Then the worst happened. The guy on the ground looked up at the guy on the balcony, then he looked left… directly at her.

His face twisted into a mask of rage, like he was personally offended that she’d spent so much time eluding the death they were trying to deal her. She watched in horror as he pointed at her while reaching for his semi-automatic, shouting, “She’s there!”

Without thinking, Yasmin gripped the straps of her bag and flung it at the guy on the ground. Yasmin had never in her life been able to aim at the thing she was trying to hit, but a good luck fairy was sitting on her shoulder that day, because she hit him square on the head and he went down, the impact of the fire extinguisher knocking him out.

Of course, now the other guy knew where she was and was reaching for his gun.

If she tried to climb, he’d have her. Her only chance was to surprise him, which she did when she scrambled across the trellis and onto the balcony railing, reaching for his gun.

He obviously hadn’t expected the move, because he gaped at her and did nothing for a few precious seconds. It was all she needed. She used his body for leverage, gripping the gun while shifting herself to the front of the balcony. The fact that there was a strap attached to the gun helped her as his head was wrenched around when she moved.

Then she shoved with all her might, pushing hard with her feet and swan diving backwards off the balcony, praying as she did it that she reached the relative safety of the water. She’d been holding the gun when she jumped, which dragged him against the edge of the balcony. He had to brace himself to stop from going over until she let go of his gun.

She smashed into the water so hard her back touched the bottom of the pool, but not hard enough to hurt her. She righted herself and pushed off with her feet, heading toward the surface, then something whizzed past her in the water.

Bullets! Bullets were whizzing past her!

She frantically swam to the side of the pool where she was able to shelter from the bullets. She stayed as low as she possibly could, breathing through her nose, which was just above the waterline. The bullets continued to hit the water, but they couldn’t reach her.

She heard an angry shout, then nothing. No bullets, no shouting.

He was on his way downstairs.