He was about to tell her that they’d distributed the weapons and most of it was gone but then it came to him. She couldn’t have known that he was distributing them, otherwise she wouldn’t have asked him to bring it all in. Maybe that was his window of opportunity, a way to turn it around.
“And if I do that. What guarantee do I have you won’t go back on your word?”
“Our word is all we have. Ask Johnson. I could have killed him. I chose not to.”
Colby looked at him and he nodded.
“I’m afraid I don’t buy it.”
“You’re pushing your luck. But, I kind of expected you’d say that. Let me guess, you’re one of those who think people only understand one thing — a bullet in the skull, that right?”
“Rachel. Don’t you…”
Over the radio, Colby heard a commotion. It was hard to tell what was being said. Words exchanged. Pleading. Then a gunshot.
A cold shot of fear ran through him.
A second later, she came back on. “Now you have Dan Wilder’s blood on your hands. Who should I kill next? Your brother or the bitch?”
“FUCK!” Colby slammed a fist into the side of the truck, denting the paneling.
“What’s it going to be, Colby?”
He took a deep breath. “Where do you want to do the exchange?”
“Exchange? Oh, you have this wrong. There’s no exchange. You’re not in a position to negotiate. Bring back our firearms and you will be treated the way any common criminal is. But I will spare them.”
“Where?”
“Old Town near the waterfront.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
There were a lot of factors to consider. The lack of firearms was one. Handing over what they had left was another. Then there was the outcome. Jessie stepped up to his brother. “You aren’t seriously considering her request, are you?”
“You saw what Boone did to those people. He won’t bat an eye to do it again to Dylan and Alicia.”
“We’ve all lost people,” Johnson said. “I know you care for them but this is so much bigger than two lives. We didn’t come this far to wave the white flag now. There are thousands of people in this city that are depending on us whether they admit it or not. Eventually they will realize they’ve backed the wrong horse and by then it will be too late. I’m sorry but I’m not ready to give up.”
“I’m not asking you to.” Colby got back on his own radio to speak with Hank. As he was doing that, many of those in the back of the truck got out to find out what was holding up distribution. Johnson told them to wait. They couldn’t give them an answer, at least the answer they wanted, as Colby still hadn’t decided how to handle it.
He lifted the mic to his lips. “Hank, do you copy?”
“I’m here. We ran into some trouble but nothing we couldn’t handle. How are things going?”
He paused for a moment before he brought him up to speed. As soon as he was finished, Hank replied. “You don’t need me to tell you. I think you’re smart enough to know how that will end. After what’s happened they won’t lock you up. You’re too much of a threat.”
“I won’t let her die.”
“I don’t think you’ve got much choice.”
“We always have a choice, it just might not be the outcome we want.” He looked off into the distance as smoke billowed above homes and the war raged heavy and hard. “Listen, I need you all to meet up with us. I’m handing myself in. I’ll deliver some of the weapons but the bulk of them I want you to take and keep handing out to the community.”
“Colby…”
Colby cut him off before he could sway him. He gave Hank the location and told him to turn off his radio. He knew they weren’t listening to the frequency otherwise she would have made a comment about the distribution of weapons. That was his ace in the back pocket.
As they rolled out to meet them, his mind turned to Alicia, to his brother, to Lily who was now left without a husband. So much bloodshed. He was tired of people trying to control others. Tired of everyone trying to one up the other.
It ended here.
It ended today.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Alicia gazed at Dan’s body beside her. Blood pooled around his head. Fear coursed through her unlike anything she’d ever experienced. There had been moments in Seattle when she thought her life was in real danger, the horrors of L.A. came in second but nothing came close to this. Rachel Brohan didn’t hesitate for a second.
She shot Dan without listening to him.
Thirty minutes earlier they had been in the hospital room with Dylan under the guise they were visiting. Staff knew Dan, and at that time they hadn’t been instructed to stop anyone except for the Rikers. That all changed with the first wave of attacks.
Explosions and gunfire erupted outside.
Before they could get Dylan out, they were being escorted from the room by Boone’s men. They were stuffed into the back of a truck and taken down into Old Town near the waterfront. From there they were dragged out and thrust in front of Rachel with no mention of what they’d done wrong. Dan honestly thought he could talk his way out of it.
He couldn’t.
His first attempt earned him a rifle butt to the face.
The second time a bullet between the eyes.
“What have we done wrong?” Alicia asked, demanding an answer. Boone’s men threatened to kill her if she asked again. All she could do was watch as Rachel spoke to someone on the radio. Eventually she came over and put the walkie-talkie up to her face and told her who it was. Dylan remained defiant even after seeing Dan
