Page 9 of Deadly Forever

“If you surrender, the cops won’t kill you.”

“I don’t see how that’s much of a benefit,” the man said. “I don’t seem to have a lot of choices here. I can either die in a blaze of glory or go to prison and be some freak’s bitch. One involves a short death that will make me famous. The other is a long and torturous death where I’ll never get a good night’s sleep again.”

Mandy remained on her hands and knees as she studied the man. He seemed resigned to his fate. She knew Sophie, Ally, and Emma were with Sally in the dressing room – probably controlling their breathing so they wouldn’t draw attention to themselves – but she was thankful they appeared to be safe for the time being and she was the only one in danger.

“You don’t know that will happen,” Mandy said finally. “If you stay in here, if you hurt someone else … .”

“Oh, I’m going to hurt someone else,” the man said, his eyes glinting under the limited light. “I’m pretty sure it’s going to be you.”

Mandy’s stomach twisted and a short sob emanated from the dressing room. Mandy couldn’t tell if it came from Ally or Emma, but she refused to let the man see he’d rattled her. “If you hurt me, my husband will hunt you down and kill you. He’ll make sure to do it with pain, too.”

“Your husband?” The man snorted. “Your husband isn’t here, honey. He might’ve convinced you that he’s a hero, but he can’t save you today.”

“Guess again,” James announced, moving into the open space on the man’s left side. He had a gun in his hand and a hateful expression on his face. “Step away from my wife.”

The man jolted at James’ arrival, clearly surprised. “How did you get in here?”

“The door is open,” James said, never moving his gaze from the gunman’s masked face. “I’m assuming that’s the way you got in here, too.”

“Yes, but … .”

James didn’t have a lot of patience under normal circumstances. What he found in the dress shop was enough to tilt him over the edge to mania. “Step away from my wife,” he repeated. “She warned you what would happen if you touched her. Now I’m reiterating that warning. Don’t even think about touching her.”

The gunman seemed to remember where he was – and exactly what he was doing. He shook himself out of his momentary reverie and moved to lift the rifle. “And what if I don’t?”

James didn’t bother responding. He read the man’s intentions before Mandy could scramble under the rack in an attempt to shelter herself. James squeezed his pistol trigger, hitting the man square in the chest and causing him to spin. The rifle was heavy enough that the man couldn’t muster the energy to jerk it higher, and both the gunman and rifle smacked hard against the floor.

Mandy widened her eyes as Jake stepped out from the shadows and leaned over the gunman, pressing his fingers to the man’s neck and shaking his head.

James finally turned his attention to Mandy and opened his arms as he moved to help her up from the floor. She was shaking as he pulled her in for a hug and kissed her cheek.

“You came for me again.” Mandy gave in and let the tears course down her cheeks.

“Always, my baby,” James murmured into her hair, keeping her close even as the deputies rushed into the store with their weapons drawn. “You’re not allowed out of the house ever again, though.”

Mandy giggled through her tears. “Okay.”

“I’m not joking,” James said, tightening his arms around her. “You’re the only person I know who can turn dress shopping into a life or death situation.”

“Whatever floats your boat,” Mandy murmured, pressing her face into the hollow between his neck and chest. “I knew you would find me.”

“Never doubt that,” James said, rocking back and forth. “Never.”

“WE’VE cleared the entire mall.”

Lt. Michael Hicks strode into the dress store ten minutes later, Finn and Grady on his heels.

Emma burst into tears when she saw Finn, racing across the room and throwing her body against his so he could hug her. Finn murmured something into her ear to soothe her, but whatever it was remained a mystery for everyone but the embracing couple. Grady opened his arms so Sophie could hug him, but she seemed more angry than frightened.

“I don’t understand why this happened,” Sophie admitted, resting her chin on Grady’s shoulder. “Why did they think they could get away with this?”

“We have no idea,” James answered, running his hand down the back of Mandy’s head. He was in no hurry to release her, and thankfully for him, she seemed content to let him hold her. “We’re not sure what they were after.”

“We need to go through all of their bags and see what they were trying to escape with,” Hicks said. “We also need to get photos of their faces so we can start making identifications. We have four dead gunmen and three wounded mall visitors.”

“Were they shot?” Ally asked, horrified.

Hicks shook his head. “One injured her ankle while fleeing at the sound of the gunshots. Another is a potential heart attack. The third is a guy who was looking for Pokémon when it happened and he accidentally whacked his head against a window.”