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A muscle in Cooper’s jaw ticks.
“For recovering Salem, they will let her heal Kay before they take her.”
“Salem isn’t a doctor, you fucking idiot.” I continue to play dumb. “And where do me and Oz fit into all this? If you wanted her so bad, why didn’t you jump in to get her?”
“I did. You wouldn’t back fucking down, and everyone knows when Zig speaks, everyone else is just supposed to listen,” he mocks, making me aware that there is animosity here that has nothing to do with Kay at all.
“If you had backed off, you would be none the fucking wiser. I would have handed over the girl, my wife wouldn’t be fucking dying, and all of this could have been avoided. But you fucked up everything,” Cooper snarls.
Oz laughs. “Sorry, but even a narcissist like you has to hear the hypocrisy in that shit you just hurled. I wonder what you told your wife. It sure as hell wasn’t the truth. I bet if she knew what you were doing, she’d beg the reaper to come for her early.”
Cooper swings his fist and punches Oz in the face, which only makes him laugh harder. He wipes the blood from his lip with the back of his hand and grins maniacally.
“You know me, Cooper. You know us. Do you really think you’re just going to get away with this?” I question. The man could be reckless, but I never pegged him as stupid.
Cooper laughs now, but it sounds brittle and forced. He waves his arm around to encompass the room. “Looks like I already have. Nobody knows you’re here. I intercepted the SOS before the others could see it. Hell, they think I’m in Russia on a case, so even if by some miracle they find you here, they won’t be able to tie me to it.
“By then, it won’t even matter. Kay will be better, and they don’t even know she’s sick, so there will be nothing to arouse their suspicions. I’ll retire, using my grief over the loss of the two of you as a reason, and I’ll disappear. I’m sorry it has to end this way, but—”
“Oh, shut the fuck up. Do you think I want to hear your delusions of grandeur? Whatever the people you work for told you about Salem is bullshit. I don’t doubt they want her, but it’s not for the reasons they’ve led you to believe. They just twisted the story to fit the narrative that they knew would make you cooperate. This isn’t a fairytale. There is no magic in this world. I’m sorry about Kay. I like her—even more now, knowing how disgusted she’ll be when she finds out what you did. And she will. I’ll make sure of it.”
Cooper pulls his gun and points it at me, hatred on his face. “You keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth. You know nothing.”
“I know you. You’ll probably die before your wife dies. She’ll leave this world alone, thanks to you and your decisions.”
His hand shakes as his finger moves to the gun’s safety.
“Maybe don’t piss off the guy with the gun,” Oz says lightly, but his body is tense, ready for anything.
“I can’t help it. I’m shocked that he thinks he’s going to just walk away from this and live happily ever after.”
“You can’t do shit,” Cooper snarls.
“I don’t need to. You signed your own death warrant.” I shake my head at the man’s stupidity.
“Alright, let’s break it down a little for you. Let’s say Salem has some kind of magical power like you think she does. I mean, the rest of us know it’s bullshit, but I get how, with Kay being sick and all, you might cling to the only hope you have. So I’m willing to suspend reality for story time.”
I lean forward and smirk. “Do you really think they’ll let you use their most valuable asset? That they’ll risk you coming back to seek more help if it doesn’t stick or Kay gets sick again? You’re a loose end, one they’ll get rid of the second they have Salem in their hands. They might spare Kay. After all, she is dying anyway. But if I were them, I wouldn’t take the risk that you told her things that I wouldn’t want to get out. So, you see, you stupid fuck. You didn’t save her life. Instead of handing her a gift, you might as well have given her a ticking bomb.”
His breathing turns ragged as my words hit him far harder than any of the bullets in the gun would have. He looks from me to Oz to Dillon beside him, who still has his gun aimed at Oz. I see the moment it sinks in that my words are true. The gun shakes harder in his hand before he lowers it, his shoulders drooping in defeat.
Part of me almost feels sorry for the guy, but then I think about everything that’s happened because of him.
“The village in the jungle. That was you, wasn’t it? There were no hostiles. It was you, Dillon, Skinner, Mark, and Denny.”
“We were just following orders. It’s what we do, right?”
I shake my head and look at him in disgust. “No, murdering a little girl and a village of elderly people is not something we’d everjust do.”
He looks at me, his face pale. “We had no choice. We didn’t know if the people there knew what Salem could do.”
“So, an innocent village gave their lives to guarantee their silence, and you still thought your bosses would just let you go?”
Cooper looks up at Dillon beside him before turning to Skinner, who looks at me without blinking. I know what Cooper’s thinking, but these aren’t just any men; they are trained soldiers.
“If we could get Salem to Kay,” he mumbles before turning his gun on Dillon.
Skinner turns and shoots him without a second thought, then points his gun back at me. I wait for people to come running and shouting, but the corridor remains empty.
