Page 128 of Lethal Weakness

“Why? Why?” He cries like the pathetic piece of shit he is.

“You did this! You killed innocent people! Now where is he?”

“You’re going to kill me.”

“Yes, I am.”

“Then you can go to hell.”

My bullet explodes through his forehead. “Waste of my fucking time.”

I want to get back to my girls, but this wild goose chase for Turner is dragging this out. I stare at Merrill’s phone before picking it up and using her lifeless face to unlock it.

The open text screen has two messages.

Merrill: Bring the girl alive. Alone.

Unknown: Ok.

My boots are already thundering across the pavement.

Bring the girl. Alone.

I know what those words mean.

Bring the girl. Alone.

I’ve never bolted faster.

Bring the girl. Alone.

I can’t lose them.

Bring the girl. Alone.

* * *

I clear all four steps, hurling my body through the open doorway.

For as long as I live, I will never erase the image in front of me.

Linden’s horror-filled face as she screams for Turner to stop.

The gun in Turner’s hand, and his finger hooked around the trigger. A millimeter more is all it’ll take.

The blast from the gun.

Not his. Mine.

My bullet rips through the back of his head, and the air is sucked out of the entire room.

His body falls, and Linden’s scream goes down with him.

“Linden!” I dive towards them as her ragged gasps fill the room. I haul her body out of his grasp and cradle her in my arms. “Linden, baby! Talk to me!”

Her wide, terror-filled eyes are staring straight through me.

“You’re okay. You’re okay,” I murmur, stroking her cheek, kissing her forehead.