They Made Me Run On a Broken Leg. Don Had My Back Chapter 06

They Made Me Run On a Broken Leg. Don Had My Back Chapter 06

Three days later. Voyage Tech office. 

Santino slammed the reports on the desk. 

Irritated. 

Elena sat on the couch, touching up her makeup. 

“Santino. What did the Ferrara family say?” 

Santino tugged his tie. 

“Matteo. Can’t read him.” 

“But he’s got no real connection to Sable. That day 

was just a one–off.” 

“Sable’s holed up in some motel. Probably broke 

by now.” 

“Tsk. That broke, still trying to save her 

deadweight brother.” 

His personal phone rang. My name on the screen. 

Santino hit speaker. 

“What, your bones haven’t rotted through yet? 

Back to beg?” 

My voice came through, hoarse. 

“Santino. Adrian has his last angiography 

tomorrow night.” 

“I’m still fifteen thousand short.” 

“You promised. Thirty kilometers, you’d pay.” 

Santino laughed. 

“Can that rotten leg of yours even walk?” 

“Tomorrow, nine p.m. West Ridge Mountain Road.” 

I cut him off. 

“From the foot to the summit overlook. Exactly 

fifteen kilometers.” 

“I’ll run it all at once.” 

“Fifteen thousand cash. Plus a signed patent 

ownership confirmation.” 

“You in?” 

Santino laughed harder. 

“Mountain road? Fifteen kilometers uphill?” 

“Tomorrow night there’s a storm. You’re begging 

to die.” 

Elena leaned into the mic. 

“Santino, if Sable’s so sincere, let her do it.” 

“Bring a few friends. We’ll all watch from the top.” 

Santino’s eyes went hard. 

“Fine.” 

“Tomorrow, nine p.m. At the foot of the mountain.” 

“Make it to the top alive, and the agreement and the money are yours.“” 

Night. Sky full of black clouds. 

8:50 p.m. Mountain road starting point. 

Wind howled through the trees. Rain fell. The road 

was mud. 

Santino drove a Porsche. Three supercars behind 

him. 

His friends, company execs. 

Elena leaned against the car door, laughing. 

I got out of a taxi. 

Black waterproof tracksuit. Right leg in a carbon. 

fiber exoskeleton brace. 

Rain soaked my hair. 

Santino rolled down the window. Waved a brown 

paper bag. 

Fifteen thousand cash. The agreement. 

“Fifteen kilometers. Six hundred meters of 

elevation.” 

Santino pointed at the dark road. 

“Kneel and kowtow three times. Write down the 

key.” 

“I’ll let you skip this.” 

I didn’t look at him. Pressed the tracker’s start 

button. 

Thunder. 

I stepped forward. Ran into the rain. 

Engine roar behind me. 

Santino drove two meters behind, high beams on. 

Two white lights on my back. Blinding. 

“Sable! Keep going! Only the first kilometer!” 

Elena shouted through a megaphone. 

The road was mud and fallen leaves. Slick. 

The carbon brace took some pressure. 

But the broken bone still ached dully. 

I stared at the road lit by the headlights. Adjusted 

my breathing. 

Two kilometers. 

Four. 

Six. 

Rain heavier. Body heat draining. Legs stiffening. 

Santino saw my pace hadn’t dropped. His face 

darkened. 

Elena grabbed his arm in the passenger seat. 

“Santino, up ahead’s a sharp turn. No guardrail. 

Drop–off below.” 

“Drive up and bump her. Just scare her.” 

Santino hit the gas. The car lurched toward my 

side. 

Bang. 

The Porsche’s mirror hit the brace’s edge. 

I flew. Rolled through the mud. Landed in a ditch. 

The brace cracked. Gravel cut my face and palms. 

The Porsche braked ahead. 

Santino walked over with a black umbrella. 

Stepped on my injured right leg. 

Crack. 

Pain shot through the fracture. I grunted. 

“Sable. Run. Why’d you stop?” 

Santino bent down, staring at me. 

“You think I’d actually pay you?” 

“Adrian’s surgery–without my signature, who’d 

dare operate?” 

“Say the code key.” 

“Or tonight, a cripple dies in a landslide.” 

“Sounds reasonable, doesn’t it?”