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He paused, tilting his head to the side. “Which means Elroy escaped.”
I didn’t know the answer to that question, so I didn’t move at all. He didn’t seem to notice or even care. He was thinking quickly.
“There was no word, no chatter of the raid, which means my people in the department either didn’t know until the very last moment or all communication was shut. If I didn’t know, then how the fuck did Elroy escape?” He paused again and looked up at me, but the way his green eyes looked through me was eerie. “He didn’t escape. He betrayed Cillian. Cillian was going to bow, surrender to me. At least for now to get me to leave. Elroy’s pride wouldn’t have it. He killed Cillian, took whatever money there was, told the men outside to stand watch and then left. No.” His eyes shifted back and forth as he pieced it together. “They both could have escaped, if that was Elroy’s end game. Cillian wanted to wait to strike…Elroy wanted to fight. Which means—IVY!”
He tried to reach for me, and I didn’t know why until a gun was pressed up against the back of my head and his eyes went wide.
“Damn, you really are a slick one, Callahan.” Elroy laughed behind me, gripping onto my arm. “You figured me out…just a little bit late. Ain’t that a bitch.”
ETHAN
When I’d heard the sirens and the gunfire we left the house, but didn’t close the door behind us. While we were watching his house and the police, he’d snuck in and waited. Trapping himself in the safest location possible, the one place where my guard was down, and holding the weapon he could kill me with…her.
“I was kinda expecting this place to be more…luxurious, you know?” He looked around the shattered room, his grip on Ivy tighter, tapping the mouth of the gun on the back of her head over and over again. She didn’t look bothered, just stared at me blankly. “I mean, a little paint could have gone a long way.”
I said nothing and didn’t dare look away from her. “You’re going to be all right.”
“Maybe you don’t understand the situation here!” he yelled, and I still didn’t look at his face.
BANG!
I flinched, for the first time since I was a child when he shot into her shoulder. She bit her bottom lip hard, swallowing her screams and her pain. The blood soaked through her blouse.
“LOOK AT ME!” he hollered, and I did then, unable to stop my hands from shaking. “That’s right. I’m in charge. Disrespect me again, I’ll shoot other body parts. How much can you take, Ivy?” he asked, squeezing her jaw. She pulled away, turning her head to spit the blood out of her mouth. “A little warrior, ain’t she? She’s always been like that. Getting into fights, not letting people see her cry or weak. She’d just run. But I gotta say, if you weren’t my cousin I’m sure we could have put on a nice show for your hubby here.” He stroked her neck and brought his nose to smell her hair. “Such a shame…but.”
“Let. Her. Go,”
I said through clenched teeth.
“He speaks!” He guffawed, rolling his eyes. “But that sounded a little disrespectful to me, didn’t it, Ivy?”
“Don’t!”
BANG!
“FUCK YOU!” I hollered out, watching as her leg buckled and she fell forward, muted whimpers the only thing coming out of her mouth, but he caught her and held her tight to him.
“Ha-ha!” He laughed, stomping his foot into the ground. “This is great! I was planning on waiting till you both went to bed before killing you all, but this…this is so much better. Who would have thought I’d get a front row seat at your own undoing, first the mistake, then the temper tantrum, the shaking, now this…watching you as you watch me slowly kill your beloved childhood sweetheart. All your big talkin’, all your planning, and this is how it ends. How does it feel to be the dumbest man in the room?”
“Hum…hah...” Ivy laughed gently in his arms. “It’s funny because I was just going to ask you that same question.”
“You must have lost your—”
Before he could finish she brought her free hand up, holding a shard of something I’d broken, and swiped it across his face, over his eye as quickly as she could. “I have long arms, motherfucker!”
“AH!” He let go, his hands going to his face, causing her to slump onto the ground. The moment she was free I lunged from the window over the couch, tackling him on the ground, my fist colliding with his face.
“YOU LITTLE—”
BANG!
I froze on top of him and glanced down at the blood now staining my shirt.
“ETHAN!”
I gripped his neck and reached for the gun with the other hand, tossing it to the side. I squeezed, and he punched the wound over and over, both of us now struggling on the ground.
“Ah!” I hissed when he managed to get another punch in, rolling onto my side. I gripped my side, the blood warm over my arm. Ignoring the pain, I rose to my feet just as he did. The slash across his face was bleeding a deep red. His good eye shifted to the gun and when he made a run for it I kicked his head into the wall and took the gun, pointing and firing, but there were no bullets.
