Franks helped Tiffany inside, then turned back to Jacobs. “What’s the status in there?”
“Two or three more including Mallette. Nate’s trying to find him now. I gotta go back in.”
Franks pointed at him. “Keep me posted.”
Jacobs ran back inside, going down the hallway where Mallette had escaped.
Thrower had found the back door, but it didn’t look like anybody had gone out through there. But there were a bunch of tight spaces and some empty crates and boxes that were left behind by the previous owners.
After a few minutes of searching, Thrower suddenly came face to face with one of Mallette’s men. They were both surprised, and both attempted to fire at the same time. Only one of them got a shot off, though. With the man down, Thrower continued looking. He came to the corner of the hallway and stopped for a moment. He didn’t hear anything. He then turned the corner.
Mallette was standing there with a gun pointed at him. “Looking for me?”
Thrower laughed. “Yeah. Guess I was.”
“I would say it looks like you chose the wrong side.”
“Think so?”
“Yeah. I do.”
Thrower shrugged. “Maybe.”
A shot rang out, and Thrower blinked, expecting to feel a sudden rush of pain all over his body. Instead, he saw Mallette drop to his knees, his gun falling out of his hand. Thrower looked straight ahead and saw Jacobs running toward him.
Another shot rang out. This time Thrower was the one who dropped. The shot came from behind him. As he fell to the ground, it opened up a clear path to the man who was behind him. Jacobs fired multiple rounds, killing the man.
Jacobs looked all around to make sure there was no one else there. With it being clear at the moment, he bent down to check on his partner.
“You OK?”
Thrower sat up and put his hand on his side. He looked at his hand which had blood on it. He lifted up his shirt, and Jacobs took a look at his wound.
“I think you got grazed,” Jacobs said.
Thrower happened to glance at Mallette’s direction, and saw him grab his gun again, and get back to his knees. “Brett!”
Jacobs spun around, firing continuously, hitting Mallette in the chest with what must have been a dozen bullets. There was no coming back from that. Jacobs walked over to his adversary and stood over his lifeless body. The blood was pooling underneath Mallette’s body.
Jacobs looked down at him, and he suddenly felt numb. There was no happiness, but he did feel a small sense of relief. It was finally over. After all this time, it was finally over. It also felt a little strange. Once he walked out of there, he’d no longer have to look over his shoulder. He no longer had to worry about protecting Tiffany. He no longer had to hide. It was finally over.
Jacobs went back over to Thrower and gave him a hand to help him back to his feet. The two men went back to Mallette’s body, standing next to it.
“Must feel pretty good, huh?” Thrower asked.
“I dunno. It should. Hard to feel good after so much pain.”
Thrower nodded, understanding what he meant. He put his hand on Jacobs’ good shoulder. “Well, I think it’s time we put this behind us, no?”
“Yeah. Let’s get out of here.”
They started walking away, though Thrower quickly came back to Mallette’s body. “No, I think I chose the right side, by the way. See ya.”
They walked out of the building, instantly greeted by the others.
“That’s it,” Jacobs said. “It’s over. He’s gone.”
Tiffany put her arms around Jacobs to hug and kiss him.
“Well, I never thought I’d see the day,” Franks said. “I always hoped. But… I just never thought we’d see this day.”
Jacobs looked at him and finally let out a smile. He put his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Me neither. But we got there. We did it.”
Franks puffed his lips, then wiped his forehead. “I guess that’s gonna wrap this thing up, then. There’s nothing else to do.”
“Not quite. There’s still one more thing I gotta do before I can move on.”
23
Jacobs and Tiffany held hands as they walked from the car with Gunner out in front of them. It was a bit of an overcast day. The sun had been trying to come out all day but just couldn’t seem to escape the dark clouds that were blocking it. They walked between the markers until they got to the ones they were looking for. Once they arrived at the graves of Valerie and the kids, Gunner lay down between two of the headstones.
Jacobs and Tiffany released hands as Jacobs moved forward and got down on one knee, in front of Valerie’s grave. He put down some flowers that he was carrying. He then plucked a piece of grass as he leaned on his knee for support.
“You know, through all of this, I always thought I’d see you soon enough. I really never thought this would end any other way for me, except me lying there next to you. And that was really how I wanted it. I wanted to live just long enough to see Mallette put in the ground, then that would be it for me. But now… now I feel like I have something to live for again.”
There was a look on Jacobs’ face that he hadn’t worn in a long time. There wasn’t the worry, or the guilt, or the weight of the world showing on it. He actually looked content. Maybe even a glimpse of happiness.
“I can’t join you just yet. I’m not ready now. I feel like I can build something with Tiffany. Something similar to what you and I had. She’s not you, and she’s not replacing you, but I feel like she’s what I need. I’m not sure I deserve her, but I’m gonna make sure I’m the man she needs me to be. The
