Bodyguard Beast - Georgia Le Carre Page 0,27
car. It’s best if she just gets a taxi. Mandy, order one now. Tell them we’ll be at Citibank on Sepulveda Boulevard.”
“Uh, I don’t think so,” Mandy retorted. “It’s going to take us a while more to get there.”
“We’ll be there in about eight minutes,” Christine corrected.
“Not with this traffic we won’t.”
Mandy was right. We pulled up behind a row of cars at a red light, and as far down as we could see, the traffic light wasn’t what was causing the delay.
“Don’t worry. I know which side roads to take,” Christine said and ventured off into the east intersecting road.
From then on, I lost any inkling of where we were headed and had no choice but to completely trust her as she drove through side streets and into neighborhoods I’d never been into and never wanted to.
As we passed a group of young men, who looked like thugs, huddled by a fence, Mandy spoke up nervously, “Christine, where the hell are we? Are you lost? This is so not our route.”
“I wanted to avoid the traffic,” Christine said. “I’ve taken these routes before but it was some time ago and I might have taken a wrong turn, but don’t worry I’ll find my way out again. Maybe I’ll recognize the next road …”
“Will we even make it to the airport at this rate?” I asked worriedly.
“Hey, is that car following us?” Mandy observed suddenly.
I swung my head around and saw a nondescript blue Toyota behind us.
“I noticed it a while back,” she continued, “because the numbers on the plate are almost the same as my dad’s car.”
Christine turned into yet another deserted street and suddenly, jammed on the brakes.
It came so sudden I hit my cheek on her headrest.
Mandy was jerked forward violently. “Fuck! Christine,” Mandy cursed.
I raised my head and saw a van had stopped at a slant right in front of us. It was blocking the entire street.
“What the hell?” Christine swore.
“Christine, reverse,” Mandy said, her voice eerily quiet.
“What?”
“Go back! Right now!” Mandy yelled.
Before she could even begin to act, two men in black balaclavas jumped out of the van.
I stared in disbelief. “Go, Christine!” I called sharply, as I stared at the men in shock.
Christine stepped on the gas pedal and we hurled backwards until we crashed into the blue Toyota. We were thrown violently forward. Fear as thick as fog hung in the air.
“Are you guys all right?” I asked.
“What is going on? “Who are these men?” Mandy cried.
Two more men jumped out of the blue Toyota, their faces covered with masks.
“Sienna, are these your father’s bodyguards?” Christine asked, her voice trembling with hope.
I knew there was no way these men came from my father. For one, they wouldn’t have to hide themselves from me in this way and for another, they just rammed into our car.
“They’re coming over. Oh my God, what do we do now?” Mandy screamed.
“Everything will be fine,” I said first to myself, then repeated it to the girls, “Everything will be fine. Don’t panic.”
All three of us jumped with fear at the thump on Christine’s side of the door. Mandy screamed. A masked face appeared next, then one at my window, and another at Mandy’s.
“Don’t panic,” I repeated automatically, even though I didn’t believe my own words.
The men pulled on the latch of the locked doors.
“Christine, can’t you step on the pedal and blast our way out of here?” Mandy shouted.
“No!” I screamed now more afraid for the sake of the girls whom had tried to help me than myself. “That van will not give way to this little car—”
There was a sudden strike and the window to my right cracked with a thud. While Mandy screamed, the man produced another instrument, which he tapped on the cracked window, and the glass shattered into pieces.
“Get out!” the man yelled. “All of you.”
Chaos broke out in the car with all of us screaming.
A gun appeared, and the command that followed was curt and simple, “Shut the fuck up!”
It was effective. Christine’s jaws snapped shut, Mandy’s hands went to her mouth to seal it in silence, and my mouth was still open but no sound came out.
The man put his hand inside, yanked the latch, and pulled the door open. “Get out now!” he ordered.
We all did as we were told, but the moment Mandy stumbled out, she made the mistake of trying to run for it. The result was an immediate and brutal strike across her face. She fell to the