Slade clenched his teeth. “I...I’m not going in! I won’t—”
“You don’t have a choice,” Logan growled. Then he talked into his transmitter. “We need that ambulance. Send the EMTs through.” He leaned over Slade. “The wounds aren’t fatal. You’ll stand trial for what you’ve done. Muerte won’t survive—”
“You think...I’ll...roll on the cartels? They’d kill me...”
The front door flew open. Sydney glanced up. Gunner was there, racing toward her.
He grabbed her in his arms and held her tight. She could feel the thunder of his heartbeat against her chest. “You’re making me lose too many years of my life,” he muttered.
Not anymore. The nightmare was over. He was clear. Slade was contained. It was over.
An ambulance’s siren roared outside.
“The big hero...” Slade groaned. “You think this...is how you stop...me?”
Gunner lifted his head but didn’t ease his hold on Sydney. “You’re my brother.” He shook his head. “How the hell did you wind up like this? I was there for you when we were growing up, keeping you safe, making sure—”
“Sure that I was in your shadow.” Slade heaved up. Blood pulsed from his wounds. “No...more.”
Gunner’s body was as hard as a rock against hers. She could only imagine the pain that he had to feel. His own brother had been setting him up, willing to let Gunner spend his life in jail.
The siren kept wailing outside. The EMTs had been kept close, as a precaution, and in moments, they were rushing inside her house.
Logan eased back a step so that they could get to their patient. Logan had already taken Slade’s gun and bagged it for evidence.
But when the EMT reached for Slade, Slade’s body started convulsing. His eyes rolled back in his head. He jerked and twisted. The EMT swore and leaned over him.
That was the moment when Slade yanked out the backup weapon from the holster on his ankle. He moved so fast—so very fast—and had that weapon at the EMT’s head in seconds.
Everyone froze.
Everyone...except Slade and his hostage.
Even as the blood darkened his shirt, he rose to his feet. Slade yanked the young EMT up, keeping the man in front of him. “Drop your guns,” Slade ordered, “or I will put a bullet into his head right now.”
Gunner stepped in front of Sydney, shielding her with his body. He didn’t drop his weapon.
“Drop it, hero,” Slade snarled. “Or watch him die.”
“P-please...” the man begged.
She couldn’t see his face, but she could hear his fear. The tension in the room weighed down on them all. She heard the shuffle of footsteps. Slade and his hostage, backing up a bit.
Backing up...and that retreat would put them right in front of her broken picture window.
Was Cale still positioned on the other side of the house? Or had he moved? She hadn’t been hooked in to their transmissions, and she didn’t know if he’d been repositioned when Gunner rushed inside.
Her palms were sweating, her heart racing too fast.
“I’m not going to...jail...” Slade said. “And sorry, brother, but you’re not getting...the girl....”
Her hands grabbed for Gunner because she knew Slade was about to take the shot. “No!” Sydney screamed.
The blast of gunfire shook the room.
But Gunner didn’t fall.
“Syd...ney...”