And he was convinced Phil wouldn’t have hesitated to kill him.
Phil’s struggles grew weaker.Micah didn’t relax his grip, waiting for the lack of oxygen to Phil’s brain to immobilize him.
Phil continued to fight, his foot kicking one of the drywall paste buckets.It was full, so the muffled sound didn’t go very far.
Still, Micah glanced toward the office area, preparing for the worst.
When he heard the gunman shout Phil’s name again, Micah braced himself, knowing things were about to go sideways.He continued holding pressure until Phil went limp in his arms.Even then he held pressure for another long minute to make sure the guy wouldn’t wake up too soon to interfere with his plan.
Finally, he lowered Phil to the concrete ground near the drywall buckets.Obviously being incapacitated meant Phil didn’t respond to the gunman’s call.
“Phil!”A string of curse words spewed forth as the gunman holding Bryn understood something had gone wrong.He heard Bryn gasp in pain, then suddenly the second gunman was in the opening, holding Bryn in front of him, his arm around her neck in a choking grip with his gun pressed against her temple.
His heart squeezed at the fear blazing from her dark eyes.He would have done anything to spare her from this, but it was too late now.
“Don’t move or watch your girlfriend die,” the deep voice said.Although the guy didn’t sound nearly as confident now as he had earlier.It was much easier to browbeat an unarmed woman than to face a former army soldier.
“I mean it!”The guy holding Bryn didn’t look away.“Actually, you’ve saved me some trouble by sticking around, Micah.”The emphasis on his name hit hard; he hadn’t realized these guys knew his name.Yet Micah didn’t flinch.“Your being here works right into my plan.Now I can kill you and Bryn in one fell swoop.By the time I’m done here, the police will believe this is nothing more than a murder/suicide.”
“What about your buddy Phil?”Micah asked.“You won’t be able to easily explain his death.”He hadn’t killed Phil, at least he didn’t think so, but he hoped that this gunman hadn’t noticed.
The guy holding Bryn shrugged as if that possibility simply couldn’t be helped.Clearly, he didn’t care about Phil’s demise.
Fear gripping his throat, Micah tried again.He didn’t dare reach for his own weapon, not when this guy held the muzzle of his gun pressed against Bryn’s temple.“The police won’t just buy your murder-suicide setup without a thorough investigation.It’s extremely rare for a woman to shoot and kill her partner, before turning the gun on herself.Typically, it’s the other way around.”
“Yet she’s the one being framed for murder.”The gunman’s smirk made Micah wish he could lash out to swipe it off his face.“I think we’ll be able to sell this story well enough to avoid being caught.Now I’m done playing around.Throw down your weapon.And do the same thing with the one you took from Phil too.”
Micah knew that no matter what happened here, Rex would make sure to seek justice.Yet Micah was afraid that would be too little too late.
For a long second, he and the gunman holding Bryn stared each other down across the fifteen feet of concrete that stretched between them.No matter how many different angles Micah used to examine their situation, there was no easy solution to free Bryn from the gunman’s firm grip.He didn’t dare risk pulling his weapon to shoot the gunman in the head.The reflex of the perp’s finger tightening on the trigger was all that was needed to kill her.
They were at a stalemate.
14
Bitter fear coated Bryn’s mouth.The moment she’d heard the muffled thud from beyond the office space, she’d known things were about to go from bad to worse.She’d tried to resist when the gunman had roughly grabbed her and pressed the muzzle of the gun against her temple, but he was too strong.She was so close to him that she could smell his rank oniony breath.He was cruel and ruthless.So much so that she anticipated he’d pull the trigger to end her life at any moment.
She had known Micah wouldn’t leave her but seeing him standing there with his hands palms up and facing forward brought a wave of regret.Not only had Micah been put in the position of killing Phil, but he was going to die there today alongside her.
She held Micah’s gaze, hoping he could read the unspoken regret and apology in her eyes for the way she’d put him in this situation.If he did note her apology, he didn’t let on.Micah’s attention was laser focused on the gunman.
“Okay, fine.”Micah’s voice was calm and deliberate.“I’m going to toss my gun aside, okay?”He slowly pulled the gun from his holster, then lowered into a crouch to set it down.
“Kick it toward me.”
Bryn tried to swallow, but her throat was too dry.This was it.Once Micah was unarmed, the gunman had no reason to keep either of them alive.
All she could do was continue to pray.She knew that once she was dead, her soul would live on with Jesus.Her biggest regret was that she hadn’t done more to bring Micah closer to the Lord.
So she prayed for him far more than she prayed for herself.She knew Micah was a good man.If he’d been raised with faith, he’d have already accepted Jesus as his savior.Believing without a doubt that Jesus had died for his sins.
She really, really didn’t want things to end this way.But God was the one in control here, not her.
“Here you go.”Micah kicked the weapon toward her.For a moment, she was confused, wondering if he thought she might be able to get her hands on it, but then she realized he wanted to make sure the guy holding her couldn’t easily grab it.
She didn’t know why that mattered.He could kill her and turn the weapon on Micah to kill him, too, within a few seconds.
“Now Phil’s gun,” the guy holding her said.“And don’t try to be a hero.”
