Chapter Twenty-Seven
Laying the Burn Card
A "real man" doesn't play safe unless he wants to win.
–Unknown
Day 3—9:23PM
Tampa City Streets
ELENA
I can hear my own blood rushing through my ears.
It is like a raging river, pumping through an overextended tunnel, pushed to its max with every surge.
It sounds too loud to be normal; I’m sure my veins are close to exploding, and irrationally, I start to wonder if the people passing me throughout the Hilton lobby can hear it as well.
I don’t know what is going on around me.
My vision is too blurry to make out faces. And I think that I am on the verge of dying… I squeeze Lukas’s hand as he leads me to his parked car outside.
“Lukas…” I start to call out.
His voice is calm, composed. He talks to me almost as if I am a child, and I begin
