The Woman with the Gun
Maya's POV
I screamed.
The woman pulled the trigger, and I heard the loudest bang of my entire life. I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the pain. But it never came.
When I opened my eyes, one of the three men was on the ground, clutching his leg. The woman in the black coat wasn't pointing the gun at me anymore. She was pointing it at them.
"Get down!" she yelled at us.
Sebastian didn't hesitate. He tackled me to the floor behind a table just as more gunshots rang out. I covered my ears and tried not to cry. This couldn't be real. Things like this didn't happen to normal people like me.
"Stay down," Sebastian whispered. His face was inches from mine, and I could see sweat on his forehead. "Don't move until I say so."
"Who is she?" I asked, my voice barely working.
"I don't know."
More shots. More screaming. I heard people running and tables crashing over. My whole body was shaking so badly I thought I might be sick.
Then, suddenly, everything went quiet.
"They're gone," the woman's voice called out. "You can get up now."
Sebastian helped me to my feet. My legs felt like jelly. The restaurant was a disaster. Broken plates everywhere. Overturned chairs. And in the middle of it all stood the woman with the gun, now tucked into her coat.
"Who are you?" Sebastian demanded.
The woman walked toward us. Now that I could see her up close, I realized she was younger than I thought. Maybe in her twenties. She had sharp brown eyes and a scar above her left eyebrow.
"My name is Agent Sarah Chen," she said. "FBI. And you two are in serious danger."
My mouth fell open. "FBI? Like, real FBI?"
"As real as it gets, kid." She looked at Sebastian. "Those men work for the Moretti family. They're not going to stop coming after you."
Sebastian's face was hard. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't play dumb with me, Torres. We know your sister stole something from them. Something worth millions of dollars. And they think you know where it is."
I looked at Sebastian, my heart sinking. More lies? More secrets?
"I don't know where my sister is," Sebastian said through clenched teeth. "I told you people that already."
Agent Chen stepped closer. "Then why did you come to this town? Why did you enroll at Maya's school? It wasn't random, was it?"
Wait. What?
I stared at Sebastian. "What is she talking about?"
He wouldn't look at me. "Maya, I can explain—"
"You came here on purpose?" My voice was getting louder. "You... you used me?"
"No! It's not like that!"
But Agent Chen's face told me it was exactly like that.
"Your father works at the bank, doesn't he, Maya?" the agent said. "The same bank where Sebastian's sister worked before she disappeared with the Moretti family's money."
I felt like I'd been punched in the stomach. Dad. This was about my dad?
"Sebastian thought if he got close to you, he could search the bank," Agent Chen continued. "He thought maybe his sister left him a clue there. Isn't that right?"
"You're wrong," Sebastian said, but his voice was weak.
I took a step back from him. "Tell me she's lying. Tell me you didn't use me to get to my dad."
Sebastian's silence was all the answer I needed.
Tears burned my eyes. "I trusted you. I actually thought you liked me."
"I do like you, Maya. That part was real. I swear—"
"Enough," Agent Chen interrupted. "We don't have time for this. Those men will be back with reinforcements. We need to get you both somewhere safe."
"I'm not going anywhere with either of you," I said. My hands were shaking, but I didn't care. "I'm calling my mom."
I pulled out my phone, but Agent Chen grabbed my wrist. Not hard, but firm enough to stop me.
"If you call your mother, the Moretti family will trace it. They have people everywhere. Police officers, phone company workers, even teachers at your school. You call anyone, and you put them in danger too."
"Let go of me!" I yanked my arm away.
"Maya, please," Sebastian said. "I know you hate me right now, and you have every right to. But Agent Chen is telling the truth. These people don't care who they hurt. If they think you know something, they'll come after you and your whole family."
"I don't know anything!"
"They don't know that," Agent Chen said. "They saw you with Sebastian. That's enough."
I wanted to scream. I wanted to run. I wanted to wake up and realize this was all just a terrible nightmare. But the broken glass crunching under my shoes was real. The smell of gunpowder in the air was real. The fear in Sebastian's eyes was real.
"What do I do?" I whispered.
Agent Chen pulled out her phone. "I'm calling my partner. We're going to take you to a safe house until we can figure this out."
"What about my family? My mom and dad?"
"We'll send agents to protect them. But you can't see them or talk to them until this is over. It's the only way to keep them safe."
My chest felt tight. I couldn't breathe right. "For how long?"
Agent Chen and Sebastian exchanged a look.
"However long it takes," she said finally.
Before I could respond, her phone rang. She answered it, and her face went pale.
"When?" she said sharply into the phone. "How many?"
She hung up and looked at Sebastian. "We have a problem. A big one."
"What now?" Sebastian asked.
"They found your sister."
Sebastian's whole body went rigid. "Where is she? Is she okay?"
"She's alive. But she's not alone." Agent Chen's voice was grave. "She's with a man named Vincent Moretti. The head of the family. And according to our surveillance, they're not acting like enemies."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
Agent Chen turned to Sebastian. "I mean your sister isn't a victim. She's working with them. She always has been."
Sebastian shook his head. "No. That's impossible. She would never—"
"There's more," Agent Chen said. "Thirty minutes ago, someone used her phone to send a message to every Moretti associate in the city. The message had a photo attached."
She held up her phone and showed us the screen. It was a picture of me and Sebastian at our table, before everything went crazy. Below it were words that made my blood run cold:
*"Find the girl. She has what we need."*
I stared at the message, my mind spinning. "But I don't have anything! I don't even know what they're looking for!"
Agent Chen's jaw tightened. "Then we need to figure out why Sebastian's sister thinks you do. Because right now, every dangerous person in this city is hunting you."
Sebastian grabbed my arm. "We need to leave. Right now."
But before we could move, the restaurant's front window exploded inward, and a black van screeched to a stop outside.
Men with guns poured out, heading straight for us.