“Charlotte,” he said. “You should’ve given yourself up before it got to this. Do you realize how many people have been hurt because of you? How many people will be hurt because of you?”
I aimed my weapon at him. “I’ll shoot you.”
“And then what? Grant dies?” Kyle gestured lazily toward my boss. “You’re happy with that? Sacrifice his life to take mine?”
My grandmother was deathly still, her weapon trained on Jordan, who bore a similar smirk to Kyle.
Grant tried to say something against the cloth gag in his mouth. His eyes widened, and he nodded, trying to gesture to me to take the shot on Kyle.
Of course, that was what he wanted. Special Agent in Charge Grant was selfless, and he would likely blame himself for the two-faced agent being a part of the task team.
I sucked in a breath, silently assessing our options.
The easiest would be to give myself up to my ex-husband. He would likely hurt me a good deal, kill me, and then what?
No, I would never give up. And my grandmother wouldn’t allow it because a man like Kyle wouldn’t stop at getting revenge on me.
“I’m going to track down all your little friends,” Kyle said, grinning at me. “You know that, right?”
“Over my dead body.” I rose from my crouch, keeping my gun trained on him. Gamma stayed in her position.
“That can be arranged.”
Thunder rolled overhead and lightning cracked. We had kept the lights off in the inn, using our night vision contact lenses to our advantage—or so we thought. We had no advantage while Grant was being held by that agent.
“What are you going to do?” Kyle asked. “Give up your friends to safe yourself? That’s what you did with me, Charlie.”
“Shut up,” I snapped. “You don’t know me, and I’m not dumb enough to think I ever knew you, so be quiet.”
“What about you, Georgina Mission?” Kyle trained his gaze on Gamma. “What do you have to say for yourself?”
Calmly, my grandmother turned, took aim and fired at the man holding Grant. She struck him in the hand, and he dropped his gun, releasing a feral cry.
All heck broke loose.
Special Agent in Charge Grant turned and pounced on the agent who had betrayed the NSIB. They fell to the ground, struggling, and I couldn’t get a clear shot on Grant’s attacked. Jordan advanced, clicking on the hall lights, removing a gun from a holster at his side and pointing it at Gamma.
Hot anger streaked through my veins, but I didn’t have time to consider their fight.
I had one of my own to deal with.
Kyle rushed toward me, not bothering to go for his gun, rage twisting his once-handsome features. He tackled me to the ground, and I brought the gun up, my finger squeezing the trigger twice.
But my ex had thrown me off balance and both shots flew wide, smacking into the chandelier overhead and raining glass down upon us.
Kyle forced my fingers off the gun and tossed it aside. “It’s over!” Kyle closing his hands around my throat.
I brought my knee up and hit him where the sun didn’t shine. He grunted, but didn’t roll off, so I shoved him with all the power in my legs, using my training and his weight against him. I scrambled up and ran for it.
Where? Go! What now?
I leaped over the table blocking the base of the stairs, sending the trinkets in every direction, and darted up the stairs, taking them two at a time.
“Get back here!” Kyle yelled, and the sound of gunfire, two sharp pops, nearly deafened me. Bullets whizzed past my ears and struck the plaster to my right.
My heart pounded, but I set a goal in my mind and went for it.
Upstairs. Another flight. That’s it. Keep running. Move, Mission, move!
I bounded up the stairs toward my floor but didn’t make a run for my room—I didn’t have a gun there anymore.
“Oh, Charlie!” Kyle yelled from the landing below. “I know you’re up there. There’s nowhere to run. What are you going to do, Charlie? Jump out of a window.”
Carefully, now. Don’t make it obvious.
I felt along the wall, searching for the button I knew was there. My fingers found it, and I pressed it, gently. A miniscule click sounded.
My ex-husband’s footsteps grew closer, and the top of his head bobbed into view, coated in a sheen of sweat.
I kept my hand on the wall, pretending to brace myself. My mind racing.
I would have only one shot at this. If I messed up, Kyle would… well, he’d do his worst, and I didn’t want to imagine what that might be.
You’ve got this.
My mind flittered to Gamma downstairs and whether she was OK, but I shoved that thought aside, ruthlessly. She could look after herself better than I could, for heaven’s sake.
Kyle stopped at the head of the stairs. “Out of breath, Charlie?” he asked, taunting me with his gaze and tone.
Lightning flashed outside, thunder rumbled again, and rain pattered down on the inn’s roof. A slow patter that would soon become a torrent.
“What are you waiting for?” I asked. “Why don’t you shoot me?”
He raised his gun and pointed it at me then pressed the trigger. A dull click sounded. “Empty,” he said. “Unfortunate.” He tossed the gun aside, offering me a wry smile. “You always liked to make things more difficult than they had to be.”
“And you always had to be an evil, rule-breaking, criminal.” I shrugged. “I know who I’d rather be.”
Kyle’s smile faded. “You sold me out.”
“You sold out your country,” I snapped at him. “I break the rules, but you’re disgusting. Vile.”
The insults were too much for him, it seemed. Kyle launched toward me, streaking down the long hall of the inn, the one that had been my home for over a year. And anger rose within me.
How dare he tar this place with his presence? How dare he threaten my friends—the only
