The entire room seemed to hold its breath.
Ron’s eyes darted to his desk.
“No,” I whispered.
Too late.
Ron lunged and everything exploded into motion.
Push shoved me behind him while Anchor and Prime moved forward, but Ron was already yanking open the desk drawer.He came up with a gun.
“Back up!”Ron screamed.
Every man in the room stopped.
Anchor lifted both hands slowly.“Easy.”
My heart slammed so hard against my ribs I thought it might crack them.
The gun shook in Ron’s hand as he pointed it at Anchor.
Cross had one hand hovering near his side, but he didn’t draw.
Nobody wanted to make Ron twitchy.He was already twitchy enough.
“Ron,” Anchor said carefully, “calm down.We can talk about this.”
“There’s nothing to talk about.”
“We don’t want you.”Anchor’s voice stayed low.Controlled.“We want the guy killing people.”
Ron smiled then.A horrible, broken smile.“You’ll never get him.”
My blood went cold.Ron really wasn’t the killer.He was helping him, though.
“Who?”I demanded before I could stop myself.
Push’s arm tightened across me immediately.
Ron’s eyes found mine.And for one horrible second, he looked almost sorry.“I’ll never tell you anything,” he whispered.“You deserve everything you’re gonna get.”
Then Ron moved the gun.
Not toward Anchor.
Not toward Push.
Toward himself.
“No!”I screamed.
The gunshot cracked through the office.
Ron crumpled instantly.
One second he was standing there, and the next, he was on the floor, blood spreading beneath him while the smell of gunpowder filled the room.
I couldn’t move and couldn’t breathe.
