My last bullet slammed into Brick’s knee. He went down in a fury of arms, swearing and shouting through the burst of pain. I knew it hurt, I had lead burning away at me, too.
“You motherfucking piece of shit! I should’ve killed you first!” he bellowed.
Digging into my pocket with blood soaking my everything, I opened my phone. Smudges stained my screen, my message sending on its way to my father. It was a bare little text, it only read: HLP.
I didn’t have time to hit the E, but he’d understand.
Pushing himself to his feet, Brick braced one arm on his uninjured leg. The other was dragging uselessly as he limped toward me.
His gun shook as he raised it—red veins popped in the boiled eggs that were a poor excuse for his eyes. “You’re dead,” he breathed heavily. “Fucking dead.”
I knew I was smiling, I couldn’t control it. “Shoot me, go on! I won’t die. I’m too damn tough to die.” If I kept talking, I could give my family time to get here. I just had to drag this out . . . I just . . .
The black hole in the muzzle of his gun became the only thing I could focus on. Some feet away, Sammy groaned weakly.
Brick pressed the warm, metal tip between my eyes. “Guess we’ll find out,” he said, squeezing the trigger.
Blood splattered.
It wasn’t mine.
Brick rocked forward, coughing as liquid filled his throat. He toppled to the ground, leaving me more lost than ever as he rolled around in pain. Where had that shot come from?
On the empty road, I saw a new car. Its lights were off, none of us had heard it approaching. My savior was a big man with an even bigger gun. For a second I thought it was my father, but he was thinner—paler. I didn’t know him, but I did know that he’d saved my life.
Her life.
“Sammy!” I shouted, dragging myself over the pavement toward her. She was propped against the car’s tire, her stare fixed straight ahead on the stranger. In the distance, the first howls of police sirens began over the hill.
Someone had finally heard the gunshots and reported them.
She swayed, sliding sideways and to the street. Closing the distance, ignoring my pain, I scooped her into my lap. “Sammy! Sammy, look at me!”
She wouldn’t, she was too busy fixating on the stranger. “It’s him,” she said in disbelief.
Was this new man dangerous? Was he going to aim at us next?
“Who is he?” I asked urgently.
Finally, she looked up at me. “That’s my father.”
- CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE -
SAMMY
“Sammy?”
This is nice. This is warm.
“Sammy! Sammy, please . . .”
Leave me alone. I can finally sleep. I haven’t felt so relaxed in forever.
“I love you . . . so please, just . . . wake up.”
Kain?
My eyes snapped open. Wincing at the bright lights overhead, I tried to shield my eyes; something tugged my arm, keeping it locked in place. In a panic I started to thrash, too confused to make sense of what was going on.
I’d been dreaming . . .
But before that, hadn’t I died?
Strong, solid fingers captured my shoulders. “Sammy, you’re awake, I thought you might never . . .” Kain never finished. His pupils were tiny, they were lost in the white expanse of the rest of his face.
The ringing in my ears faded so fast I barely realized it had been there. Turning my cheek to the pillow, I saw the machines beside me, the IV in my arm. “I’m in a hospital,” I said stupidly.
Kain cupped my chin, trying to get my attention. “You’re fine, you’re alive.”
Keeping my voice calm, I said, “Someone else better be paying these medical bills.”
His lips cracked into a surprised pucker. The grin that grew after that lifted some of the weight from my soul. That was what I needed.
“If you want,” he said slowly, “I can take care of them for you. But you know it’ll cost you, right?”
“How could I not know that by now?” I meant it as a joke. His wince reminded me of why we were here—the favor he’d done when he’d taken me to see my mother.
Sitting up, I looked him over with rising fear. “Oh, fuck, you were shot! I was shot. I—my mother, oh, no.” Covering my mouth, I let my tears rise and fall. I didn’t have the energy to stop them.
“Shh,” he soothed me. “I’m fine, and you’re fine.”
“But how?” Brick had us locked down. I remembered sitting there, knowing that we were both about to die. And then . . . my attention swam up, I stared Kain down in wonder. “I must have been fading away, because before I blacked out, I swear I saw my father.”
Kain’s eyes darted to the door.
“Stop,” I said quickly. “Don’t fuck with me. My dad’s dead, I know that. I was hallucinating.”
Gently, he disengaged from me. That was when I realized he was limping. Ice sank in my gut; how injured was he? Each step toward the door thudded like a drum in my heart. Twisting the knob, he leaned into the hallway. “I think you should come inside,” he said to someone.
Without waiting for me to ready myself, he entered the room. He was wearing a long-sleeved, tan shirt, and I instantly thought it looked too big on him. Too big on a man that had always been a giant to me.
It had been over a year since I’d last seen him alive, and in that time, my father had thinned out. It didn’t look right, his gaunt cheeks, knobby fingers, fading hair.
But there was no doubt it was him.
I’d know that smile half a world away.
“Sammy,” he said softly.
Yanking the IV stand along the floor, ignoring how every machine began to beep, I threw myself into my father’s arms and bawled.
He was alive.
Impossibly . . .
My father had come back to me.
We sat for hours. We talked continuously.
I still had trouble wrapping my brain around everything.
“Mom is seriously okay?” I asked, knowing I was repeating myself. I just didn’t know how to handle being so lucky.
Nodding, my dad said, “I got her out of there the night before. I’d seen Brick on the road once nearby, that was enough for me.”
My head wagged side to side in gentle disbelief. “How did she handle seeing you? Her poor heart.”
“She slapped me a bit.”
Chuckling at the image, I said, “She probably had no clue what to think. I don’t even know what to think. Is everything Brick said true? You led the Deep Shots?”
He frowned severely; it made me miss his comfortable smile. “It’s true. I was their leader until about a year and change ago. The rising trouble within the ranks of the Deep Shots, the number of times my life seemed to be in danger, I’d decided it wasn’t worth it anymore. When I told them I was stepping down and backing off, I assumed that was that. Frock was a good enough guy. I never pictured one of his own putting a hit out on me.”
“Brick.” I spit his name out like it was dirty dishwater. “What happened to him?”
Kain cleared his throat. “Dead.”