10 Tooth And Nail

"Get inside now!" Ashley called out, lunging at Tessa and shoving her roughly inside.

The girl was taken aback. Both of them fell into the room in a heap. Ashley jumped to her feet and locked the door behind them.

"Listen…" Tessa mumbled, getting to her feet. "Please let me be and leave my room. I have an important photo shoot with TEEN VOGUE. I know you are the Palmer Princess, but you can't bully me like this! Even as a prank!"

Ashley turned to her with a raised eyebrow. "Do they call me the Palmer Princess? That's a terrible moniker."

Tessa bit her lip. "Aren't you acting like a spoiled Princess right now? Locking me in my own booked room? What's wrong with you? Has the anxiety of marriage gotten to your head?"

Ashley shook her head. "I'm trying to save you, so don't get in the way. Your TEEN VOGUE interview is scheduled for next week. This one is fake! Didn't you see that hulking guy? Did he appear like a normal hotel staff to you?"

The girl winced and shrugged. "I didn't really pay attention. Alright. Even if I believe you for a minute… What exactly are you afraid of? This is a top-notch hotel with tight security. You should know that since the Palmers practically own this place…"

"I don't have time to explain," Ashley replied. "Tell me, is there any other way into the suite?"

Tessa shook her head, thinking. Then something occurred to her. "Oh, wait! There's a fire escape from the balcony!"

"God, dammit!" Ashley picked up a sharp paper spindle from the desk and headed to the gallery. As soon as she entered the balcony, she saw a muscular man climbing the fire escape. A gun with a silencer hung on his belt.

The man quickened his pace after being spotted. Ashley gasped and stepped back. They had to run and escape! But apparently, they were cornered, sandwiched between the main door and the fire escape. What could a defenseless woman do against burly assassins?

Then, a newfound courage welled up in Ashley's heart. She had to fight back!  

As the man ascended and his head surfaced, Ashley swung her arm like a bowler and impaled his head with the spindle. It went straight through an eye and stayed there. The man grabbed his face and tumbled down the fire escape.

Tessa looked at the spectacle in horror and was about to scream when Ashley covered her mouth. "Shh! There are more of them!"

A loud banging from inside the suite rattled them. The henchman was trying to break down the door!

"Let's go down the fire escape," Ashley instructed.

This time, Tessa didn't protest. She followed her obediently. They were halfway down when another fierce-looking man appeared on the upper floor balcony, climbing down the fire escape. 

Ashley and Tessa had reached the landing below when the man pulled out a gun and aimed at them, one arm holding onto the fire escape railing as he shuffled down the rungs.

"Stop, or I will shoot!" he warned. "Scarlet Palmer sends her regards."

Both Ashley and Tessa's faces lost their color. Was Scarlet really behind the attack? Tessa began weeping hysterically. Why would her future sister-in-law want to kill her?

Ashley forced herself to stay sane. She had to protect the girl and herself. She couldn't throw away the second chance at life so easily.

Ashley had no weapon with her. Even if she did, it would be impossible for her to fight an experienced goon without the element of surprise. Tessa tugged at her, panicking.

Ashley needed a weapon. A weapon that would work on a guy like him!

'Anything at all!' she racked her brains. 'Think, Ashley! Otherwise, you're going to die again! Think!'

The man backed down via the fire escape with the gun trained on them. At the moment of peak panic, an idea occurred to her. 'Yes!'

Ashley abruptly pulled at the lace of her top and took it off!

The man's jaw dropped open. Shocked by the sudden exposure of her shapely bust, he lost his balance, and his hand slipped over the railing. He tripped and fell down the building headfirst. 

It was a thirty-feet fall. A dull thud and crunch sounded as the man landed on the ground. He lay there, crumpled like a sack of potatoes. Most likely, the villain was dead or crippled for life.

Tessa looked like she had seen a ghost. The most dreadful crime movies she watched growing up had come alive in front of her eyes. She whimpered like a rain-soaked cat.

Ashley quickly did her halter top and led Tessa away as the hotel staff bustled upstairs, attracted by the noises. The girls left the hotel unharmed and took a taxi from the nearest street.

Ashley looked back at the building from the rear window. Her return to the past had also changed it somehow. Things differed significantly from the past she had lived in.

It made her feel better on the one hand and anxious on the other. Why did she have the power to return to the past and see future visions? What was waiting for her in the redestined future?