Never surrender your weapon. There are no exceptions...
“You understand there are records leading to you and your friend. There’s nowhere to hide. It’s over with.”
He didn’t answer.
Silence.
Which was broken by Hannah’s voice. The girl swiveled toward Jacket and said, with a calm that was unsettling, “Hey, mister. Look at me.”
This was followed by a high-pitched scream.
Coming from Jacket’s mouth. He released the girl, dropped his gun and began wiping at his eyes furiously. “Oh, Jesus, Jesus...”
Shaw looked at Hannah’s hand. What was she holding? He realized it was the jar of cayenne pepper from the cabin.
The man was wailing. He dropped to his knees and was wiping at his eyes with his sleeves and the tail of his jacket.
Hannah stepped away from him slowly, looked down at her feet and picked up his gun. She pointed it at him.
“Hannah!” Shaw called. “No.”
Any death from this point on would be murder.
The girl didn’t move. She kept the muzzle on the man as steadily as when she’d practiced with his Colt Python. “They killed him.” A whisper.
Parker struggled to her feet. “I know, Han. But don’t do it. Give me the gun.”
The weapon was a Glock. Point and shoot. A five-year-old can fire a Glock.
It also has a light pull and her finger was on the trigger. Shaw was surprised it hadn’t discharged yet.
“They killed him,” the girl said again.
Parker hobbled closer. “Han, please?” Her mother wasn’t ordering, she wasn’t threatening. This was simply a request from one adult to another.
The girl didn’t move.
Jacket cried, “We’ve got money! A lot of money.” Still wiping. To no effect.
Hand out, Parker stepped closer yet.
Shaw said, “Remember our rule. Never engage unless you have to.”
The gun remained where it was for a moment. Then she lowered it and her shoulders slumped. She handed the weapon to her mother, just as Shaw had taught her, the muzzle in neutral aim.
The woman put her left arm around her daughter’s shoulders and they stepped farther away from the sobbing man, who’d stripped off the jacket and was using it to blot his eyes.
Parker lowered her head to her daughter and spoke—words Shaw couldn’t hear. Hannah frowned. Parker spoke again, apparently repeating what she’d said. The girl nodded and stepped back. She covered her ears.
No, Shaw thought. No...
Parker turned the weapon toward Jacket and, in a two-handed combat shooting stance, shot him in the head.
He dropped. She walked up and fired a make-sure round.
Wincing, breathing hard from the takedown, Suit climbed to his feet. Parker turned the gun on him. Suit stared not at the gun but at the body of his partner. He seemed as paralyzed as when Shaw had taken him down moments ago.
Parker studied the man closely.