“Isn’t that sweet?” Jerry said, the mocking words still holding no fear. The man had no idea just how much trouble he was in.
“You really are stupid,” Olin said. “You think you’ve got some toy that you’re holding there, but you’ve got the meanest stray. You ever try to hold on to a cat who’s pissed? It’s a failing proposition, every damned time.”
Kat forced herself to think, to remember everything she’d learned. Olin had a gun, but he couldn’t take a shot, not right away especially. They needed an opening and they needed Kat to not be covering Jerry.
One deep breath helped to settle her, to unknit her muscles. She locked eyes with Dean for a split second, and a tiny nod let him know she was ready.
Kat forced her body to go limp, the action unsettling Jerry’s hold on her. He knocked forward. At the same time, Olin lifted his gun, but the other guard must have expected that, must have been watching since Olin was the only one armed.
A bullet rang out, but Kat couldn’t see, couldn’t tell what was happening as Jerry toppled forward, over her. Sharp rocks dug into her knees and she was sure she was bleeding.
None of that mattered, though. She could deal with injuries later, could patch herself up. She didn’t even allow herself to think about the gunshot that had rang out, to worry about who might have gotten hurt. Instead, she twisted, slamming her elbow into his face.
Dean’s words came back to her, made her remember she wasn’t fighting someone who was fair, someone who would follow the rules, so if she wanted to win, she had to be willing to get just as dirty.
Kat closed her fist around a handful of sand and threw it at his eyes, rewarded with an angry shout from Jerry. She shifted backward, scooting through the dirt, until she could lift her foot and drive her heel into his face as he tried to rub the dirt clear.
Another shot ran out, and terror filled Kat, fear at who might be hurt. Still, she couldn’t give in—she’d sworn she wouldn’t.
Kat got to her feet, ready to run, but slammed right into someone. Fear only held her for a moment before she realized who exactly she’d run into.
Dean.
Except he wasn’t the Dean she knew, the one she was used to. This was the darkness he’d said before, the parts of his past honed by a desire to survive above all else. He held Olin’s pistol in his hand, and Kat peered around to find Bradley on the ground, Olin holding his hands against a spot on Bradley’s side.
Bradley was shot…
Kat couldn’t come to terms with that, couldn’t make sense of it, and Dean only looked down at her for a moment. He set a hand on her cheek, brushing against her skin as if it were precious.
Even still, the hard look in his blue eyes didn’t fade, especially when he moved his gaze over to Jerry who had managed to turn over, his eyes red from the dirt and blood pouring from his nose.
The car they’d come in took off, dirt flying up. It seemed the driver had realized the turn in events and wanted nothing to do with the fallout.
Jerry turned his gaze toward the car as if he couldn’t believe it, but when he looked back, it wasn’t the expression of a beaten man. No, Jerry still seemed to think he could get out of this. “This isn’t over,” he said.
“Yes, it is,” Kat spat, for once feeling powerful and in control. “You did everything you could to get me under your thumb and it still failed. You’ll go away forever.”
“No, I won’t. Men like me, we don’t get taken down by little girls like you. Maybe I go away for a year or two, or maybe my powerful friends help me out and I’m back for you sooner than you think. Are you ready to spend every day of the rest of your life thinking about me? Looking over your shoulder for me? Because that’s what you have to look forward to.” He let out a vicious laugh.
Dean let go of Kat’s cheek, dropping his hand away to stare down at Jerry. “That isn’t going to happen.”
Jerry laughed. “Yeah, it is. You’re a lawyer and your buddy there is a lawman. Neither of you will do shit to an unarmed man.”
“I wasn’t always a lawyer,” Dean said, his voice flat. “There was a time when I did horrendous things all to protect myself. I told you that, but you didn’t believe me.”
“You don’t have to kill me, though.”
“No, I don’t, but I’ve realized something. I stopped that bull because survival wasn’t everything, because keeping myself safe wasn’t worth living with my actions. Survival matters, and I’ve done things that haunt me for it, but the things I’ll do to protect the woman I love? You haven’t seen what I’m really capable of, the lengths I’ll go.”
“You’re lying—” Jerry didn’t get the rest of whatever he was going to say out before Dean lifted the gun and squeezed the trigger, sending a single bullet through Jerry’s forehead.
And just like that…
It was over.