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Atom: Hounds of the Reaper

Page 94

by S.J. Rowe

I hear a shot and move faster.

A man is bleeding out from a neck wound, and I kick his gun away as I look in and see Takahashi-san holding a gun high as he sits with his back to a metal wall.

But when he slumps over, the wall moves, revealing the panic room.

“Grandfather,” Nat cries as she rushes out. She cradles him in her arms and pulls him out of the chair to the floor.

“Place is secure,” Gina says as she comes up to me, looking at the intruder on the ground before shooting him. I glance at her but then go to Sunshine.

She has blood on her, but I know it’s not hers.

“Is he going to be okay?” she asks as she looks up at me.

I check over her grandfather, moving my hands under his suit jacket and feeling where the bullet went in. I nod. “Yeah. Looks like.” I grab something metal and pull it out to show them.

The watch. The one he always carried, dented and scratched.

“He was aiming for my heart,” Takahashi-san says.

“He got this instead.” I hold up the watch. “Bullet must have deflected off it and got you in the shoulder.”

“Your grandmother saved me one last time,” he murmurs and tries to move, but I hold him down.

“Stay still.” I turn to Gina. “He needs an ambulance.”

“That’s going to be tough.”

“Why?” Natalie asks.

“Because this wasn’t someone outside the family coming in.”

“Then who was it?”

“Your uncle,” Gina says, kicking the guy on the floor. “This is Riku. He’s your uncle’s right hand.”

I should have known they were closer than they appeared at the meeting earlier.

“They don’t waste time, huh?” I mutter.

Gina shakes her head. “He’d probably been planning this for a while before she even came into play.” She nods at Natalie, and I watch what little color Sunshine has drain from her face as she grasps her grandfather’s hand.

“Oh my God. Is there anyone we can trust?”

I think on it for a moment. “Shin.” He seemed the only one not afraid to side with my girl from the start. I glance at Gina, who nods in agreement.

“Think he’d be willing to put us up for the night?” I ask.

Gina shrugs, but she’s already pulling out her phone. “Only one way to find out.”

“What about Vinny and his people?” Natalie asks. “Should we call them? Do we know if any of them are hurt?”

“Probably. Let me make the call.” I stand and put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it before going to the hall and slowly making my way to the front. Cell between my shoulder and ear, I wait for Vinny to pick up as I continue to check the place. I feel confident with Gina holding them there. At the least, Sunshine can get back into the panic room if needed.

“Hello, Atom,” he answers on the third ring.

“We were hit.”

I hear movement on his end as I continue to run my sweep.