No. I determined how this went down. Not that fucking asshole. DOM never let the other side dictate the terms of engagement.
I drove down the long path until the charred house came into view. It still stood, but I had to imagine the entire place was like a booby trap right now, just waiting to come undone with the wrong step or wrong position. It was no place for anyone, let alone Emily, Kelly, and Charlotte. I parked the car about fifty feet away from the front entrance, got out, and looked ahead.
“Sean!” I yelled.
He was nowhere to be seen. I found it highly unlikely he’d have a good position to take me out from the trees. From the house was a little concerning, though. Fortunately, he wasn’t going to be as difficult to spot in the middle of the day.
“Come out! I have your money!”
I waited, arms folded. To dive headfirst into the house was a great way to ensure someone got killed; if not me, then whoever he had his gun pointed at.
But then I saw movement near the front.
I cocked my gun and held it out.
And then I nearly broke my gun, gripping it so hard, when I saw Sean walk out with my fucking daughter in her arms.
“The fuck does she have to do with any of this?”
“Simple, really,” he said. “Kelly or Emily might get lucky and escape. This one’s going nowhere. And if I drop her? She won’t be fine.”
God, this sick fuck. I almost preferred dealing with terrorists who captured adult women; at least they had some sense of morality, as small and thin as it was.
“Put the girl gently on the ground.”
“Show me the money. You know it’s what I want.”
I pursed my lips. He was, unfortunately, right. Trusting my aim enough to shoot Sean without hitting Charlotte was not going to happen, and even if I could, she would fall onto the concrete beneath her. Maybe she’d be fine, but that wasn’t a risk I was willing to fucking take right now.
I stepped backward, never taking my eyes off of Sean. He had Charlotte in his left arm, and his right arm dangled free, but there was no way in shit that he didn’t have a weapon of some kind on him. I got to the truck, grabbed the bag of money, and tossed it to him.
“Now,” I said, “put Charlotte gently on the ground.”
“Charlotte’s her name, huh?” Sean said.
He reached into his pocket, pulled out a gun—my heart fucking accelerated at what he might do—and then put Charlotte on the ground. He grabbed the bag, keeping the gun trained on me, and unzipped it. He smiled.
“I trust you’re not stupid enough to have underpaid me,” he said, “because after all, it would be nothing short of a tragedy if you decided to rip me off. It’s obvious I can elude you as it is.”
He still doesn’t know about Burke.
“You can have the girl.”
“I want the girls,” I growled. “I gave you what you wanted.”
“Oh, you’ll have them in a few minutes. Once I’m through with them.”
I lunged forward with my gun. And then Sean did something that was too fucking scary.
He pointed his at Charlotte.
“I know you’re not stupid enough to come here without some sort of body armor,” he said. “But I also know that this girl right here has nothing but her baby fat. You really want to trust that you can shoot me before I shoot her?”
I grimaced.
“I’ll be done with the girls soon enough.”
He kept the gun on Charlotte as he backed away. My body flushed with anger. As soon as he stepped into the burned house, I scooped up Charlotte, backed up to the truck, and put her inside. The first of my goals, to rescue her, was done. Step two, get Kelly and Emily.
Step three, kill Sean.
I—
“What the fuck!”
Sean’s muffled, half-groaning voice came from inside. I saw my chance. Whatever the fuck was happening, it was a distraction.
I’d already taken two steps when I heard the first promising sign—the sound of shattering glass, followed by Sean’s yell. The women were fighting back. I wasn’t thinking consciously about any of this, but instinct took over. They were doing their part. Now it was time to fucking do mine.
By the time I got to the front door, I heard Kelly letting out a cry. Somehow, I found an extra fucking gear and turned the corner to the scrum—just in time to see Sean pulling a gun out.
I tackled him just as he fired, causing his gun to go off-target by mere feet and miss Kelly. I had Sean on the ground, but the fucker was much stronger than his scrawnier size suggested. He pushed me off with a bump from his hips, and though I scrambled in time to prevent him from getting on my back, I’d lost the advantage.
We wrestled on the floor as Sean tried to get a clear shot at me, while I slammed his knuckles on the floor, trying to jar the damn thing loose. But like I said, he must have had training in jujitsu or something, because he would not fucking fall.
And then he headbutted me. I staggered back, he raised the gun, and he fired at me.
“No!”
The bullet hit my shoulder. I felt a sharp thud, like someone taking a battering ram against me.
“Fuck!”
Sean roared as Kelly slammed a chair against him. He turned and pointed the gun.
“Sean!”
Click.
