “But not here. Not while they’re still hunting us.”

We moved quickly, slipping through trees and brush. The wind howled, a ghostly warning.

“What did you mean—about my father?” I demanded.

Liam’s voice was grim. “He wasn’t just a businessman. He was part of something bigger. Something dangerous. A secret syndicate with global reach.”

I stumbled. “No. That’s insane.”

Scarlett gave a bitter laugh. “Oh, sweet girl. You’ve only scratched the surface.”

“He didn’t want this life for you,” Liam said. “He did everything to keep you away from it. But when he died… you became the last loose thread.”

I shook my head. “Why not just kill me then?”

“Because they want something you have,” Scarlett murmured.

“What?” I whispered.

Liam exhaled. “Your memory. You don’t know it yet, but he encoded the key in you. Something only you can unlock.”

I stopped walking. “No. This is crazy. I’m just a girl who—who went to school, worked a job, had a crush on—”

“Liam,” Scarlett finished, smirking.

I turned to him, anger and betrayal boiling over. “You knew this whole time?”

“I’ve always known,” he admitted quietly. “I tried to stay away. I tried not to care.”

“But you did,” I whispered. “You do.”

His silence was the only answer I needed.

Suddenly, a sharp whistle cut through the air.

“Down!” Scarlett yelled.

Bullets tore through the trees. We dropped instantly, crawling for cover.

A black SUV skidded into view at the top of the hill.

“They found us,” Liam growled. “Run!”

We broke into a sprint again, ducking, weaving, running from shadows. My legs screamed for rest, but adrenaline kept me going.

We reached a steep ridge. Below, nestled in the rocks, a small cabin glowed dimly.

“Jump!” Liam shouted.

“You’re insane!” I said.

“No time to argue!” Scarlett leapt, landing hard but rolling cleanly.

Liam didn’t hesitate—he jumped.

I looked down, then back. The SUV doors opened. More masked men. Guns raised.

I took a breath—and jumped.

The wind rushed past me. I hit the ground with a jolt, pain shooting through my ankle, but I was alive.

Liam pulled me up. “Come on!”

We scrambled to the cabin. He punched in a code on the door, and it clicked open.

We stumbled inside. Locked it behind us.

Silence.

I collapsed against the wall, trembling.

Liam walked to a desk, opened a drawer, and pulled out a thick, weathered file.

“This,” he said, placing it before me, “is everything.”

Scarlett folded her arms. “You’re about to learn who you really are.

I stared at the file.

Outside, tires screeched. Doors slammed.

They’d found us.

Liam met my eyes. “Once you open that, there’s no going back.”

I reached for it anyway.

Because I needed the truth—even if it shattered everything I thought I knew.

--