Page 73 of Letting Go

"Where are you going?"

"I'm getting the motherfucker that shot Mateus," says the man who never swears and sprints across the parking garage. I don’t have time to think through what he's planning. We're still on the second floor. He'd have to leap to the first to get down. A few shoppers looking scattered and afraid stand in the parking garage staring at us. Sirens wail faintly off Main street. Finn must have called the police.

I smash into the door at street level, duck low, gun out and run up the side alley on the other side of a low cement wall.

Chloe's voice comes loud, strong, and bile comes up again. Using bushes on the other side of the wall as camouflage, I look for a way to a clear shot.

I'm twenty feet from the girls. Claire is crouched behind Chloe, pressed to her back with Chloe's arms wrapped around her sister from behind. They are walking backward together, nearly even now with the marble entryway to the back door. I do a perp check. Wiry guy from the second car is at two o'clock. Second guy stands by the first car just to the right of the back door. The only source of cover is a large metal dumpster between the door and the guy.

Where the fuck is Reed?

Blood rushes so hard in my ears it’s hard to hear what they're saying. Chloe's still moving backward, when wiry guy, now abreast with the Lexus, reaches in the driver's side. He wrenches the door open and dives in, retrieving Mateus's gun.

"Hey, guess what?" He leans in again and then rises and stares at the second car. "The guy's still breathing."

Suddenly the passenger side door of the BMW opens and Reed steps out. He's waving his hands slowly as if shaking off a bad joke. The girls are still between us.

"Chloe, get away from her, or I'll have Matt here shoot him again."

Chloe freezes. Her mouth opens.

Matt raises Mateus's own weapon and points it into the open Jeep.

That's when two things happen simultaneously.

I fire off a shot. At the same moment, Finn slides out the entryway framing the back entrance.

When people are shot in films and movies they fly backward or stagger and drop. When you're in it, really in it and it happens, they just drop. No drama.

The guy is down.

Chloe looks frantically around, her eyes wide, and then Claire sees Finn and starts to move toward the back door. For a second, Chloe has no idea why Claire is trying to drag them toward the hotel, but the other two men can’t see Finn standing in the entryway.

The other man and Reed crouch down and Reed raises his hands.

"I'm unarmed!" he shouts,

That's not going to help you.

Reed crouches low, moving closer to the first car and the other guy who's waving his gun around. They both use the car as a shield. The girls must be clear before I can get another shot off.

Claire starts to make moves toward Finn. His face is tight, hard, and I know he's just waiting to grab her. Hold her. Feel her against him. He must be as terrified as I am. I'm realizing now I've never, ever felt real terror—and I can't handle it. He's thinking the same thing: either one of the women could get caught in crossfire.

Chloe's got them both positioned nearly even with the entryway, between us, and that's when Claire makes a sudden move. She bolts just as Nic comes out of nowhere, around the corner, behind the two men, firing off a warning shot. At that moment, Claire runs, trips, nearly goes down, and Finn grabs her, throws her into the entryway with him. She stays put in the corner, panting hard, her eyes wide.

But Reed makes his move too. As Claire dashes, he rushes Chloe, grabs her arm and now she's wrestling with him, trying to get away and I grip my pistol. Still can’t get a clear shot. We're all banking on the promise of a crazed guy who we think won't shoot her.

Reed raises a hand right up to her face and pepper sprays her.

I'm over the divider, running, I don’t think he sees me coming and I don't give a shit if he does.

Finn's out too, but the other guy takes a shot and Finn ducks behind the dumpster.

Chloe's hacking, crying, her eyes streaming tears as she wipes her face, gagging, and Reed drags her to the first car and starts to throw her in the back seat.

I am a machine. My training clicks and I'm finally able to compartmentalize again. No fear, no thinking except the mission. Strong, determined not to go, she breaks free, staggers backward, almost falls, but she's still not far enough to be clear of a shot. Just as she stumbles, I rush between them. Finally. A clear shot. He's five feet from me I raise my weapon. I'm going to blast that motherfucker off the planet.

Except this isn't what happens.