“Alive.”
“Who else?”
“A Callaghan man, the red-haired guy. Unless Andrian shot him. Andy persuaded him to wait for you before dealing with Callaghan.”
“So it’s safe to return.”
“Yes, but we counted the bodies, and there’s a guy missing.”
“Brady,” I supply. “He’s long gone with the laptop.”
“Shit.”
“We’ll hunt him down later.”
My body has started to shake, but I tell Tao to head back to the beach. I follow behind in my boat. As we near the island, I see Andrian pacing back and forth. Callaghan is on the ground, possibly wounded, propped up on one elbow. The redhead lies lifeless on the beach along with the other men Callaghan had brought with him.
After beaching the boat, I hand the gun to Casey. “Take this as a precaution. At the first sign of danger, you take the boat and get out of here. Got it?”
She nods.
To Tao, I say, “Stay with her and make sure nothing happens to her.”
Seeing me as I hop out of the boat, Andrian strides over. “You get the laptop?”
“No,” I answer.
He kicks the sand. “Blyad’!”
Andy takes off his coat and hands it to me. I notice his hand is wrapped and bloody.
“Jay didn’t make it,” Andy reports to me. “And Lev is critical. Our doctor is on his way.”
Andrian, still cursing, returns to Callaghan and raises his gun, saying, “Time to die,ublyudok.”
“It wasn’t my idea!” Callaghan objects.
“It doesn’t matter! I’m going to shoot all seven rounds into you and watch you bleed to death.”
Seeing that Andrian’s hand is shaking with rage, I intervene. “We should focus our attention on getting Kenton Brady before he hops a plane to who knows where.”
“But first we take care of Callaghan. We agreed he has to pay a price.”
“I think he’s learned his lesson.”
Andrea looks at me like I’m crazy. “What are you talking about? Is it because of that Irish slut? You going soft on me, Kai?”
“I want to go after Kenton Brady. Callaghan might be useful for that.”
“Fuck that. Callaghan deserves to die and you know it. Don’t let a little piece of pussy mess with your mind.”
At that, Andrian turns back around to face Callaghan and shoots him in the thigh. Callaghan emits a roar of pain.
“Enough!” I say.
But another shot cracks the air. I feel the blood drain from me. My first thought, because the shot didn’t come from Andrian, was that Casey was in danger. But when I look her way, I see her standing in the boat, holding the type of gun as if she’s used one all her life. I look back at Andrian, who has crumpled to his knees. He falls flat on his face next, a gaping hole in his skull.
Andrian’s men immediately raise their firearms.