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Bennett said, “Then you shoot me and it’ll be over?”
“The only promise I make is that I’ll release Juliana.”
She waited, knowing a man like this might decide to give up his own life for his daughter. She saw a flicker of doubt, or maybe it was confusion, cross his face. Then he held up his left hand to show it was empty as he slowly bent with the gun in his right hand, as though he was going to place it on the dusty hardwood floor.
She tightened her grip on Juliana just in case the feisty girl tried to escape at the last moment. She had proved to be as bold as her father.
From the awkward, stooped position, Bennett said, “Please release her now.”
From way down the hallway Alex heard someone call out, “Michael, where are you?”
Bennett shouted back, “Don’t come down here, Seamus. Everything will be all right. Just stay away.”
Alex wondered if another police officer was in the building. She said, “Who was that?”
“My grandfather. I brought him down here to see the set and visit Juliana. He’s no threat to you or anyone else.”
It was a reasonable story, and the detective certainly didn’t sound like he was lying.
Now it was time to fire the pistol once and be on her way.
Chapter 88
I kept slowing my movement to place the gun on the floor, hoping I’d see an opening or that this assassin would drop her guard. But she was good. Really good. She kept the gun screwed in tight to Juliana’s temple and kept her eyes on me.
It was the idea of a gun to my baby’s head that affected all my thinking. I didn’t care what happened as long as she was safe.
Even when Seamus called out, it didn’t break the assassin’s concentration. She kept the gun right where it was and managed to stare me down. Now I just hoped Seamus didn’t blunder into this shitty predicament.
I could see the woman getting impatient, and I wasn’t sure what to do. In every NYPD training session I had ever attended, instructors shouted at us, “Never surrender your gun.” Some of the old-school instructors were more colorful about it. The lesson had hit home and been seared into my personality.
The gun was part of me. If I surrendered it, I surrendered any chance I had to play a part in this drama. Not only would I be at the mercy of this killer, Juliana would be, too. But if I gave the gun up, the assassin said she’d release Juliana.
Then, behind the woman and Juliana, I saw movement. It was subtle. A shift in the light and shadow. It was plain that someone was close by.
Then hands wrapped around the woman’s shoulder and knocked the gun slightly away from Juliana’s head. The gun went off right in front of Juliana’s face. The noise was shattering. The flash illuminated Juliana’s eyes. Eyes filled with fear.
In the flash, I also saw Father Alonzo as he fell back with the woman in his grasp.
Through the din from the gunshot, I heard Father Alonzo yelling, “Grab Juliana.”
I did as I was told and grasped my daughter’s left wrist and pulled her so hard that I felt her whole body slam into mine. I lost my balance, and we both tumbled to the floor. It didn’t matter because my daughter was in my arms. And I still had my gun.
Father Alonzo and the woman wrestled on the floor. In the dark, I saw the flash of another muzzle blast an instant before I heard it. Once again, the sound bouncing off the solid walls of the hallway was incredible. It shook my whole body.
There was a brief scuffle after the gun went off, then the woman came off the floor in a sprint, running away from Father Alonzo, still on the floor. She was out of sight before I could even raise my pistol.
Quickly I came to his aid and knelt down next to him. He was starting to curl up in the fetal position. In the dim light, I could tell he’d been shot in the abdomen. He was already trying to stop the bleeding and keep his cool.
He looked up at me and said in a weak voice, “Juliana?”
“She’s safe. Thanks to you.”
“Old instincts die hard. I had to do something.” He winced and coughed. Some of his spittle was tinged with blood.
Juliana came up alongside me, and Seamus appeared from the hallway.
Seamus looked down and muttered, “Oh, God.” Then he also dropped to his knee, immediately took a handkerchief from his pocket, and told Alonzo to move his hands.
