Chapter 45 Overly Friendly
Dante's POV
A mini looking Toyota Corolla pulled up noisily by our side with the engine still on. It looked quite compact from the outside and purely sleek with silver paint shining faintly under the fading light.
It was the kind wealthy folks drive when they want to blend in with the locals. It had clean lines on the sides with no flashy rims, just practical luxury with tinted windows hiding whatever else was inside.
The driver's glass had gone down to reveal a middle-aged woman with long dark hair falling loosely over her shoulders and sharp facial features matched with high cheekbones. Her eyes scanned us quickly, like she'd seen worse messes than ours.
I couldn't help but get curious. I mean, who the hell is she? We were in the middle of nowhere, and after being shot out of the sky, she just rolls up casually and offers us a ride. Something was obviously fishy.
I stepped closer to her, placing my left hand over my gun in my suit. I glanced over at Nico and he was already all tensed up to my side while Serena hung back nervously.
"Who are you?" I asked when I got to her front.
She didn't respond, she just smiled and looked me over from head to toe. If she wasn't that old, I would swear she was checking me. Her eyes then rested on my right hand before she brought them back to my face.
Then she smiled softly at me. "Mr. Russo, or Dante, as you prefer."
"How did you—"
I tried to ask but she beat me to it. "You wanna ask how I know? Really? I've heard so much about you, but here isn't the right time or place. Get in."
I wasn't fully buying the act. "And why should I?" I asked instead.
She shook her head with no sign of fear. "You can stay out there if you want to or you let the guys that brought you down, come find you here. Your choice."
I went silent at that. Then Nico stepped forward all of a sudden. "How did you find us?"
"I was out driving and saw the missile crashing into your plane. So I came to help, didn't even know it was the Dante Russo."
I gave her a side-eyed look and she just winked at me.
Nico snorted from my side. "Help? Just like that?"
"Look, it's not for you lot, okay?" She said flatly in a local accent. "I need to find out who took you down. A crash like that was no accident."
Nico's face hardened and he turned to me. "This could be a trap. She's too convenient," he whispered.
I gave it a quick thought and scanned her car quickly and from what I could see, there was no sign of weapons.
We were banged up men, injured if I may add. We had no ride and were stuck in nowhere particularly with attackers possibly coming for us any second now.
We had barely any choice at this moment. And besides, if it comes to it, it's a middle-aged woman against 4 abled men.
Before I could finish my thoughts, she spoke again. "Dante, you are the boss here. Do what's right for everyone at the moment."
She's right. "Nico, get in the back with Serena," I ordered. "I'll go upfront," I added.
Nico's eyes widened. "Don, no. This has shady written all over it."
"We've got little choices left," I cut back gently. "Our men are dying back there. If we stay here, we're dead."
He hesitated, and with a locked jaw, he glanced at the woman, then Serena and nodded reluctantly. He led her to the back door and helped her in gently, then climbed in after.
I jumped in front and the rest of the men started clustering to enter when a bullet tore through one guy's skull, spraying blood everywhere and dropping him dead.
The woman floored it without a word, spinning the tires in dirt before speeding off wildly. I slammed my fist against the seat, cursing loudly. "What the fuck?! My men, you left them to die?!"
"Fuck that Dante. It's them or us, you know it," she replied immediately with her eyes locked on the road. "It's a leader's choice, Dante. You want to be dead too?" She added grimly.
I took a deep breath, I was boiling with anger, but as shots struck the car, I had to admit she was right.
The pursuers kept firing wildly, sending bullets whizzing past us. I pulled out my gun from my jacket and rolled down the window.
"It's about time," she remarked and it took everything in me not to blow her head instead.
I leaned out rather and fired back steadily, aiming for their tires. Nico at the back did the same while Serena remained folded up in the back with her head lowered.
The woman drove like a pro, swerving around obstacles and taking sharp bends without braking.
"Shoot left. Now!" she barked.
Against my will, I obeyed and shot to their left as she made a sharp bend. The car swerved too quickly and rammed into a tree. I guess she was right.
"Faster! They're gaining on us!" I yelled over to her.
She pushed the Toyota harder as she dodged a low branch narrowly, too close for comfort. She spun right into a denser part of the woods as the shots faded gradually.
By the time it got dark, we had lost them completely. And as she drove on a bit, she brought the car to a stop and turned to me. "I don't mind having you all at my place. It's safer for the night. You can rest and relax tomorrow," she offered.
Nico kicked against it immediately from the back. "No fucking way, there must be a trap waiting there. First you give us a ride, now you want us in your house? How generous."
I had to stand with Nico this time around. "Is there no hotel or motel nearby? Thanks for the ride, but we don't need to inconvenience you anymore," I said, trying to show a bit of respect to the person that just saved us.
"There is," she replied. "But the nearest ones are pretty obvious don't you think? They are easy checks for the shooters. I know it can be weird, but I mean good. My crib is old and on the outskirts."
I gave it another thought, but she's right again. I reluctantly agreed. "Fine, but one slip up..."
"Yeah yeah," she nodded. "You put a bullet in my head, I know the drill."
I held back a remark as she drove on down the road, turning into rough tracks where trees closed in fast.
She was oddly kind the whole way, kept asking if we needed water from her cooler and even offered us some painkillers from the glove box. She was friendly, almost too much. Weird for strangers in the outskirts of town.
Her place came into view soon, was an old cabin tucked in behind a couple of trees. The woods that formed the walls looked worn out. It looked just enough for one person, now four of us? Mehn we are in for a long night.
She parked roughly by one of the trees and stepped out, banging the door afterwards. "Come on in, it's safe inside," she called out to us.
We followed her out and she led us inside. "Careful with the door," she joked as she pushed it open gently. The insides looked quite cozy, stark contrast to the outside, and it actually looked bigger.
It had a worn out couch by a crackling fireplace, a partly wide kitchen with pots hanging out and rugs laying around with about three rooms. It smelled like pines and soup.
"Come on, I'll show you to where you'll be sleeping," she offered as she walked in and we followed.
As I stepped in further, my eyes caught a frame at the corner of the fireplace, but he quickly walked over and flipped it around, but not quick enough.