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The high rise where she lived came into view, and I eyed it, gunning the engine. A few cars honked as I cut them off, but I continued forward, completely untouchable.
The bike didn’t stop moving before I shot off it and raced into the building, gun drawn. My helmet would do a good enough job of masking my identity. Until we got this shit handled, the last thing I needed was to be recognized here.
She lived on the fifth floor, so I ran to the steps and sprinted them, looking down each corridor before continuing upward. It wasn’t until the fourth floor that I saw someone—a man wearing a black bandana around his wrist as he walked down the hallways in the opposite direction.
He didn’t see me coming, but I watched him for a long moment, focusing on the bulge of a weapon at his hip as he paused by the elevator.
It couldn’t be a coincidence.
I turned back to the stairwell, deciding to focus on the immediate threat first. Maybe he was the first, and I would get to Ciara before him, but I couldn’t assume. I stormed up the last flight of stairs and took a hard left. I didn’t hesitate. Two men stood at her open door, weapons drawn. I lifted my gun, pulling the trigger twice.
The loud boom traveled through the hallway, and I winced, considering how far the police station was from this building. If I was lucky, I had five minutes to get in and out with Ciara.
The corpses of the men lay face down on the floor, and I kicked their guns from them mindlessly as I walked into the room, scanning it with narrowed eyes. “Ciara,” I shouted, but nobody answered.
My heart sped up as I looked around the silent room. I couldn’t be too late.
The elevator in the hallway dung, and I moved behind the center island and ducked behind it, waiting quietly. I pulled a few bullets from my pockets and reloaded my gun, loading it and listening. The soft footfall of the man from the fourth floor pattered into the room, and the second I heard his foot hit the hardwood, I shot up, pulling the trigger three times. He fell back into the wall before buckling onto the ground, sputtering, and going unconscious.
I turned back to the main room and looked around. A small whimper caught my attention, and I followed the sound, carefully keeping my footfall light. As I went down the small hallway, listening for any sign of something amiss, I heard the same whimpering, louder this time.
Fuck.
I moved more quickly, turning around the corner to the master bedroom and finding another man already inside. He fired two shots, and I ducked behind the wall, bending my knees and dropping lower as he continued firing.
He had a semi-automatic, and when the bullets stopped flying, I stepped around the corner and fired my own shots, narrowly missing him as he ducked behind the bed. My ears rang from the gunshots, and my internal clock told me I was running out of time. I needed to get out, and I needed to go now. The cops had to be on their way, and if there was one rule I followed religiously, it was not to get involved with the law.
“I don’t know who you are, but I’m getting this reward. I’ll kill for it.”
His words rang in my ears, and I narrowed my eyes, peeking around the corner and taking aim. “I’m not going to let you do that,” I said evenly.
I caught a glimpse of his foot on the side of the bed. Barely a sliver peeked from behind the headboard, but I fired, trusting myself and my weapon. He shouted and leaned forward, exposing his head.
I took that shot, too.
He fell to the ground twitching.
“Ciara,” I shouted again, moving toward the closed bathroom door. That whimpering came from inside, and I didn’t hesitate. I rushed forward and kicked the door, watching it splinter beneath my boot. With one more kick, it flew inward.
In the bathtub sat the woman I hadn’t seen in years—a woman who still managed to take my breath away, despite her cowering position. The fear in the room was thick as she curled her body around something, blocking it entirely from view.
She glanced up, her eyes wide. That motion revealed a glimpse of what she had. In her arms, cowering the same way as her, sat a child who bore an uncanny resemblance to her. He was nearly as tall as her, but he held his knees to his chest, and Ciara held the rest of him in her arms as she prepared to experience her final moments with… her son.
Chapter Two
Ciara Gilroy
It had all happened too fast to think.
I held Sean in my arms, running my fingers through his hair in a way that had soothed him for most of his life. But in this situation, there was nothing more soothing that could be done. Nothing short of a miracle would save us now, and the thought of him being forced to leave this Earth so soon brought an unrelenting ache to my chest. Sean was too young. He hadn’t been able to experience life in the way I’d wanted him to.
He'd never left the city. He’d never seen the mountains or any forests. There was so much I failed to do for him, and a tear fell from my eye as I held his ears instead of my own, flinching at each gunshot that drew closer.
If I got up to fight, he’d be an easier target.
If I stayed, we’d both be a target.
“Ciara,” I heard from outside the door, and I flinched again, breathing heavily as someone kicked the door. I knew it wouldn’t hold. I knew this wasn’t going to end well. Another kick came, and the door flew from the hinges. I cowered around Sean, praying that any bullets would pierce me and avoid him entirely. I hoped they would leave after killing me and he would go to a great family who loved him.
