A gunshot rang out, piercing through the ringing in my head. My trembling hand reached for the gun on my hip, but another gunshot rang out. It ricocheted off the gun I was holding up, tossing it to the ground and out of reach. It was a dented, mangled mess, useless to me as I lay there on the ground bleeding from my leg.
I slumped, my morning breakfast rise up my throat as a dark shadow loomed over me.
“I’m really sorry about this,” John said.
I tried to focus my eyes as the barrel of a gun came into view.
“I’ve always liked working with you,” he said. “Getting to know you. Watching you do all the things you know you’re good at. It’s inspiring, really. But I can’t let this go any further.”
I squinted my eyes, my head hammering with pain as John’s face came into view. The traitorous fuck whose windpipe I wanted to crush. My body was surging with anger and shock and sadness. My friend. John had become my friend.
What the hell was my friend doing pointing a gun at my face?
“John, please—”
“Don’t do that. Don’t beg. It’s not a good look on you,” he said.
I swallowed down the sour bile, grimacing as I tried to roll over.
Derek.
I had to get to Derek.
“Once the FBI finds Jacob,” he said as he cocked his gun, “I’ll be implicated. It’ll be easy to find the paper trail that leads back to me. I have to finish the job and get my last paycheck so I can get out of the country before anyone catches me. So sorry, but it’s nothing personal.”
“You traitorous son of a bitch,” I said.
“I figured you’d be angry,” he said as he kicked me back over. “But that’s how the game goes. It was a good one too. I knew the moment Jacob went off book that night that you’d start seeing me in a different light. But that’s always been your downfall.”
I closed my eyes, waiting for my end as I lay there on the pavement.
“You’ve always been too trusting of those who save your life,” John said.
“Just get it over with,” I said with a groan. “You’ve never been good at last stands.”
I heard him chuckle as I drew in heavy breaths. My body was aching, and my vision was tunneling. It felt like someone was splitting my skull open with an ax. My ribs hurt, and blood was pooling around my leg, and all I wanted was for this nightmare to be over.
I wanted this shit to be done with.
I braced myself for death, prepared myself for the inevitable loss I would become. I conjured Derek’s smile in my mind, his warmth pouring over my body as I waited there to die. I felt his lips on my neck and felt his hand curling around mine. I smiled at the memory, waiting for John to finish what he had started.
Then, a gunshot rang out.
Chapter 23
Derek
I HEARD THE THUNDEROUS crash outside and rushed out of the office to see what had happened. Some guy came barreling into my office telling me Sam had a message for me. Something about a mission being accomplished.
I figured that meant she knew who the traitor was.
But instead of Sam meeting me in office like she would if all fifteen of them showed up, she was nowhere to be found. Just the screeching of tires, a loud crash, and a groan.
A groan I recognized.
I rushed out of the room with fifteen elite killers on my heels. I raced to the window, seeing John get out of his car. Sam was lying on the ground, groaning out in pain as she held onto her side.
“Everyone outside. Now,” I said.