Chapter 1
Las Vegas, Nevada
September 15, 2024
"Yes, Pierre? I met my father yesterday. Everything is fine, you don't need to worry!" Ruby said while holding her phone which she put to her ear.
She was walking on the sidewalk after finishing shopping for clothes and toys for her nephew. She had no intention of meeting them at this time in Alberta and chose to send them gifts in lieu of herpresence.
"Thank goodness! Then, you can go home the day after tomorrow?"
"Yeah, I can't be here too long because Henry keeps calling me just to ask when I'll be back. He really can't let me relax, hahaha..."
"I think it's because he misses you."
"No, he doesn't miss me! That fool is just playing with me!" She said. Her eyes fell on a man who looked familiar to her walking out of a hotel towards a black car parked on the side of the road.
"Leo? What is Leo?" She muttered.
"Leo?" Pierre asked when he heard Ruby muttering.
"I think it's Leo! Yes, it's really Leo! Pierre, I'll call you later, Ok? See you later?" She said as she ended the call.
She walked quickly towards the black car right before the man got into the car.
"Leo...!" She shouted cheerfully Leo's name in a loud voice.
"Ruby?" Leo muttered in surprise at meeting Ruby in this city.
He looked panicked and checked the conditions around him as if there was danger that could come at any time. Ruby, who was innocent and didn't know anything, could only run to Leo with a face full of joy.
"Leo, you bastard! What are you doing here...?" She shouted in annoyance and tried to touch Leo who quickly avoided her.
"Who are you? Do I know you?" Leo asked with a cold expression on his face, a typical hooligan's eyes.
"What are you talking about? Oh I know, you want to pretend you don't know me, right? You idiot, why is your phone number not active? Where have you been this week?"
"Hey, listen! I don't know you at all! Don't come near me!"
"What? Y-you said what? What the-"
Bang...
The sound of gunshots rang right in their ears. Leo, with quick reflexes, immediately opened the car door and pushed Ruby inside.
Bang...
"Tch, damn!" Leo growled in annoyance when another shot was fired at his car. He hurriedly drove his car down the road to avoid the mysterious shooter.
Ruby didn't know what was really happening, suddenly she was in a car being chased by a shooter who came from who knows where, along with a man who looked like Leo or Leo who pretended not to know her.
Bang...
"Oh my God, what happened? Why am I here?" She was scared to death when she realized that there was a white van chasing the car Leo was driving. Two men in the car pointed guns and tried to shoot at the window and Leo's car.
"Get down!" Leo said giving instructions.
"What...?"
"Keep your head down if you still want to live...!"
"Oh my God, I'm dead...!" Ruby lowered her head and hid behind a chair to avoid the shots that could hit her body.
Beside her, Leo, who was driving the car, still looked calm, even though his eyes occasionally glanced at the rearview mirror.
"Leo, I know you must be Leo. Don't pretend you don't know me! You're really too much!"
"Tsk, we'll discuss it later! The most important thing now is that we escape first!"
"What happened? Are you a fugitive? Could it be that they are the police!"
"They're not the police!"
"So?"
"They are mafia members who want to kill me! Men ordered by Josephine Stephenson."
"What? Mafia? Oh my God, you're really dealing with dangerous people, aren't you? You're really crazy, Leo!"
"Hey, come on! It wouldn't be that dangerous if you didn't reprimand me earlier!"
"What do you mean?"
Bang...
The shot fired again and hit the rear tire of Leo's car, causing the car to swerve and lose control.
"Tch, damn!" Leo glanced at the rearview mirror, trying to think hard about how to escape the pursuit of Josephin Stephenson's men who were after his life.
Leo found an opening he thought he could use to escape. He drove his car at high speed and entered a fairly busy highway area, then opened the car door when he was on the side of the road near the sidewalk.
"We're out now!"
"What...?"
"Come here!" Leo grabbed Ruby's body and hugged her tightly before starting to make plans to escape.
"Leo, are you crazy? Stop the car first!"
"I can't!"
"What do you mean? We could crash!"
"You just follow my words!"
"What? You're crazy-"
The car was losing control and was about to hit a street light pole. Leo immediately used that opportunity to take Ruby to jump from the car.
Braaakkk...
Leo's body rolled onto the sidewalk with Ruby in his arms. The car hit a traffic light and a few seconds later, the shooters' car didn't have time to cool down and crashed straight into Leo's car.
"You're okay, right? Are you hurt?" Leo asked. He was very worried about Ruby's condition and forgot the fact that his head was injured by the impact on the asphalt.
"I'm fine! Your head hurts, Leo!"
"Forget it! We have to go now!" He said as he took Ruby's hand and led her away through a small, dead-end alley.
"Dead end!"
"We have to climb it!"
"What? Climb? I can't!"
"You can't? Don't make me laugh! How could an ape like you not be able to climb?" Leo said with a chuckle. Ruby was silent, it was true that she used to be very good at climbing. But she hadn't done it for years and besides, she was currently wearing a short skirt, so she wasn't so bold as to expose her panties.
"B-but, I-" she said hesitantly while holding her skirt.
"You climb first! I'll help you! Climb on my shoulders!" Without warning, Leo immediately lifted her body and made her sit between his shoulders.
"Hey, stupid...! What are you doing...?"
"There's no other way! We have to climb!"
"You want to peek at my panties, huh?"
"What are you peeking at? I've seen it before! Never mind, don't talk! We have to hurry before they find us!"
Leo managed to help Ruby climb to the top of the wall and then he followed, but when she was at the top, Ruby was afraid to come down. She didn't know since when she became timid like this.
"Why am I afraid to jump?" She thought. She was really afraid to jump or go down to the ground four meters below.
Meanwhile, without realizing it, Leo was already at the bottom. The movement was so fast that it was almost unnoticed.
"What are you doing? Come on, come down...!"
"Th-that, why don't you just go! I have nothing to do with those people, so I don't think it's a problem if I just go the normal way!"
"No! I can't leave you alone. They've already seen you! I don't want to take any chances!"
"But-"
"Just jump! I'll catch you...!"
She was doubtful, she didn't know what was really wrong with Leo and why those people wanted to kill him. But for some reason he felt a very bad feeling now.
"That's the girl...!"
Suddenly, two shooters were at the end of the alley with guns in their hands. They looked at Ruby sitting on top of the wall with hesitation.
"Tch, damn! Lucia, jump...!" Leo shouted.
Bang...