My chest grew tight, and I continued to pull at Ponytail’s arm, which hadn’t loosened its grip. Holden flicked his fingers lazily in our direction. “Release him, Harris.”
Harris dropped the chokehold but seized my bicep, squeezing painfully, his other hand pointing a gun at my gut. I rubbed at my throat and glared at him. One of the women pulled a pistol on Fletcher as well. She raised her hands in surrender.
Holden hadn’t moved during the encounter. He still sat in the tall-backed chair behind his desk, his hands resting on the leather armrests as if he’d simply been watching a boring film. He’d even refilled his scotch glass. He sipped at it now, pausing to appreciate its smoky flavour.
“Alec MacGowan, I presume?” he drawled in MacGowan’s direction. Lena’s ex pressed his gun into the back of MacGowan’s skull until the man flinched. “I’ll admit, I’m impressed. I don’t know how you managed to climb the wall outside. I’ll have to keep it in mind when I design my next estate.” Holden’s tone was bored, as if he wasn't holding three people at gunpoint.
“Where is my son?” MacGowan growled, but he didn’t dare move with the gun at his head.
“Is he really your son, though, is he?” Holden asked with a sneer at the edges of his lips. “I heard you abandoned him when he was two.”
MacGowan twitched, but his captor’s hand fell on his shoulder, stilling him. Holden smirked, pleased with himself. He snapped his fingers in Lena’s direction without bothering to look at her.
When Lena didn’t respond quickly enough for him, he glanced over, irritated. Lena stood by the open door, a sick expression on her face as she tugged nervously at her fingers. Finn was nowhere to be seen.
Holden’s face furrows, silver eyebrows diving towards his nose as his mouth contorted. “Where’s the boy?” he demanded in a dark, dangerous voice.
Lena swallowed and gathered herself and took a step forward before she answered. “Probably on a boat to the mainland by now.” Her voice shook slightly, but she tipped her chin up and glared at Holden.
I grinned as Holden’s mouth dropped open. Everyone in the room stared at her with various levels of surprise. I acted while during the distraction, seizing Harris’ wrist and jerking it away from my own gut and towards Holden. No one realized what I was doing until I got my finger on the trigger and squeezed.
The shot echoed through the room. My ears rang, and Harris’ fingers loosened, allowing me to pry the gun from him. For several seconds, everyone stared at everyone else, unable to tell who had been hit.
Lena’s ex spotted the blood first, blooming on Holden’s arm, and with a shout, he rushed to his employer, abandoning MacGowan on the floor. Using the confusion, Fletcher snapped her hand up and stole the gun from the woman pointing it at her.
Lena’s ex flapped his hands around the wound, trying to make sure Holden wasn’t mortally wounded, though Holden himself didn’t seem able to figure out if he was alive or dead.
“Step back, Elias,” Lena ordered. She had a tiny pistol in her hand, but it trembled as she pointed it at the two men.
Reluctantly, Elias stepped back. The glare he gave Lena could curdle milk. Holden clutched his arm, blood coating his fingers, but he managed to keep his face calm, collected. “I don’t understand,” he said, though I could tell the admission hurt him.
I pulled a folded piece of paper from an inside pocket and tossed it onto his desk. “She slipped this in my pocket. I guess you can’t manipulate people as well as you think you can.”
Wincing, Holden leaned forward in his chair and grabbed the note, struggling to open it up one-handed. I’d read Lena’s letter when Fletcher had popped into the Sunset Charter bathroom before we set off in the boats. I’d been furious at first, though my anger mostly served to hide my embarrassment at being duped.
“When Elias first brought me into your organization, all the money and the gifts and the adventure of it all dazzled me,” Lena explained. She glanced at me apologetically, though she’d already said sorry about ten different times in her letter. “Who wouldn’t be? Who doesn’t want to get rich quick? I think I knew what we were doing was wrong, but Elias,” she glanced at her ex as she spoke, and he glowered back at her, “he kept telling me it was all okay, and I had no idea how to get out even if I wanted to, so I just… didn’t.”
Shame coloured her voice, and as I glanced over, I saw Fletcher’s expression begin to soften. That was good. I didn’t want her punching Lena when all this was said and done.
Lena shook her head, and the gun bobbed for a moment. I tensed, waiting for someone to take advantage of that, but no one moved. “But kidnapping Finn was too far. He’s seven years old. And you used my class to spy on him and snatch him. I’ve been feeling sick all week.” Tears shone in her eyes. “Callum, you were so kind and concerned, and…” She lost her words for a moment and quickly dashed her eyes clear. She jabbed her gun at Holden. “I hate lying. And I hate who I’ve become working with you, and I hate myself when I’m with you, Elias. I guess you could call this my letter of resignation.”
“And you planned this?” Holden asked, looking at me. Fury laced his words as control of the situation slipped from his hands.
“She asked me to trust her, and I decided to do so,” I said. “I guess it paid off.”
“One of Callum’s people made it up here after you called a cease-fire,” Lena continued. “I gave Finn to her while you were all fighting, and she’s
