Page 118 of What I Should Have Done

There was nothing but a row of six children in my view through the massive hole in the wall despite Mikey saying he’d seen about a dozen. I served no purpose up here any longer. Seven combatants stood beside my team, threatening death.

And a massive fucking wall was the barrier between Karim and my bullet trained to deliver death to his front doorstep.

“As you can see, I knew you were coming,” Karim stated. Boots plunking against stone sounded in my ears, and I scanned the wall once again, but so far nothing.

Dom lifted his head slightly. Enough to most likely look directly at the man who threatened destruction upon our home. “You think you’re going to make it out of here alive? There’s only seven of your followers left.”

Karim’s laugh echoed off of the rough walls. “Can’t you tell I’m prepared to die? My men know that our mission doesn’t end when our lives end. But I’ll be damned if I go out without taking a few of you with me.”

Bernie hucked a wad of snot forward. “That’s a coward’s way out.”

Ford shook his head, staring at the ground in front of him. “At least let the women and children go.”

“They’re not as innocent as you think they are. They’re my wives. My children,” Karim replied. A startled, soft gasp slipped through the cracks as a woman bumped forward into the row of kids. The first female hostage I’d seen. She quickly threw her arms around a young girl and cradled her into her body.

“What do you get out of this?” Dom muttered with a heavy sigh.

“What do I get out of this?” Karim cackled, the shuffling of footsteps sounding once again. “My name will be remembered in history. My legacy will help our cause thrive. Someone else will step up and finish what I’ve begun.”

“Which is what? Drop some bombs on US soil? For what?”

“Because the United States needs to be reminded that they are weak. That letting women—” Karim immediately stopped talking. The compound fell so quiet, so still, you could hear the scratching of a scorpion making its way through the cracks in the walls. I leaned farther forward, training my gun through the massive fissure, but still. Nothing.

Blood pumped in my ears. Anticipation and doom setting in as dank as the stuffy atmosphere.

“Where is she?” Karim asked, a hiss through his teeth.

“Where’s who?” Dom tipped his head in reply.

“Your woman sniper. The one who thinks she’s amazing, but you know she’s the reason you’re all about to be sacrificed!” Karim screeched. The volume of his voice amplified, sharpening to a tone that left a ringing in my ears. Why was he being quite dumb? I mean, I wasn’t hiding anywhere fancy.

“WHERE IS SHE?” he roared. “TELL ME BEFORE I BLOW THIS PLACE TO PIECES!”

And then I saw it.

Not through the massive hole left by the grenade that had blown the door apart. But a yard or so to the left there was a small crack, maybe three inches in diameter, created by the aftershock of the grenade.

What I was looking at was unmistakable. Raised to his side, he held a trigger in his palm facing outward. Luckily, it was not a dead man’s switch as he wasn’t pressing the button on top of the crudely made device.

“Phoenix, look to your left if Karim has explosives strapped to his chest, over,” I whispered as silently as possible into the radio.

My finger slid onto the trigger of my gun. Cold metal rested against my skin as I tucked my left arm beneath the gun and placed the palm onto my right shoulder.

I needed to know where this bomb was that he might detonate before I did something as irrational as the idea that swam through my head. This wasn’t a far shot, but if I was even a millimeter off, I could set off the explosives and kill us all. It would kill the women, the children, everyone in this room.

Inhaling a shaky breath, I braced tighter against the gun. Dom had yet to move.

“Tell me where she is, or I’ll have my man blow the head off of one of your guys,” Karim instructed again and the man pointing his rifle at Mikey tightened his finger on his trigger.

Dom slowly turned his head to gaze at Mikey—at the man whose life would be lost if Dom didn’t give away my location. Dom looked left.

There it was, the signal.

“Confirmed, Phoenix,” I radioed. And trained the barrel of my gun back at the hole.

Three fucking inches, that was all I was given. All the calculations, all the minor tweaks and adjustments I very quietly made weighed on my mind. There was no room for error here. None at all. Drawing in my calming breath, I was ready to squeeze the metal that rested beneath my index finger. I wasn’t worried.

But I hesitated.

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