One Two Three(100)
“You piece of shit,” Gabriel says from the floor a few yards away. He’s got a gun out too, and he points it at me and fires. The stone above me shatters down, shards like shrapnel. “You’ll never get her back now.”
“You’re going down, Gabriel. I find her and she and I will be together again. But you—you will never sell another baby again.”
“That’s funny coming from you.”
“Shut up!” JD yells.
“I don’t suppose he ever told you the truth about Marie, did he, Star?”
Bile rises in my throat from that name. But then JD pulls me to my feet once more. He shoves the barrel of the gun against my temple and I let out a sob. “You want her back pretty bad, don’t you?” he asks Gabriel. “You told me earlier that my daughter is my Achilles’ heel. Well, Blue is yours. And I’ll take her away from you, just like you took my daughter away.”
“JD! Please!” I scream. He elbows me in the side, making me gasp for air.
“Tell her then,” Gabriel says. “Tell her you—”
JD shoots him again, only this time the bullet rips his shoulder apart and he is silenced.
“JD.”
Ark is standing in the open doorway, a gun in his hand, but he’s not pointing it at anyone. It’s up in the air. “Just be calm now. OK? Think about what you’re doing here. This isn’t how you want it to end, brother.”
“Brother?” JD spits. “You’re not my brother. You’re just like all the rest of them. You take. You use. You used me.” He pokes the side of my head with the barrel of the gun again. It’s throbbing from my fall, and my vision blurs once more.
“No,” Ark says. “I’ve been trying to help you. All these years.”
“He told you he had her. My daughter. The one you promised to help me find. And you walked away from those answers.”
“He wanted me to fuck his wives, JD. He wanted me to give him my children too. What world do you live in where that is an acceptable trade?”
“It was a promise.” JD pushes the gun into my head even harder and Ark takes a step forward.
“JD,” Ark says in a calm voice that says he’s the one in control. “None of this is my fault. You know that. You know the real truth. You’ve been hiding from it for a long time. But you know what happened to Marie and the baby.”
“Oh my God,” I say, the pieces starting to come together. “Oh, my God. Please tell me. Please—”
“Shut up!” JD smacks me in the mouth. “Just shut the fuck up!”
“You sold your baby, didn’t you?” My disgust overshadows my fear and I wriggle in his grasp.
“Quiet, Blue!” Ark yells. “JD, just put the gun down.”
But he only presses it into my head harder. “I’ll kill her, Ark. Take one more step, and I’ll kill her.”
“You won’t kill her. You love her, JD. You love her like you loved Marie.”
The pressure of the barrel against my head eases a little.
“That’s it,” Ark says. “Just put the gun—”
“Hands in the air!”
And then all hell breaks loose. Windows crash as bodies fly through them. Red lasers are all over the place, the dots flying, one on me, then JD. I look at Ark and there’s several dots dancing on his chest.
“No,” JD says. “I’m not going down this way!”
Denver Federal Center
Lakewood, Colorado
Present day
“And?” Matheson asks, when I say nothing. “You saw her first. What’s that got to do with anything?”
I close my eyes, the scene still fresh in my mind. Gunshots. That’s all I hear in my head. Nothing but gunshots. I rub my eyes, making those little pinpricks of light appear behind my eyelids. “I can’t tell this story,” I finally say. “It’s not mine to tell.”
“You bet your ass you’re gonna tell this story,” Jerry growls. “We’ve got dead bodies, asshole. Your loft was the site of several murders tonight. So we’re gonna fucking sit here until you tell us—”
A knock on the door interrupts Jerry’s rant. We all turn at the same time to look at the man who opens the door.
“What?” Jerry snaps. “We’re in the middle of—”
“Sorry.” The new guy looks at me and shakes his head. “Someone called from DC and said they’re shutting this down.”
“Shutting what down?” Matheson asks. “We’re in the middle of a case here—”
“Agent Matheson,” the new guy says. “I realize that. But we just got orders. From DC. For me to come in here and shut you up. So get out.”