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As I held the gun, alone now, some of the old memories came back to me. But they were never very far away.
I had killed two men.
“Jeremy.”
My voice had been soft when I called to him. He’d been raping my roommate, and he was going to kill her. I had no choice. When he turned around and saw the gun in my hand, I shot him. The bullet hit the center of his forehead.
I swallowed now, remembering Mallory as she had watched me, pinned to the wall by his hands. Her eyes had been so lifeless. They were the opposite of Ben’s. He’d been pleading for his life, but minutes earlier he’d been planning to kill Amanda, then me. My stomach churned, remembering that he was going to take me to Franco. He wanted to barter, trade me in for more money, more drugs.
He was the one who killed Mallory, but the Bartel family set all of it in motion.
I drew in a ragged breath, cradling the gun in my hands like a precious baby. This little piece of metal had caused so much havoc in my life, and it was Carter’s weapon of choice. He’d killed plenty with it when he worked for the Mauricio family.
Somehow, I knew this weapon would have a place in our lives again. I didn’t want it to, but I knew it would. And with that last thought, my hand closed over it, and I raised my arms, aiming with my feet apart, my shoulders rolled back. I shot, one after another, until my clip was done.
All except one hit the bullseye. The other one, the outlier, was just outside the inner circle on the target.
I’d have to get better.
“Emma.” There was a knock on the door, and Amanda waved from the other side. She yelled through it, her voice muffled. “Are you coming?”
I nodded. Putting my gear away, I stepped into the hallway. Amanda held my bag, and I put my gun inside the holding container with the ammunition beside it. Then I locked it and put it back into my bag. “Ready.”
She looked up and down the hallway. We were alone. “They’ve been fighting a lot, but he’s trying. I think Theresa’s actually scared because he’s trying.”
“What do you mean?”
“He asked her to move in.”
We had started for the front door, but I stopped. “What?” I hadn’t known they were officially a couple. “They’re so on and off all the time.”
Amanda grinned, ducking her head. “I know, but I overheard it. They’re more ‘on’ than they let anyone know. He asked her—gave her a key and everything.”
“She said no?”
She shook her head. “Theresa didn’t say a word. She went on a cleaning frenzy last weekend, after it happened.”
“And the turkey exploding—”
“She’s not really worked up about the bird. It wasn’t that big of a mess either. I think she’s scared of what else he had planned with that romantic dinner.”
“Wow.” Theresa moving in with Noah. “That’s great.”
“She cries in the bathroom. I can hear her.”
“Really?”
Amanda nodded. “Every morning. She lost her family. I think she’s scared of losing him.”
I nodded slowly, and we started for the front door again. “Yeah, that makes sense.” Amanda and I shared a look. We had lost people, too. Mallory. Mallory’s baby.
“So tonight…”
“Yeah.” I pushed open the door, and we stepped through. I could see the driver behind the wheel, and the car was running, so I assumed Noah and Theresa were inside waiting for us.
Amanda walked beside me. “I have to tell you something.”
“Okay.”
