Page 2 of Stone Cold Sinner

“To make you feel better. They’re definitely dead now,” Coy shamelessly teased, though his tone gave away little to no humor.

“Coy, you’re walking a thin line with this vigilante shit,” Wit delivered with an uncomfortable chuckle. “There ain’t going to be anyone to try or convict by the time you’re done.”

“Good,” Coy deadpanned as he checked and cleared a room.

“C’mon Coy, do this by the book,” Killion went on. “Or it’ll be your ass on the line.”

“I didn’t shoot until their weapons were trained on me. Self-defense. Not to mention, I’m doing the world a favor by eliminating these bastards. I’m a fucking hero.”

“You’re leaving a massive trail of bodies,” Wit warned.

“A massive trail, huh? A couple dozen of them versus… me. Even more justified. I was outnumbered. Besides, that’s what your clean-up crew is for.”

“Coy, this isn’t the mission you think it is,” Killion said, trying to reel him back in before he got himself killed.

“Oh yeah? Pretty sure it is. Young women, some minors, drugged, kidnapped, trafficked… Low-life assholes with guns… Pretty sure I’m at the right place,” Coy snarked.

“Coy, it’s not the same,” Wit added.

“Sure, it is. You’ve been to one of these places,” Coy sneered. “They’re all the same. And as soon as we take one down, another crops up.”

“It’s not the same as…” Killion took pause, as if he knew his words would sting and re-open wounds that could never completely heal. “Emery.”

Coy stalled at the mention of his wife’s name. His dead wife. He closed his eyes as his mind and senses filled with memories of her. The sound of her laughter as she ran from him on a beach, her chocolate wavy locks brushing across his skin, the olive of her skin, and the scent of her as he made love to her. His chest pinched when the roundness of her belly and the gentle kicks he felt crossed his mind. That was always the most painful part of remembering her. Remembering their unborn child that was going to be the best part of them but never even took its first breath. The warmth that filled him suddenly chilled, and the pinch in his chest eased when his blood began to boil.

Emery Stone and the baby that she carried were the reasons he took every risk and every shot. She was his muse, his reason, and her death was his purpose –– suddenly, he remembered why he was there. To right some more wrongs that the world had bred. And he’d do it in her honor, as he always did, until that pain he wore like a badge faded, and he was no longer blinded by evil and could see there was good in the world again.

“This passageway ends up ahead. I can only go left or right,” Coy shared, not acknowledging what Killion had said.

“Uh-h-huh…” Wit stammered, clearly taken aback by Killion’s message. “Go right. No left.”

“Which is it, Wit?”

“Your left,” Wit answered.

Coy turned left down another long dark hall, much like the last. “I know it’s not Emery. She’s dead, Killion. Dead because of trash, just like the assholes we’re taking out today.”

“Stone…” Killion started, but Wit interrupted.

“You’re coming up on the target,” Wit shared. “It has to be her. One heat register in a room behind a door and what appears to be four guards.”

“Four? They know I’m here for her.”

“How could they not? You wiped out the rest of their team,” Killion said.

“I was quiet. Used a suppressor,” Coy defended.

“A little too quiet. And according to the radio chatter I’m picking up, their comrades are a little too quiet, too,” Killion shared. “They aren’t checking in or responding –– they know there’s trouble.”

“They sure do,” Wit said. “Heat signatures are flaring up. You got them hotter than a hive full of bees.”

“Good. They’re sweating in anticipation. I like it when they get anxious, afraid like the girls they steal and hurt.” There was pleasure in Coy’s voice. He meant every word.

“Stand down, Stone,” Killion ordered. “Wait for backup. Sending in a secondary team to support you. They’re cornered, and bullets will be blazing.”

“Negative. I don’t need it,” Coy reasoned.

“Did you miss the part about there being four of them, close quarters, and an asset behind the door they’re guarding?” Killion questioned.

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