“Sir, it was mostly that one, but this one downed seven or eight before we got him on his back.” Evan didn’t have to see to know which of his brothers was pointed out.
“And ‘the fire starter’? Didn’t he do anything to save his family?” Hollier scoffed as footsteps approached until the officer stood within Evan’s line of sight. The hard lines of the soldiers face seemed standard issue to the hard life Williams’ metasoldiers endured. Though Evan didn’t recognize him specifically, he knew the type.
The soldier’s thin lips pulled back in what was supposed to have been a smirk. Never taking his eyes off Evan’s shattered face, the officer pulled something out of his back pocket and held it out for Evan to see.
“I believe you know Kylie Monroe. Cute little piece of ass, that one.” The soldier turned the picture back toward himself to ogle the smiling girl.
Evan was trying not to panic, but dread had a vise grip on his heart.
“Yeah, see, my girl here, she’s the one who verified your location. Told us all about you being a fire starter and shit. Hell, she even shared play-by-plays of your private conversations.”
The other soldiers in the room tore into gales of laughter and crude remarks.
Evan’s chest clenched, hurting far more than his face.
“As for you,” the soldier called Hollier turned and started back toward Creed. “You’d better start talking, Young!” The distinct click of a handgun being cocked hit what was left of the walls with ominous clarity.
Creed felt the cold steel dig into his forehead—which just pissed him off.
He pulled himself up in a stomach crunch pushing his forehead into the barrel the officer held with calculating calm.
“I will not betray my family!” Creed yelled through the haze of the drug.
No time. There’s no time, Evan chanted to himself, trying to hurry. His mind kept wanting to figure out how he’d missed Kylie’s deception. He had, after all, held her hand. Did I just refuse to allow myself to know? He shook his head in frustration trying to double his focus.
Clever Guy was turned around looking at what his officer and teammates were doing to Creed. His knee was still ground into Evan’s back and his hands kept yanking Evan’s left arm at a completely unnatural angle. Crazed-Laughter Guy was distracted and moving across the room to join in the fun at Creed’s expense.
Evan slowly reached with his right hand into his front pocket and almost yelped for joy at the feel of warmed plastic at his fingertips.
11 Barbecue
Kylie’s lighter.
He yanked the lighter out, ran his thumb across the metal cogs, reached back over his head and held the flame against Clever Guy’s face.
What happened next was a blur.
With a yelp of shock and pain, the soldier released his hold enough for Evan to spin and elbow his burned face. As the soldier doubled over, blood gushing from his broken nose, Evan grabbed him by the back of his shirt and his biceps then yanked down hard, driving his face directly into Evan’s knee.
From his peripheral vision, movement caught Evan’s eye.
“Drop it!” Crazed-Laughter Guy was pointing his gun directly at Evan’s face from where he stood across the room.
A lightly perfumed breeze billowed in the space between the soldier’s itchy trigger finger and Evan’s grim face. Time held its breath.
Hollier, always anxious to draw blood, cocked his weapon and dug the barrel deeper into Creed’s forehead. “Drop the lighter, asshole. We only need one of you to talk, and I don’t give a shit which of you squeals,” he hissed.
Sweat droplets trickled from Creed’s bloody face, splatting salty and wet on the hard tile.
Evan wasn’t thinking about surrendering. He was thinking of his family, silently praying for their safety, even as he calculated odds of their survival.
They only need one of us to talk.
In his moment of clarity he knew the best option was to take himself out of the equation while taking as many of the bad guys down with him.
Evan glanced over at Alik struggling to keep his eyes open through the swelling. He offered his brother a minuscule nod good-bye, then turned back to Creed and half winked just before he ripped his thumb across the metal cogs.
Two things happened in the half second that followed. From nowhere, a body hurled itself at Evan and the soldier with the itchy trigger finger fired. The bullet hit the body in front of Evan with a sickening whap!
Blond hair unfurled beautifully as the body spun through a graceful pirouette before crumpling in a tragic heap at Evan’s feet. Kylie’s bright-green eyes gazed up at Evan, her body starting to convulse in the throes of death from the bullet meant for him.
“NO!” he screamed in shock and fury.