Page 28 of The Hitman’s Obsession

“Shut up!” Jimmy snaps, driving his boot into Chuck’s ribs. He looks at me with disappointment, shaking his head. “What’s wrong with you, boy? You were my best. One hundred percent efficient. Old reliable. And so what? You saw her and went soft? You fell for the chick?”

Jimmy’s gun is still pointed at Chuck’s head, but Frank’s moving his weight back and forth like he’s ready to do something.

“Let him go, Jimmy. I’ll pay the two million he owes.”

Jimmy bursts out laughing. “What? And pay me with my own money that I paid you? No, no, no. That’s not happening.”

“I can pay you,” Chuck coughs. “I just need some time.”

“I gave you time,” Jimmy barks. “No, I’ll tell you what, Roman. You want to pay off this guy’s debt? You want Frank here not to put a bullet in all your heads? Fine. I’ve got a deal for you. You do one more job for me, and all is forgiven. Sound good?”

No way it’s that simple. The boss is smart. He’s planning something.

“What job?” I ask flatly.

He grins like the son of a bitch he is, then points behind me.

“That job.” My body goes tense. Just his finger aimed in Annie’s direction is too much. “Kill her like you were supposed to. Fix your fuck-up and I’ll let you and Chuck go.”

My breath is steady. My heart rate is higher than I would like, but it’s controlled. The wind blows Annie’s scent into my nose, and I take a deep breath, relaxing the muscles in my body.

I can feel her heat on my back. Her presence around me.

“What’s it gonna be, Graves?” Jimmy asks. Frank takes a firing stance and flips the safety off on his gun.

I won’t lose you, Annie. I promise.

Slowly, I slightly turn my head to the side and whisper, “Run.”

Annie keeps her promise. She whirls and sprints off like her life depends on it. Which it does.

Frank raises his gun and aims it straight at her. Adrenaline snaps through me like a jolt of electricity. I leap to the side, throwing myself in front of his first shot.

The bullet catches me in the chest, just beneath my left shoulder. Fiery pain scorches through me, nearly knocking me over. Any other day it might have. But it’s not just my life on the line tonight. It’s Annie’s. It’s Chuck’s. It’s our future.

Frank takes another shot at me but misses. My gun arm still works. Gritting my teeth through the pain, I raise up and take aim. Frank may be one of Jimmy’s best, but he’s not me.

Nobody is.

I squeeze the trigger, and my gun bucks. Frank’s legs give out, and he goes down like a sack of potatoes.

Jimmy shouts something, but I can’t hear it over the sound of his gun as he rattles off three shots at me. One grazes my calf as I throw myself out of the way, ducking behind a stack of pallets.

The pain in my shoulder is growing. Blood pours out of the wound. It’s not lethal, but at this rate, I’ll pass out within minutes.

“Deal’s off now, Graves!” Jimmy shouts. “I liked Frank, and you killed him! So now I’m gonna kill Chuck!”

Three seconds. That’s all I’ve got.

That’s all the max amount of time I have before Jimmy brings his pistol to Chuck’s head and squeezes the trigger.

Pushing away the pain, I take a deep breath. Time to put it all on the line.

I put a bullet in Jimmy’s front tire. It bursts, and he curses something under his breath. His gun goes off, but his bullet shreds the pallets above my head. That’s it. He’s firing at me. And all I needed was an extra few seconds of distraction.

Throwing myself out from behind the pallets, I quickly take aim.

The angle is bad, my shoulder is screaming at me, I’m lying in the dirt, and the light from the warehouse is shining right in my eye.