“No, no, no. You won’t ruin me.”
His hand moves.
Slowly. Reaching around to the small of his back.
My blood turns to ice.
“No one—” the senator’s fingers close around something beneath his jacket “—ruins TheodorefuckingMcDowell!”
He pulls out a gun.
The world stops.
I can’t breathe. I can’t move. My legs are rooted to the concrete, and all I can see is that black metal gleaming under the fluorescent lights.
This is how I die.
The thought is cold and clear and absolute. He’s going to kill us. He’s going to kill us both, and no one will ever know what really happened down here.
As quickly and discreetly as I can, I force my frozen eyes to flick toward Tess’s hiding spot. The glint of the camera lens is only just visible, bouncing off the light just right.
That’s the signal.
Looking back at the scene, Alec’s eyes catch mine, and he nods. He saw it too. We’re good. We have everything we need.
We can get out of here.
But how?
He turns back toward the senator. “You’re going to wanna put that down. You’re already in enough trouble. You don’t want a murder charge added to that rap sheet of yours.”
“No rap sheet when I don’t get caught, fucker.” Theodore raises his arm. The gun shakes in his grip—whether from rage or fear, I can’t tell. His finger hovers over the trigger. “So, bye fucking bye.”
No.
Alec’s muscles coil.
No, no, no?—
“No!”
My scream tears through the parking garage as Alec launches himself at Theodore. He barrels right toward him, going for his waist.
Time fractures.
I watch the senator’s aim drop, tracking Alec as he rushes him.
I watch Alec’s arms reach for the gun.
I watch Theodore’s finger squeeze.
BANG!
The sound is deafening. It echoes off the concrete walls, bouncing back again and again until it fills the entire world.
And then?—
Silence.
