Page 73 of Gabe

I couldn’t help Gabe and Sebastian with their shootout, but this was something I could handle.

Ducking back into the water, I carefully swam to the other side of the dock. Debris brushed against me under the water. I told myself it was just a branch, or a rock, or a particularly thick clump of vegetation. It couldn’t possibly be one of the many bodies that had ended up in the water tonight or any of the man-eating beasts I knew resided in the water’s depths.

So long as I didn’t look, then the truth was whatever I wanted it to be.

I reached Tansie just as she tumbled into one of the boats. There was no way to silently climb into the boat with her, so I didn’t even try. She easily saw me coming as I clawed my way out of the water and into the boat with her, but she was in no condition to fight back.

With a closer look, I could see that she’d been shot with more than one bullet. Her right leg was a bloody mess, and I silently cheered when I noticed it was the same leg that Sebastian had injured.

For a moment, as I stood over her dripping water and heaving for breath, I felt like our roles had been reversed. I was the monster, and she was the victim.

Then, I remembered everyone who had been hurt because of her, and the feeling passed.

“Please,” she begged, looking up at me with such believable terror. “I didn’t want to. They made me do it. Just let me go and you’ll never hear from me again.”

I was sure my grin showed a little too many teeth as I grabbed one of the boat’s oars. “Nice try, but I’m not falling for that again.”

The fear disappeared from her face and was replaced with cold indifference. “Worth a shot. Don’t suppose I could pay you instead?”

“Not on your life.”

Wood met flesh with resounding smack as I struck her over the head with the oar. The blow sent uncomfortable vibrations up my arm, and I held tighter to the oar as I watched her slump over on the bottom of the boat.

She was unconscious, but still alive. I could have killed her, but that one blow felt like it had taken all my energy. My hands shook, and I leaned against the oar for support.

I’d done my part. Someone else could finish the job.

When I finally felt strong enough to stand without using the oar as a crutch, I looked up to find the gunfight on the dock drawing to a close. Only a few security personnel remained, and they were easily dispatched.

The swamp fell silent.

Gabe and Sebastian stood alone, chests heaving, back-to-back in the middle of a dock covered in bodies and bloody puddles.

I waved to get their attention. “Hey. Where’s Newt?”

The two of them headed over to me but didn’t holster their weapons.

“We left him and Ozias locked in the office to finish getting everything they could off the computers,” Sebastian said as he approached. Looking down into the boat, he nodded toward Tansie. “She still alive?”

I climbed out of the boat to join him and Gabe on the dock. “Yeah. What should we do with her?”

Gabe slipped his arm around my waist and pulled me closer. “If we bring her in, then the authorities can build a case against her and everyone who helped her.”

“Yeah.” Sebastian gave a distracted nod.

Then he raised his gun and shot her, pulling the trigger repeatedly until he ran out of bullets.

“What?” he said when he noticed us looking at him with concern. “After everything she’s done to me, not to mention how many kids she’s hurt with her part in this thing, there’s no way I’m letting her live. I don’t care if it means we can’t make a case against her. Now, she can’t hurt anyone else.”

A few months ago, the idea of killing someone while they were unconscious and helpless would have turned my stomach. Now, I just nodded in agreement.

Did that make me a monster?

Maybe.

Did I regret it?

No.

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