Kill Shot

by Sheri Landry

  It’s been a long time since I’ve explained myself to anyone. Still, being lumped in with the very degenerates I’ve vowed to destroy takes some getting used to. There’s only one person whose opinion I would have cared to hear, and she’s been dead for almost fifteen years.

  “You’re the sum of the choices you make.”

  A ghost from my past haunts me with his words, as if it’s a sign, and the weight of its meaning causes my soul to pause. I turn to look at the man once more.

  The twisted look of pure hate staring back at me rattles me.

  “MENA, NOW!” The finality in Dyani’s voice through my earpiece snaps me back to our reality, and I turn and leave. As soon as I’m out of the room, I run and meet up with my crew as they secure Kaley into the helicopter. She’s starting to look a little green. If I don’t help her now, she is going to vomit all over us and pass out from the pain. I slide the medical kit from its secure spot under the front seat and pull out a syringe. Her eyes go wide, and I yell over the blades slicing through the air as Hicks and Kai back away from us and run to their car.

  “It’s a painkiller. It’ll numb your ankle, but it won’t knock you out. Just take a deep breath and look out the front window.” Pinching her lips together, more tears run down her face.

  There is no other way out. Innocent or not, she’s in the middle of this, and the only way out is through—for all of us. Nodding, she takes a deep breath and steadies her gaze forward, hissing through her teeth at the initial pinch of the needle.

  After securing the medical bag, I move to close the door and take my place in the front seat when her fingers wrap around my arm.

  “Please—I—” She doesn’t need to finish her sentence. I know she’s terrified.

  I tap Shazia on the shoulder. She flips a few buttons, and we lift off the ground as I settle in beside Kaley and buckle myself in before double-checking her seat belt. As the helicopter leans into the direction of town, I grab a headset and put it on to listen to updates from my team.

  Five minutes of check-ins and status updates later, everyone is in motion as planned. I blow a releasing breath out as I look out my side window to watch the darkened trees blur beneath us.

  Another few minutes of silence pass before a flash from the ground behind us catches my attention. My words are out of my mouth before I’ve fully registered the threat in my mind.

  “INCOMING! ON YOUR EIGHT,” I yell a split second before Shazia pitches the helicopter forward and to the right.

  The shot misses a direct hit, but the blast at our tail knocks everything forward, and alarms go off one after the other inside the cockpit.

  “Shit.” Shazia struggles, and I shift my attention to the front as she frantically tries to regain control. She sends her Mayday over the open radio, but there are no voices on the other end. I have no idea if our team can hear us anymore.

  Kaley cries out as she braces herself against the inside of the helicopter. Her foot is pushed out against the door to brace herself in her seat. She no longer feels the pain in her ankle.

  As soon as Shazia announces our descent, I know it’s over, and I turn my focus to survival.

  “Cut the radio.” We both know we can’t risk open communication any longer. Shazia keeps her eyes forward, and I look out the front window at the ground quickly approaching as she loses then regains control of the helicopter.

  “Better I set it down than crash. Brace yourselves.”

  Checking Kaley’s seat belt once more, I push my arm across her front, trying to keep her secure.

  You can’t save everyone.

  A scrape against the underside of the helicopter jars my thoughts. We’re in the treetops. A hard hit to the right side causes us to swing around, and my teeth knock together so hard I see flashes of white light behind my closed eyes as we hit the ground for the first time. Only when we hit a second time do I realize we haven’t stopped yet, and the sound of metal grinding against rock rattles my bones as we jerk forward before falling back and rocking in place.

  A high pitch rings in my ears as I blink in the darkness. My hands snap to my seat belt, furiously letting myself out. I grab the medical kit and go bag we always keep on hand, while Shazia powers everything down in the front. She grabs a gun from under the seat, slings it over her shoulder, and opens the door to the cockpit before jumping out.

  We’ve trained for situations like this. I pull the handle, opening the side door to cool night air. We’re ready to run when a whimper freezes us in place, and my heart sinks into my stomach.

  How did I forget Kaley was injured?

  Looking over my shoulder, the look on Shazia’s face tells me she’s thinking the same thing I am.

  “We’ll carry her.” Shazia’s eyes plead with me. She knows me well. I’ve never left any of them behind. I’m not leaving this one behind either.

  “We’re running out of time.” My words come out in a whisper and quickly get carried away with the breeze.

  “What happened?” Kaley’s wide eyes catch our attention.

  “There was an explosion. Some people are after us.” I say us, but I know it’s me they are after. They will kill everyone else here, innocent or not.

  Acceptance settles into my bones, chilling me to my core.

  “We have to try, Mena.” Shazia tugs on my sleeve. I’ve never seen her cry. In all the years I’ve known her, through everything we’ve been through, I’ve never seen her chin so much as tremble. She knows this is bad.

  I meet her gaze, but I don’t answer. Instead, I look between the two women in front of me.

  Shazia is as good as dead. Or she will be, if she is with us when we are found.

  Turning to look at Kaley, I’m struck by how young she is and how she doesn’t deserve—

  My mind flashes blank before running scenarios, and one way out of this presents itself.

  “Kaley. Are you a virgin?” My stomach rolls as I ask the question. I can’t look her in the eyes, because her answer could both save her life and seal her fate.

  Shazia looks confused for a moment before realization dawns in her features and she swears under her breath.

  “What?” The full moon glistens in streams down Kaley’s cheeks where her tears have fallen.

  “I need you to tell me the truth. Have you had sex?” I speak slowly.

  Shazia turns her back to the two of us to give Kaley some privacy.

  “I—no, I haven’t. My boyfriend and I were going to—” She doesn’t finish her response, just shakes her head. The naivete in her answer crushes my soul.

  “Jesus, Mena.” Shazia breathes her words through gritted teeth.

  “It’s the only way.” I shift my attention from Kaley to pull out my compass, squinting to read its illuminated face before reaching down and placing it in Shazia’s palm. “You need to run.” I point over her shoulder in the direction she needs to go.

  “No. I won’t—”

  “You will. Now, Shaz.” Pulling the bag off my shoulder, I push it into her chest, and she grabs it on instinct. There’s nothing in that bag that’ll save us now.

  “I’ll make sure the girl is safe. You’re the one they are after. Please, Mena. I know we’ve planned for this, but I can’t leave you.” Shazia tries to change my mind.

  Before she wastes her breath—and our time—any further, I say the words we have been both dreading and waiting for, and she shakes her head, willing me to take it back.

  “Shaz, they’ll kill you on sight. They’ll kill everyone until they get me, and they’ll be here before our team will. This is the only way, and you know it. I can buy us some time, and this way you’ll know where they will take us first.” I tilt my head in Kaley’s direction, and realization dawns in Shazia’s eyes.

  She knows this is our only play.

  She also knows this move now relies on her getting off this mountain fast and safe.

  My body jerks as Shazia wraps her arms around me and pulls me in tight. When she pulls away, her eyes
shine with tears that threaten to fall, and she slings the bag over her shoulders.

  “You know what to tell them. This is it.”

  We stand still in the dead of night for a long second. Then I say the words.

  “For the gone.” I fight to hold back my own tears as the weight of all we’ve lost pushes up from inside me.

  “For the gone,” she repeats, straightening herself with purpose. Nodding once, she turns and runs in a full sprint. In less than fifteen seconds, she is gone, swallowed up by thick evergreens.

  Whatever shot us out of the sky came from the north, behind us, as we flew overhead. Shazia is fit, and she’s fast on her feet. If I know my team, they’ll be attempting to reach us from the south. On our own, we both could have made it running at a full clip, but I won’t leave Kaley behind.

  It’s time. Every one of us knew this was going to happen one day. It’s what we’ve been training and fighting for. It’s sooner than we expected, and I hope we are ready, because now we have no choice. I’m running out of cards to play, and everything from here on out is a gamble.

  “What’s going to happen when the people find us?” Kaley shivers beside me, and I help her move to a rock away from the helicopter before grabbing a thick blanket and covering her, but I don’t answer her.

  I often wonder, in a situation where one has no control over the outcome, is it better to know the hell that is coming or not?

  You can’t save everyone.

  30

  Michael

  “They’re after Mena.” I repeat Dyani’s words, trying to wrap my head around this new information.

  “Yes. They were never after Jessa. They didn’t even know she was alive. They used Maxwell’s weakness against him. They used him. The hit was specific: Maxwell would be present upon completion. That wasn’t his decision; it was Matteo’s. Matteo dangled his son like a carrot, knowing Mena would get involved.”

  “But why the elaborate plan? It took a lot for it to come together.” My head swirls with every moving piece of the puzzle.

  “That’s the point. Why would we consider there could be an even deeper motive to the hit when it was already so convoluted? We chased a rabbit right into the lion’s den. They dangled Maxwell in front of Mena. If she didn’t bite, then no big deal. If she did, they considered Maxwell a small price to pay.” Dyani speaks her words like they are acid on her tongue. If their code is anything like our own, this type of betrayal is inconceivable.

  “Why do they want her?” Logan is trying to sort everything out before he decides on his position.

  “She’s the one who started all of this. Me, my sister, all of us are alive because she fought back, and she hasn’t stopped fighting, but something is different. Up until three years ago, there was an ongoing hit on her, a rule among their organization: kill on sight. Then all of a sudden it changed. Our sources tell us they’re still after her, but it isn’t a hit. Suddenly, they want her alive. The contract is firm, on penalty of death if she is harmed in any way.”

  “And why should we help you? You’re asking for a lot from people who have no reason to trust you. I mean, you understand our hesitation, right?” Logan’s question is framed as though it’s rhetorical, but he wants an answer.

  Dyani’s features soften as she looks around our table. She reaches her hand out, her fingers hesitantly tugging at the worn newspaper on the table before folding them along their well-worn creases and tucking them into her bag.

  “Why did you turn us in last year?” Jessa points between herself and Dana as she asks the question, and Dyani looks relieved to change the topic.

  Logan looks between them in confusion. I haven’t had the chance to let him know this piece yet.

  “It wasn’t safe for you to be on your own any longer. When intel came in about who Jack was to you and your history together, Mena thought it was the best way to keep you safe. We found out about what Maxwell had done.” She stops speaking quickly, as if she’s leaving off the to you part of her sentence. “Protecting you and your program has always been one of our priorities.”

  “I don’t understand. You don’t really know me. I mean other than a few times I’ve worked for you.”

  “You aren’t the only one who has an idea of what is going on and who the players are.” Dyani moves her attention to all of us around the table; she’s implying they know who we all are. “You’ve been on our radar for almost eight years. Many of us wanted to reach out to you and pull you into our group, but it was risky. What we do isn’t exactly—”

  “Legal.” Jack fills in the blank.

  Dyani nods, but there is no guilt in her expression.

  “We struggled for a long time with what to do. Then the opportunity to provide you with protection”—she tilts her head to my team—“presented itself, and she made the call to keep both you and your files safe. We don’t want to use your program, but we see the benefits of you having it.” She narrows her eyes on Jessa. “Maxwell was a lot closer to finding you than you think.” There is a conviction in her tone that makes Jack shift in his seat.

  I steal a glance at Dana out of the corner of my eye. This conversation isn’t even over, and I already know she’s made the decision to do whatever she can to save Kaley even though she’s scared. It’s who she is. Dana will never put herself before the people she cares about. While it is an admirable quality, someone needs to make her a priority as well.

  I saw this same resolve in her last year, when she stood up for Jessa, even though she was toe to toe against the lot of us, which is intimidating on a good day.

  As everyone contemplates how close Jessa and Dana may have come to being taken by Maxwell, I tap the table with my forefinger, drawing Dyani’s attention to ask a question of my own.

  “Why didn’t you kill us?” All eyes go back to the woman at the head of the table. “We sat right beside the senator. We were with him. How did you know not to kill us?”

  “At the time, we didn’t. There was a small window of opportunity. So we chose to knock you out. We are unforgiving in our efforts, but only after we know who we are up against.”

  “How did you know we would be there? We were passing through. Stopping in for breakfast wasn’t planned.” The answer to this question has nagged Logan since it happened, and Dyani breaks the smallest smile for the first time.

  “No, but it was orchestrated.” She looks at all of us guys. Grey and Charlie are also listening intently from a table over. “You can change the narrative by placing a new option directly in someone’s path and making them think it was their choice all along.”

  The way she says it makes me think this is a lesson she has learned from someone else, and we all wait for her to give us more to go on. Keeping secrets from us now won’t help her cause.

  “There was one gas station on the way into that town, and the next station was hours away on all sides. It made sense you would stop there. A well-placed flyer and our guy behind the counter telling you about the diner down the street set you on a course you wouldn’t have taken otherwise.”

  I can’t believe what I’m hearing. We got the senator out of town and on the road so fast after his meeting. We were confident there were no threats, and our complacency was our downfall. Just like the predictability of our protocol set us up on this mission.

  “You need our help,” I repeat, and she doesn’t waste any more time.

  “Yes. If this is what we think it is, we need to be ready to organize and move quickly to get them back, both of them, and we need your tactical experience. But you need to know, none of this will be…” Dyani pinches her lips together.

  “Legal.” Jack fills in the blank again.

  “Yes. We don’t wait for warrants or paid-off elected officials to stonewall us. We meet force with force. There’s only one way to find the people the Sparrs have used and hurt, and there is only one way to stop Matteo. We started today, when we killed Maxwell. Now we wait for the snake to stick out its ugly head. Then we cut it off. I
’m here now to ask you to join us in taking down the entire Sparr organization—all of it, and everyone connected to it.”

  “What you’re saying sounds a lot like…” Dana’s voice trails off.

  “You can say it. We’ve all made our peace with what this is long ago.”

  I say it for her. “It’s vigilante justice.”

  “No.” Dyani’s face is eerily calm. “The time for any kind of justice is over. This is vengeance, and none of us will stop until we settle the debt that is owed to everyone they’ve hurt.” Retreating into herself, Dyani places the tips of her fingers over her heart, muttering, “For the gone” before returning her attention to all of us. “You need to know that before you make any decisions.”

  Everyone around the table sits in silence. No one is making eye contact with each other. In my bones, I always felt this would be the choice I would face. How much am I willing to damn myself to free my father from what happened to him? I’ll bet everyone standing outside this bar and fighting alongside Mena battles their own demons in order to stop the carnage the Sparr family leaves in its wake.

  Is this a price I am willing to pay? What about the rest of our team? A crossroads presents itself, and for the first time in a long time I’m not sure if I’ll be taking the same path as everyone else. Looking around the table, the same thoughts are on everyone’s minds. My eyes finish roaming as they settle on—

  “I’m in.” Dana’s low-key voice wraps around my heart, and it seizes when she recklessly puts herself in danger.

  I want to object, but my words don’t make their way to my lips. Instead, I stand with the force of a gale wind, knocking my chair over. Wrapping my palm and fingers around her upper arm, I drag Dana up with me, startling everyone around the table.

  “Excuse us.” I don’t recognize the growl in my own voice as I forcefully drag her away from the group, her protests sounding like whispers against the roar rattling around in my head.

  “What are you doing?” She attempts to pull her arm back, but I won’t release her.