“I was to bring you here and get you on tape with all this stuff, saying incriminating things. Send it to the cops and you all go down.” He pointed around the room. “And there are hidden cameras all around filming us right now. We were going to use that, too.”
“I thank you for your honesty,” said Lord. “But I had this entire facility swept for surveillance devices before I ever agreed to step foot in here. Everything was remotely disabled, and/or jammed.” He paused. “But I now worry about what to do with you after this betrayal.”
“Ihave no such worries,” interjected Masuyo darkly.
Temple sighed and spread his hands. “You know, I really don’t give a shit. My whole life someone’s been telling me what to do. My old man made my life miserable.” He pointed at Nash. “And I’ve been compared to this guy for years and always ended up on the short end. I tried to disappear, worked my ass off for that, and of course it didn’t work, either. Got all the money in the world but I’ve really got nothing. I’m beyond sick of it. They told me I could be a hero by helping them. And you know what, being a hero sounded good. But it didn’t pan out, did it? Of course it didn’t. And now I’m screwed. But to be honest, I’ve been that ever since I came out of my mother’s womb.”
Masuyo looked at Lord. “I am tired of listening to him whine. Just kill them all and be done with it. And then we leave this place.”
Lord looked at his men and nodded.
However, they had made a mistake in not shackling Nash’s or Steers’s legs. Nash executed the kick to Temple’s head perfectly. The man spun around and collapsed to the floor, spitting blood out of his mouth.
Nash didn’t stop there. He caught one of the security detail flush on the chest with a mule kick and sent him cartwheeling over a stainless steel table stacked with boxes.
One of the other guards pulled a gun, but Steers struck him with a kick to his hand. His weapon flew away and Nash lunged for it.
He reached it and stood, but before he could swing the gun up, something hit him in the gut.
Temple was standing right in front of him, blood dripping from his face from the blow delivered by Nash. Nash looked down to see the hilt of the knife against his belly. Temple slowly walked the knife up toward the sternum and then moved it side to side just as Shock had instructed in order to sever the aorta.
Blood now oozed over the front of Nash’s shirt.
Temple held Nash’s fading gaze and said, “I’m sorry, Walter. I’m sorry it didn’t work out. I really wanted to be a hero, for once, but it just wasn’t meant to be, man. It’s just not my destiny. All the shit we went through, Sybaritic, my old man, fucking Myanmar.” He glared at Steers. “Her!” His expression softened as he looked back at Nash. “At least you’ll be heading upstairs. Me? I don’t think so. I only see fire in my future. Hopefully, I won’t run into my dad.”
He pulled the knife free, and since that was the only thing holding up Nash, he slipped to the floor and lay still.
Steers managed to loosen her gag and scream, “Walter!” She lunged toward him.
Two of the guards grabbed Steers and pulled her back.
Temple slipped the bloody knife into his pocket and motioned to one of his security detail. “Let me have your gun.”
“No!” exclaimed Masuyo. “Kill him.”
Six guns were instantly pointed at Temple.
Temple said, “Keep your hair on,Dai Lu. Nobody’s shooting your scrawny ass.”
He motioned to the guard again. The man looked questioningly at Lord, who cautiously nodded his assent.
He passed his weapon over to Temple. Surprisingly, he immediately held it out to Masuyo.
The older woman looked at the gun and then at him. “And what do you expect me to do withthat?” she asked stonily.
“I’m giving you the honor of killing your daughter. I thought it would please you. You don’t want to waste the effort pulling the trigger on me. I’m not important enough. Any one of your muscle can do that. But I assume your daughter is special.” He glared at Steers again. “And since she ruined my life I wouldn’t mind seeing her eat a round and go bye-bye while I’m still breathing.”
Masuyo smiled and took the gun from him. But then, just as surprisingly, she held out the pistol to Lord, who looked sharply at her.
“Here, Mr. Lord. I have killed enough people.Youmay do the honors.”
Lord did not reach for the gun. He seemed about to say something to Masuyo, but then he looked around at the security men and Temple, who all stared back at him expectantly.
“Is there something wrong, Mr. Lord?” said Masuyo icily. “Surely, you have killed someone before?”
The up-to-now-masterful Lord looked nervous. He slowly reached out for the gun and gripped it. It was clear how the man held it that he was not used to wielding a firearm.
Temple walked over and grabbed Steers by the hair, forcing her to stand straight. “Aim directly for the fucking heart,” he instructed Lord. “If she has one.”