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looking for Sandro stepped out.
    Confused as to why he was still at her home, blocking her driveway, Nia became all too conscious of the chill crawling up her spine as she pressed the button to roll down her car window. A bad feeling hovered in the air.
    She took a deep calming breath before saying, “I told you Sandro isn’t home, and I don’t know where he is. Would you move out of the way? I’m in a hurry.”
    “ Scusate , Bella, but you must come with us.”
    “ What?” Was he kidding?
    “ Please. Vieni qua . Come.” His words were polite, but his look was deadly serious.
    Her heart rate spiked, but she forced confidence into her voice. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
    “ Really, I must insist.” He reached for the door handle.
    She hit the automatic locks and hurried to roll up her window, but the large man was sticking his arm inside--
    Car tires screeched around the corner. The Italian turned toward the sound. A dark blue sedan squealed to a halt. Nia recognized the car and started to breathe easier.
    Dave opened the door, gun drawn. “Freeze! FBI. Nia, get out of here! Go!” he shouted at her.
    The Italian banged his fist against her now closed window startling a scream out of her. When he reached under his suit jacket and she saw a big gun, every nerve ending ignited with danger signals.
    Escape !
    Adrenaline flared through her and she stomped the accelerator, jerking the steering wheel hard to the right. The luxury Mercedes 230 shot forward, smashing small green hedges and brightly-colored ornamental flowers under unforgiving tires. The seatbelt clamped tightly across her chest as she bounced off the curb.
    Shots rang out behind her. She looked in her rearview mirror. The Italian had dashed back into the SUV, shooting at Dave who had ducked behind his car door. Oh, God, Dave would be killed.
    Then a new fear. With a burst of power, the Lincoln Navigator sped after her. In her rearview mirror, she saw Dave hop in his car and follow, firing shots after them. The big Italian was shooting back at Dave, out the passenger door window.
    The black SUV pressed steadily closer to her own car. Were they after her? Or running from Dave? She pressed the gas pedal harder, and at the last minute, made a sharp right turn onto a side street, her tires squealing.
    The Navigator made the turn soon after. God. They were chasing her! Her hands started shaking so much, she squeezed the steering wheel to keep a grip.
    Glancing between the road and her rearview mirror, her fear grew when Dave didn’t make the turn. She heard the pops as the big Italian shot out the tires on Dave’s car. It careened and bounced off a red Corvette parked on the side of the road, before spinning around in a crazy circle. Immediately, Dave jumped out and fired off a few futile shots.
    “ No! Dave!” she gasped before her breath stuck in her throat.
    Now it was the Italians. And her. A streetlight in front of her changed to red.
    “ Not stopping, watch out!” she warned drivers who couldn’t hear her, hoping no one would get hurt.
    She kept the accelerator floored, her heart rate as high as the speed of the car. Squinting her eyes to slits so she wouldn’t see any oncoming traffic and hesitate, she barreled through the intersection. She heard honking horns and screeching tires but no one hit her.
    A glance in her rearview mirror. SUV still there. Although she thought she was pulling ahead. The heavy Navigator was no match for the Mercedes’ performance engine.
    Then she felt it. A thud. Heard it. Then another. A crash of glass. She didn’t need to look in her mirror again to know her back window had shattered. They were shooting at her now!
    Forcing back the panic rising from her chest, she kept her head low as she weaved through the growing traffic, trying to make her car a harder target. She hoped someone else wasn’t hit by mistake, but couldn’t let that thought worry her.
    She jumped as a loud explosion sent the back end of