“He has a family?”
I narrow my eyes. She doesn’t know who he is?
Interesting.
She glares. “What’s his family?”
I can’t believe she’s still going for the story.
Garrick regards her wistfully. “The Dragushas. Albanian mafia. There was some kind of coup when the boys were babies.”
“He has a family,” she whispers.
“Does that mean you’re going for the killing option? Because I haven’t heard you call out.” I pull out my piece and aim for her belly.
The look of a woman who thinks you’ll shoot her is radically different from the look of a woman who thinks you’re bluffing. Ann thinks I’m bluffing.
Garrick knows I’m not. He’s spent a bit more time with me.
“Come on, man,” Garrick says.
I back up a bit, leaving her standing against the cave wall, and I level the piece at her kneecap. “You’d think it’s the kneecap that would produce the loudest scream,” I say to Garrick. “In fact you’d be wrong. It’s the foot. You want to know why?”
He’s not answering.
I sigh.
Ann tries to make a run for it.
I aim. Squeeze the trigger.
Crrrrack!I shoot her foot.
The blast echoes through the cave like a motherfucker. It’s almost as loud as Ann’s scream.
“Fuck! Fuck!” Garrick calls out. “Fuck!” He’s still filming, through. He gets that his life depends on it.
Ann’s down, though much to her credit, she doesn’t scream again.
“Come on. That’s all you got?”
It’s surprising. Admirable, even. She needs another hole in her. Nothing that will kill her right away. The last thing we want is a beast like Kiro with nothing to lose.
Crrrrack!I get her in the gut. She crumples. That does it—she screams. Nice and loud.
It’s then we hear the roar. It’s loud and anguished, echoing through the hills.
I exchange glances with Garrick. I point, meaning,tell me you fucking got that audio. He gives me a grim look, camera steady. That’s ayes.
I signal my guys to drop back into the shadows. “We let him get to her, got it? He’s not coming for us, he’s coming for her.”
They get way the fuck back in the shadows. They’re all feeling pretty fucking nervous. I can hear the chopper now. My guy moving closer, ready for the evacuation.
“I probably don’t need to tell you, Garrick, to concentrate your camera on the shootees instead of the shooters. I don’t want a lot of footage I can’t use. You understand what I’m saying?”
He looks like he might throw up.
“Watch out, Kiro! It’s a trap!” she yells. “You can’t do anything!”