Page 48 of Deadly Alliance

That time, the hit must have hurt as it was the first time Shane heard Beatrice emit a single sound.

In his ear, he heard Will telling him that Lance and Zack were making their way in. One quick look inside and he saw the Admiral taking position on the other side of the room, his shadow moving across the threshold of the door across from him. The position was better, but not by much as Beatrice still stood between them and the mad woman.

“Gabrielle, Mac, Dylan … all broken, useless dolls, not anywhere near as capable or competent as I am. How many missions could you have accomplished; how many more lives saved if you had of chosen me? The power and prestige of Purgatory would have been beyond everything you could have ever imagined!”

“That was never the goal! Whoever you are, you’ve just proven to me that you’re not worth any of the men or women of Purgatory. Money can burn, and prestige and power are for the weak. Even if no one knew who I was, I still would have created Purgatory. So, for all that I care, you can go fuck yourself.”

“And that’s exactly why you are here today, kneeling before me. And the reason why I killed the women who made the same mistake as you, following in your footsteps. The world does not need more Beatrice Dante’s.”

“You’re mad. My team will put a bullet through your brain, put you down like a rabid dog, and you will die the worthless scum you are.”

“Shut up!”

Shane didn’t know what Beatrice was doing, apart fuelling the woman’s rage.; It could ruin the entire mission.

“No, Beatrice Dante. The real scum is you and the entire organisation you founded, full of useless criminals thinking they could be agents and who should have never been given the opportunity. You are a disgrace, and I’m putting an end to it.”

Shane listened to the words, and before he knew what was happening, going on pure instinct, he was inside the room, firing his gun.

Admiral Feander was already inside, and time seemed to freeze. Shane saw the woman fire at least three times, but adrenaline surged when he saw her pull something from her pocket, and the sound of the rounds were lost as the building shook all around them.

Shane only realised that an explosion had been triggered when he was flying backwards through the air. It seemed that bombs were her weapon of choice and she had rigged the room enough to create a diversion, but not enough to blow them to smithereens. The blast was enough for his ears to ring. Rolling, Shane got back on wobbly feet as Zack and Lance moved inside, running after him.

When he entered the room, a small piece of the wooden wall had blown off, and Beatrice was on the ground with Feander covering her. The woman they were after was gone. Zack ran towards the shattered window and jumped down, yelling something about pursuit. Lance dove on the floor beside his friends.

“We have two down. I need medics on site now! Zack’s in pursuit of the target. She’s a woman, brown hair, petite frame. No name yet. Get your ass here!” Without waiting for an answer, Shane went to Lance’s side as he was gently turning the Admiral over, pulling him off Beatrice.

The first thing he saw was blood gushing from a neck wound caused by a piece of wood, probably shrapnel from the explosion that was embedded in the older man’s neck.

Immediately, Shane discarded his body armour and removed his shirt, staunching the flow the best he could, however, when he saw bubbles of blood coming from the Admiral’s mouth, dread settled deep in his stomach. Lance shuffled, doing the same with Beatrice.

The two blooming wounds on her stomach quickly expanded, staining the beautiful outfit, it didn’t look good for either of them. The pain seemed to bring her back to consciousness.

“James…” The voice was growly, weakening with every breath, her green eyes glazing over until she turned her head and saw her husband, fighting a fatal wound of his own. The cry that came out of her broke Shane to the core. Never would he forget the raw scream of pain and despair coming from her.

Lance’s face was wet with tears when he looked at Shane. The blood flowing from both husband and wife staining the floor between them couldn’t be stopped.

Beatrice twisted and caught her husband’s hand. James was choking now, unable to move apart from squeezing her hand back. Lance helped Beatrice reach James, and she took her husband into a tight embrace.

Shane heard yelling in his earpiece, telling him that help was on its way, and removed it, throwing it to the ground, and sitting back on his heels. There was nothing else to do now. It was too late.

Gently, Beatrice tugged at Shane’s hand compressing her husband’s wound. As he released it, the room echoed with Admiral Feander’s last breaths, as Beatrice lay by his side and internally bled to death, still embracing her lover as she took her own last breath.

Lance, on his hands and knees over the couple, screamed, his voice almost making the walls tremble at the intensity of his grief. Shane was shattered, unable to make his brain work.

His body riddled with sorrow and anger, he went to his brother-in-arms and took him in his arms, rocking him as if he was a child. Lance returned his embrace with force, shaking and cursing between sobs that racked his body.

His feelings so raw inside, and unable to deal with any of them, Shane made a silent vow, to both a woman he greatly admired and a man he deeply respected, that he would do everything in his power to catch their murderer and bring her to justice. And prayed that wherever they were now, both Beatrice and the Admiral would forgive him for letting them down.