"Fuck." The word is barely a breath, but my finger stays on the trigger, tracking, searching for an opening that doesn't exist. Kelly's positioned himself perfectly—Lily's body covers every vital target. If I take the shot now, the round goes through her to reach him.
Not acceptable.
I key the comms, voice clipped and urgent. "Overwatch compromised. Target using hostage as shield. Go hot. Breach now."
Jake and Luke don't hesitate.
They move in fast and aggressive, rifles trained but unable to fire for the same reason I can't—Lily's in the way. Luke sweeps right, Jake left, cutting off Kelly's angles, closing the distance with brutal efficiency.
Kelly backs toward the far wall, dragging Lily with him. "Stay back! I'll?—"
Luke doesn't give him time to finish the threat.
He closes the gap in two strides, using the momentary distraction of Jake's approach from the opposite side. Luke'shand clamps down on Kelly's wrist—the one holding the weapon—and twists with vicious precision. The gun clatters to the concrete.
Kelly tries to tighten his grip on Lily's throat, but Jake's already there, driving his shoulder into Kelly's side and breaking his hold. Lily stumbles forward, free.
Luke drives Kelly face-first into the concrete, one knee in his back, pinning him with the full weight of his body. Kelly's weapon skids across the floor, well out of reach.
I'm moving—down the ridge, through the warehouse entrance, my rifle slung as I close the distance. By the time I reach them, Luke has Kelly immobilized, face pressed into the concrete, arms wrenched behind his back.
Lily is standing now, rubbing her wrists where the zip ties cut into her skin. Her eyes find mine immediately. “I shouldn’t have come, I know Mandy’s dead,” she says in such sadness I want to rip Kelly’s fingernails off one by one for giving my girl a false sense of hope.
Instead I walk to where Kelly's weapon landed and pick it up. I check the chamber and confirm it's loaded.
Then I walk to Lily and hold it out to her. "Your choice," I offer quietly.
Jake and Luke stand ready but don’t move.
Lily stares at the gun in my hand. Then at Kelly, still pinned beneath Luke's knee, his face pressed into the concrete.
Truthfully, I want to take the shot myself. Kelly put his hands on my girl—I want to use him for target practice and leave him to bleed out as vultures waited to peck his eyes out. I also don’t want her to have this on her conscience. Like I told her before, she’s not a killer. The toll for taking a life if you haven’t dealt with it mentally is high. I saw it in the military all the time.
But I want Lily to have what she needs.
"Your choice," I repeat. "He touched you. He threatened you. He was part of the operation that killed your sister. You get the closure you want. But if you want, I’ll handle it for you."
Her hand is shaking as she reaches for the weapon, but when her fingers close around the grip, the shaking stops. She steps forward.
Luke shifts his weight, giving her the angle she needs while keeping Kelly immobilized.
Kelly tries to lift his head. "Wait?—"
Lily doesn't wait.
She aims and fires.
83
LILY
The gun is warm in my hand.
That's the first thing I notice. Not the recoil. Not the sound. Not even Kelly's body jerking on the concrete. Just the warmth.
I lower the weapon slowly, my breathing steady, my mind crystalline and clear in a way it hasn't been in thirteen years. There's no panic. No guilt. There's justdone.
Mandy's killer is dead.