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Igno laughed. "Well, well. You have outsmarted us all, haven't you? Except, you see, I seem to be without my cash."
Westin's voice was firm. "In that case, I guess this is a stalemate."
Those six words were our cue. We were going in.
The fear erupted through me as Saint and Saffron went forward. I knew exactly what my job was. Hang back, stay close. And when my father, being the weasel that he was, invariably tried to sneak off, my face alone would stop him.
We marched in, gunfire already exploding around me. It was complete chaos. This was what it meant, staying cool under fire.
Saff gave me a signal on my shoulder, and I drew my gun. Point and shoot. I'd been shooting before, and I was okay at it. But I'd been taking judo since I was a child. So if push came to shove, I knew how to handle myself.
What I wanted to do was go to Westin and confirm that he was okay, but it was impossible.
All I could do was play my part and hope to Christ that he played his and this would all be right in the end.
I followed the figure sneaking out the back along the side of the house. I met him in the backyard, weapon drawn. "Where are you going, Dad?"
He whipped around. "No."
"Yes. I know you're confused. Shocked, even."
"So, it was ruse?"
"Does it matter? All you need to know is I'm here, and you're not getting away."
"Nissa, this is ridiculous. You know that. It doesn't have to be like this."
"In fact, Dad, it does."
He sighed and lifted his phone to his ear. "On my mark, take the shot."
I looked down and saw the red dot on my chest. He had a backup plan. "Well then, I guess this is it. I knew you never loved me."
"You're a means to an end, Nissa."
And then the crack of gunfire filled the air.
41
Westin
In the chaos that ensued, the gunfire, the smoke, and the stench of seared flesh, I ran after Igno.
Fire blazed through my right arm where a bullet had grazed me, but I didn't let up. Igno was running, and I had my sights on him.
In my ear, Saff was shouting orders. "Rook, confirm sighting. Come in, Rook."
"Yes, I have him. North side, headed toward downtown. In pursuit."
Saff's voice was clear. "Roger. We've taken care of contingencies."
For someone older, he was quick. I was faster, but I also had to be smarter. He knew exactly where he was going, which meant I had to anticipate his movements.
We'd studied the map of this area during planning, and knew he had three possible routes. One down by the water, which meant a waiting boat. We had men down there, but I didn't think that boat was the way he was going to go. Open water was going to be a problem for him. He would need a port. A car was the other way out. Entirely possible. We might not be able to follow him in traffic as he’d be going to a more heavily populated area. And then there was the helipad. So, was it the car or the helipad?
He ran into a crowd ahead, celebrating the Apokries Festival. It was harder to pick him out in the crowd.
"Fuck, anyone have eyes?"
