The gunfire ended.
“Target down,” Jackson confirmed, steady as ever. “Kane’s dead.”
The car engine roared to life, tires spitting water as it shot forward. Headlights blinded Garrett as the vehicle barreled straight at them.
“Move!” Garrett shouted, yanking Isla with him as he raised his gun. He fired into the windshield, glass spiderwebbing underthe impact. The car jerked, swerved hard, and slammed into a rusted lamppost that groaned but held.
The driver’s door burst open. Randall Hayes spilled out with a pistol in hand, firing wild as he ducked behind the open door for cover. Sparks flew as bullets tore into the brick.
“Daniel, stay down!” Randall bellowed, his voice carrying through the rain and storm.
From inside the school, Harris’s voice cracked with anger and confusion. “Who the hell are you and why are you doing this?”
Randall made a hoarse sound that was half sob, half curse. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”
“How the hell was it supposed to be?” Isla snapped, her voice sharp and cutting through the storm.
Randall stayed behind the door, pistol steady, the metal glinting in the headlights’ glow. His voice cracked again when he said, “I took him. I took Daniel all those years ago.”
Garrett’s gut twisted, but before he could respond Harris’s voice cut through from inside the school. “You took me?” His footsteps scuffed closer, his shape edging toward the doorway.
“Stay down, Harris,” Garrett snarled, eyes locked on the young man, willing him not to make himself a target.
“I heard Anais say I’d been abducted as a baby,” Harris shouted, his voice ragged with disbelief. “But I figured Marion did it. Marion Cole.”
Randall let out a bitter laugh, cold and joyless. “Marion was my friend. She kept you safe. I paid her well after I married Leah. She made sure you were looked after since I couldn’t be with you.”
Randall’s voice shook, but Garrett didn’t think it was from remorse.
“I always meant to tell you, Daniel,” Randall went on. “I always meant for you to know I was your father. But the timingwas never right. And then Leah… she found out. She was going to ruin everything. I had to silence her. Had to.”
The words dropped like stones, heavy and final. A confession. Murder.
Cal eased forward from the shadows, but Randall caught the movement and snapped off a shot. The crack echoed through the hollow street. Cal dove behind a crumbling wall, splinters of brick raining around him.
“Quit shooting,” Garrett barked, his own weapon steady on Randall. “You fire like that, you’ll hit your own son.”
The word son seemed to shake Harris. He edged closer to the doorframe, his face pale in the storm light. “Are you really my father?”
Randall groaned, his shoulders sagging as though the truth weighed on him. For a fleeting second, Garrett thought he might lower the gun, surrender.
But the moment vanished. Randall lunged back into the car, and despite the damage, the engine screamed to life. Tires spun on wet pavement as the car fishtailed, then surged forward straight at Garrett and Isla.
“Move!” Garrett grabbed Isla, shoving them both clear as bullets cracked from their guns, shattering more glass, sparking off metal. The car kept coming, relentless, its headlights glaring like eyes of a predator.
Garrett planted his feet, braced against the recoil, and squeezed the trigger. The shot punched through the windshield. The car lurched sideways and slammed into the stone wall of the school with a grinding crash that shook the ground.
For a heartbeat, there was only the hiss of the engine and the groan of twisting metal. Then Garrett was moving, sprinting toward the wreck. Cal and Isla were right beside him, weapons raised, ready for whatever came next.
Garrett reached the door first. He yanked it open and was met with the stench of smoke and gasoline. Randall slumped behind the wheel, blood blooming across his chest. But his hand was steady enough to lift the gun still clenched in his grip.
“Don’t,” Garrett growled. He slapped the weapon away, sending it clattering to the ground. Randall cursed and lunged sideways, fumbling for the glove box. Garrett didn’t need to guess what was in there. Another gun, another chance to kill.
“Not happening.” Garrett hauled him out by the collar, dragging him across the wet pavement. Randall fought weakly, breath rattling in his chest, but the madness in his eyes hadn’t dimmed.
Garrett shoved him down, pressing him against the ground. “You’re done.”
Randall twisted under Garrett’s grip, blood slick against Garrett’s hands. He bucked once, twice, as if he still thought he could fight his way out of this. Then he stilled, his gaze snagging on the figure stepping out of the school.
