"This is it." Piper sighed and picked up the hunting knife from the pool of blood. She knelt before him and regarded his smug expression for two seconds.

One short swing. The knife went through his crocs to his left foot and into the floor. It took him a few seconds to comprehend what had happened. Then it was the screaming.

Larry was so distracted by his suffering that he didn't notice Piper taking the cuffs off of him until she dragged him up on his feet. He cried and screamed as the blood finally flowed to his legs making the agony more prominent than it was before. Piper was surprised that no one showed up even after this much screaming.

She yanked the blindfold off of his face and dragged him away from the chair to the side rails on the front. She pushed him to kneel down inches from the edge. The rails were missing their glass panelling, thanks to Alex. He was so close to the edge that if Piper pushed one inch, he would be falling face first into the Hudson River.

The blood loss had drained all his energy to fight back. He wobbled on his spot where he knelt. He closed his eyes as Piper held his arms behind his back and pushed her knee to his spine in a way that arched his back. One little push and he would be on his way down.

"Last chance, Larry." Piper said coldly. "The River is not kind this time of the night. You know that. Is he worth dying for?"

He shook his head in a no.

"I want a name. I want a motive. I want to know what he wants."

Larry nodded. It was clear in his face that he was giving up. The exhaustion caught up with him. Piper could see the wheels turning in his head.

"His-his name is Jason Figueroa." He mumbled. Out of breath and tired. "I work for Jason Figueroa. Balik works for him too."

"Jason Figueroa?" Alex exclaimed. "The next vice-president?"

"Yes and no." Larry drawled, already out of his senses. "He is going to be the next president of the most powerful country. The president of the United States."

"Larry," Piper knelt down further, "How is he going to do that?"

Larry cackled. "You can't fucking stop him. You can't. He bombed a hospital full of children. Boom! He has bugs planted in Fig's office. He is listening in on every conversation in his wife's office. He has the world's most wanted man under on his fingers. Kubra will do anything for him. He wants to be a part of this new America that Jason promised him. We-we earned billions and billions of dollars for him after the attacks. He could practically buy America if he wanted."

"How? You have to tell me, how is he going to do that?"

"The day after tomorrow." Larry slurred.

"C'mon. Don't fucking sleep on me."

"The vice-president's funeral." He mumbled. Piper gasped. "He - assassinate the president -"

A familiar cracking sound infiltrated the silent night. Before Piper could react, a bullet went through his head and he dropped in her hands.

"Get down! Get down!" Piper screamed at Alex who was equally confused. Piper let go off his hand and crawled to Alex who was barely hiding behind an out table. The sniper, wherever he was, aimed for them continuously as bullets rained all around them. "Stay down and don't fucking stop! We run at the same time but away from each other! We gotta confuse them! Is that clear?"

Alex nodded frantically.

"Run!" Piper yelled and sprinted for the stairs leading down to the shore. One last look at the boat confirmed that the splash they had heard was indeed Larry's body dropping to the river. Great, now they will be blamed for that too.

They jumped halfway through the plank onto the shore. Thankfully, the way to their car was dark and narrow. Except for the occasional bullet sounds, nothing hit them. They ran like their lives depended on it and it truly did.

"Let's go. Let's go. Let's go." Piper shouted at Nicky while sliding into the passenger's seat. Nicky waited for Alex to get in and pressed her foot hard on the gas. Her Corvette might not be the safest but was indeed a fast mode of transportation. They zoomed through the dark, empty alleyways at subsonic speed. Hair blowing in the wind and Nicky cackling like a maniac. The adrenaline still following into their heads.

Piper kept looking behind for a tail. There was no one.

"Care to tell me what happened out there, Bonnie and Clyde?" Nicky screamed at Piper's face.

"We fucking dodged bullets. Again." Alex yelled from the backseat.

"Tomorrow morning, they will probably blame us for the death of a CIA agent."

"Larry the Douchebag is dead! Holy fucking shit!" Nicky exclaimed. "At least you got his confession on record?"

"No." Alex said.

"Yes!" Piper shouted.

"What? How?" Alex leaned forward to the passenger's seat. Piper grinned seeing the shock on both Nicky and Alex's face. She pulled out a box looking thing out of her jacket pocket. Nicky recognised it immediately.

"The sound recorder?!" She shouted.

"But-" Alex started.

"The network jammer works on digital devices. Not something as old as this. It's an old school tape recorder. I pocketed it back at your place. But I forgot about it until he mentioned the network jammer. I had it in my pocket the whole time."

"Holy shit!" Alex guffawed.

"This is gold, Chapman. This is gol-"

The next thing Alex saw was not Nicky's megawatt grin but a blinding headlight coming right at them from their right on an intersecting street.

"Nicky!"

It was too late. Nicky had already crashed into the jeep ahead of them that appeared out of nowhere. It sent both the cars into a spiral. For Alex, it all happened too fast and too slow. Metal crashing into metal. A burning smell. Screams. The car spiraling out of control. Then a halt.

The flawless corvette was covered in black smoke. Alex who had instinctively closed her eyes, opened them to find shattered windshield. Nicky's head was through the glass despite the airbags. She was thrown out of her seat, held back by only the seat belt. Slow stream of blood on the side of her head could be seen even in the moonlight.

Piper, on the other hand, wasn't moving at all. Her head was on the dashboard. Looking closer, Alex could see the blood covering one side of her face. Alex scrambled out of her seat in the back. The impact on her body was cushioned by the back of Piper's seat. She reached for Piper. But from the corner of her eyes, she saw a man getting out of that jeep, few feet away from them. The driver of the jeep. The familiar figure clicked instantly in her brain. The accident was intentional. It was Aydin.

Alex halted her movements all together. Her face was between Piper's right leg and the gear stick. She closed her eyes. Think. Think. Think. She'll have to play it smart. She could see him limping towards them from a small gap. Piper's gun.

She knew for a fact that Piper's gun would be tucked in her back. She slowly reached for it with her left hand, keeping an eye on Aydin. He was getting close steadily despite of his injured leg. She found the gun easily and yanked it away. Slowly pulling her hand down, she transferred the gun to her right hand. Her head was down, her body bent over, hiding her movements as she tried to remember the brief rundown Piper had given her.

Okay. Okay. Okay.

The safety. Turn off the safety. Where's the fucking safety. Found it. Found it. Is this loaded? Fuck, what if it's empty? Piper would never carry an empty gun. Shit. Shit. Shit.

Do not hesitate. Do not hesitate.

Breath. Breath.

Aim and shoot.

Alex felt the adrenaline rushing to her head. She sat up suddenly and aimed the gun to Aydin who wasn't expecting her at all. She pulled the trigger.

The gunshot was loud. But the bullet didn't hit Aydin. Alex pulled the trigger again. She missed. He was too far.

Aydin - to his disadvantage - was out in the open without any cover. He made a split second decision to fire back. But she fired again. Missed. Again. Missed.

"Fuck!"

The sixth time Alex pulled the trigger, it was a do or die situation. He had her gun out when she shot. And this time the bullet hit something. Flesh. Perhaps bone. It hit his right shoulder. It wasn't a good shot but it was good enough to throw him backwards on the street with his gun flying meters away from him.

Alex exhaled heavily. She was starting to panic. The smoke on the car's front was not good. It could explode any minute. She jumped out of the car and went straight to Piper's side. She was still unconscious. She tapped her face a few times to wake her but it was futile. She opened the seat belt and collected Piper in her arms. She half carried her to the side of the road and dropped her on wildgrass.

Next was Nicky. Nicky looked more severe up close. Her head was bleeding. Half of her body was thrown out of the windshield onto the bonnet. Alex pulled her back as carefully as she could. Glass shards still sticking out of her forehead. She touched the side of her neck and felt a weak pulse. She breathed in relief. She carried Nicky back to where Piper was. Piper was still out.

"C'mon, Pipes, c'mon," Alex prayed, slapping her cheek for some kind of response. "Wake up goddammit! Wake up!"

Her prayer was interrupted by a loud groan that came from the way where she had left Aydin. He was crawling. Alex panicked. She searched Piper's pocket for weapons. She took out a pocket knife and picked up a log on the side of the road. She didn't want to kill him. She was not going to kill him.

He was crawling to his gun that was thrown away a few feet from him. Alex came from behind and hit him on the head with the log. He rolled over and landed on his back. The blow wasn't hard enough.

"I don't want to fucking kill you!" Alex said. "Just stay where you are!"

"You have to kill me to stop me." Aydin said through gritted teeth.

Alex swung the log aiming for his head again. But he was ready for the blow. He grabbed the end of the log with both of his hands and yanked with all his strength. Alex slipped and fell forward. He moved away in time for Alex to hit the road. He sat on top of her as soon as she rolled over. He punched her and brought the log to her throat. And pressed. It took the breath away from Alex. He was strangling her. The lack of air froze her senses. She was kicking her legs but to no avail. He was ruthless. He didn't move an inch and pressed the log further. The knife. Alex in one last move, took out the pocket knife and stabbed it into his left side as hard as she could.

He screamed in pain and loosened his grip on her. Alex remembered how Piper had twisted the knife on Larry to cause more pain, so she did the same. She twisted it hard inside his flesh. It felt awful doing it but it worked. He let the log go. He rolled away from her and pulled the knife out and threw it away. But the adrenaline rush had given Alex the extra speed she needed. She got on top of him and used the same log on him.

She pushed it on his throat. As hard as she could. He fought back. His arms tried to grab her but his shoulder was already busted. She pressed harder when he kicked his leg. The moonlight gave an eerie glow to his face. Alex was trying so hard that tears flowed down from her face. She was literally squeezing the life out of someone. Not someone -him. She knew him. He was a friend once. And She could see his face turning a darker shade of red then blue and purple. She could see the life leaving his eyes second by second as his movements died down. He gasped for air but she didn't remove the log. She didn't remove it his movements stopped. She didn't remove it even when there was no life left in his eyes. She just kept staring at his lifeless face and pushing harder. Thinking that she was just as dead as he was.

—

A/N :

Thanks for the amazing reviews. And by few more chapters I meant at least seven chapters. Don't worry, you're not getting rid of me :)

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