Chapter 39
Sean laughs once more, still sounding like a young girl as he looks down at me, and his expression changes into a sneer. I watch the muscles in his shoulder and arm tense, and imagine the neurons firing from his brain, down his arm, and to his trigger finger.
Sean suddenly stops.
He stops speaking. He stops moving.
Blood begins to run out of his ear. I watch as the lightning storm in his eyes suddenly dims when he drops to the ground beside me.
A split-second later, there is a distant popping sound.
“Jesus.” Deklan’s breathy voice reaches my ears at the same time his left hand grabs me by my arm. He pulls me against his chest like a ragdoll. “Are you all right?”
I can’t answer. I can barely keep from pissing myself as I stare at Sean’s open, dead eyes. My stomach clenches and threatens to send my lunch all over the alley. I don’t understand what my eyes are showing me. Am I dead? Did I miss the part where I got shot in the head? How is Sean lying lifeless on the ground before me?
Deklan shifts with a grunt and moves his hand to my face. He turns my head until I’m looking him in the eyes. I can see his mouth moving, but his words aren’t making sense. Mac appears from the basement doors, gun drawn, and looks all around. He calls out to Deklan, and they both stare up into the city skyline. I follow Deklan’s gaze, but there is nothing to be seen—just buildings.
“Dek?” I say as I finally find my voice. “What just happened?”
Before he can answer, there’s a groan from beside us.
“Holy fuck!” Brian says as he rolls to his side. “That shit hurts!”
“Brian!” I reach out as I watch him blink up toward the sky.
“It’s okay,” Brian says with a smile. “I’m wearing a vest.”
“Motherfucker,” Deklan says with a grumble. “Who the hell gave you a vest?”
“Teagan.” Brian looks up at the skyline above us and chuckles.
“Did she…?” Deklan shakes his head and glances upward again.
Brian grins at Deklan as he gets back on his feet and rubs his chest, still staring up at the buildings. Deklan helps me to my feet, and his eyes widen as he follows Brian’s gaze. I do the same, but I see nothing. When I look back to my husband, there is understanding in his expression.
“You have some explaining to do later,” Deklan says to Brian and then to Mac. “Both of you.”
“I have no idea what’s going on,” Mac says. “I was trying to get a lock on him, but he was blocked by her, and I couldn’t see. Where the hell did that shot come from?”
“There wasn’t time to tell you about it before.” Brian grins. “We ran out of options, and he’s the only one who could do it.”
I look back and forth, trying to understand what just happened.
“That dude is one hell of a shot!” Brian whistles. “I never even heard it! I wonder how far away he is.”
“I don’t know,” Deklan mumbles as he glances at me. He only meets my eyes for a moment before he looks back at the ground.
Suddenly, I understand.
“It’s that man, isn’t it?” I glare at Deklan until he finally makes eye contact with me again. “The man who killed Kathy.”
“Arden,” Deklan says as he nods slowly. “In case it isn’t clear, I wasn’t consulted on this.”
“Teagan swore she’d take the heat,” Brian says with a shrug. “She’s waiting over by the car.”
Mac and Brian lead Deklan and me away from the body in the alley and back to the quiet street. Aside from a couple of homeless guys on the other side of the restaurant doors, no one is around, and no one seems to have noticed what just happened in the alley. If anyone did hear, they didn’t care.
“I knew you couldn’t do it, Dek,” Teagan says as she leans against the Viper and gives Deklan a half smile. “I know you wanted to, and if it came down to Sean or your wife, you were going to choose your wife, but if you pulled the trigger on Fergus Foley’s son, you’d never forgive yourself.”