Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 138169 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 691(@200wpm)___ 553(@250wpm)___ 461(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138169 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 691(@200wpm)___ 553(@250wpm)___ 461(@300wpm)
I need to know she’s safe, dammit.
Xavier’s backed himself up to Bowden, Eustace, and Ephraim, screaming something desperate, probably about a getaway plan.
There’s still too fucking many of their men, and now the strategy to scatter them turns against us as we lose them in the containers.
My arms ache from the rifle’s recoil. I slide into a dark crevice to catch my breath, tapping my earpiece.
“We good?” I gasp.
“Low on ammo,” Grant barks back.
“Took a graze to the thigh, but still livin’,” Henri replies a little too cheerfully.
Lucas is quiet, making me fear he’s one of the bodies littering the docks, until he whispers, “…I have a clear shot at Xavier, but if he moves…”
“Don’t.” Panic leaps in my chest. “We can’t risk a hostage like that.”
“What you mean,” Lucas says gravely—no pun intended, “is your albino ass can’t risk the woman you love.”
“I’d say the same for any civilian,” I snap and then sigh. “And yeah. I fucking love her, so let’s try not to shoot her, okay?”
“What’s the plan?” Henri asks.
“One option,” Grant growls. “We Braveheart it.”
I frown. “What? You think one last rush will catch them so off guard they think we’re completely fucking insane?”
“I hope so,” Grant says—followed by the sound of his M4 going off in a quick burst.
“If you get me killed with this shit,” I say, “I will haunt your gigantic ass.”
“Then don’t die on me, DEA,” Grant snorts. “Okay, on my mark. One… two… three!”
That’s all I need.
I grip my M4 like it’s keeping me alive and charge.
You can feel the air over the docks change.
Suddenly, we’re no longer angry ghosts sniping from the shadows, but roaring madmen coming in from all sides, spilling down the throat of chaos.
With everyone scattered, there’s no united front as Xavier’s men fall back.
Easy targets.
But we’ve got our backs exposed, and there are still too damned many of them left.
The four of us link up, crowding in tight, until we’re a phalanx cutting Xavier and Bowden and the Jacobin heads off from their men.
We make ourselves vulnerable to them.
It’s not good.
Not at all when we’re crunched together, firing like madmen, looking over our shoulders, taking more shots, picking off a few more.
There’s something deathly cold in Bowden’s eyes as he lifts his service pistol and—
Another sound splits the night.
Sirens?
Everyone freezes.
Us, the Jacobins, the mercenaries, Xavier, Chief Bowden.
I risk another glance at Talia.
Her blue eyes have never left me the whole time.
I can feel her telling me, Do what you need to do. We’ll come out the other side, I know it.
Reinforcements then.
Finally.
Close—so close, we’ve got under a minute and they’re already scattering in a mad run. Best of all, the ringleaders can’t when we’ve got them boxed in, and now it’s our advantage. Grant, Lucas, Henri, and I swing around to face Xavier, Bowden, and the Jacobins.
Grant takes aim.
“Four against four, and you’ve lost your minions,” he grinds out. “One more minute and this place will be crawling with Raleigh police. You’re done. Let the girl go.”
“Like hell,” Xavier spits and glances over his shoulder—fuck.
I see what he’s planning.
He wants to make a break for the ship.
If he can get there using Talia as a hostage, he can vanish into the open sea.
An angry cry explodes through the chaos.
Not from Talia.
From Eustace Jacobin, just as Chief Bowden snags her arm and yanks her in close. A long bowie knife materializes in his hand, pressed to her throat.
He stares at me with his dead, soulless eyes.
The mask is truly off now.
For the first time, I see the old chief for the demon he is.
A darkness deeper than anything I ever fathomed.
“The problem,” Bowden says almost merrily, “is that you boys need evidence for a case. Information. Testimonials. And since our darling Eustace here kept everything in her pretty little skull as insurance…” She’s white-faced but stone-cold, refusing to show fear, her wizened face curled in pure disgust as Bowden taps the knife against her throat. “…slit her throat, and I ruin all your hard work. So if you want her alive, you’d best back the hell off.”
“Where does that get you?” I demand. “Kill her with four cops as witnesses, and you’ll still be arrested. You’re not getting off that easy, Chief.”
He smiles, a sickly thing. “Maybe I just want to kill her, then I’ll—oof!”
Fucking Eustace.
Not going down without a fight.
She rams her elbow into his ample gut.
“Hands off my fucking wife!” Ephraim swings his gun up toward Bowden.
Bowden tightens his grip on Eustace. It’s a messy tangle and I swing the muzzle of my M4, trying to find a clean shot until—
Until Rolf strikes first.
I must not have tied his leash tight enough, because suddenly there’s a furious bark.
He comes flying over the hill, just ahead of the Raleigh SWAT team swarming out of their boxy vehicles. He moves like a pup half his age, launching himself into Chief Bowden.