Page 109 of Unfinished

“Please Hannah, just breathe. You can’t lose it right now. Breathe for me.” Ashley gripped my face and forced me to look at her. I did as she said and followed her through a quick breathing exercise.

A calm washed over me and I spun to look around the room. I spotted a fabric laundry basket and immediately started digging through it. I found a janitor's uniform and dug through the pockets. Finding a key card and a lighter, I silently celebrated.

I went to some shelves and spotted a gallon of hand sanitizer. I grabbed it and a broom along with a pile of rags.

“What are you doing?” Ashley asked, watching me.

“I’m saving them.” I attached the rags to the broom.

“Are you coming?” I spun to Ashley and she nodded, surprisingly calm.

I handed her my knife and we both slipped out of our shoes. I was not trying to be the dumb bitch who twisted her ankle trying to run in four inch stilettos. Opening my clutch, I grabbed my cell phone, slipping it into my bra after making sure it was on silent. I grabbed my gun and the supplies I gathered.

Listening at the metal door, I couldn't hear any commotion, so I used the key card and we slipped out quietly. I took the hall away from the main area and stepped out onto a stairway. Climbing the stairs, we suddenly heard a door slamming open below us.

“Let’s go, Liam, time to transfer the money,” a voice said as pounding footsteps rushed up the stairs towards us.

At the executive floor, I pushed the key card on the reader and it opened the door. Ashley and I slipped in and closed it quietly behind us before darting down the hall. We ducked into what looked to be a meeting room and closed the door. I listened through it as the men and Liam walked past us.

I scanned the room and spotted a laptop. Setting my supplies quietly on the table, I opened the laptop hoping that it had access to security. I lifted the computer up and taped to the bottom was the password to log into the computer. If this computer had access to a lot, that was a stupid mistake to make even if it was a good thing at that moment. I’d have to talk to Liam about his computer security.

I scanned the applications and finally spotted their security feeds. Immediately, I pulled up Liam’s office, the stairs, and the lobby. I saw Liam’s cousins along with their fathers managing to subdue the gunmen still in the lobby, but in Liam’s office four men stood in front of him while he typed on the computer. All four had their guns pointed at Liam and I knew what I was about to do was risky. Closing the laptop and handing it to Ashley along with the key card, I told her to go down towards the office by the stairs and hide in there and watch the monitors.

She hurried out silently and I climbed up on the table. I poured hand sanitizer on the rags and broom then lit it on fire. Alright fuckers time to separate you. Holding the broom up to the sprinkler system, the fire alarm blared and the sprinklers went off. I jumped down, grabbed my gun and flew to the door. I aimed my gun and waited.

“Split up and check this floor!”

I heard footsteps running in different directions from Liam's office and one of them went down the hall. As soon as the handle turned, I took a breath. When a masked man peeked in, I pulled the trigger, killing the man instantly, shooting him in the temple.

Gun fire started going off and I ducked as they shot through the wall on the opposite side of me. Pieces of drywall sprayed and clung to me due to the water from the sprinklers soaking me. I shoved over a large plant to create a loud thump and let out a groan as if I'd been shot. I aimed high at the doorway. Two men charged in, and I squeezed the trigger twice. The first shot went into the chest of one man, the second in the head. To be safe, I shot the first one in the head.

For a second I paused, looking at the men. I waited for that second for feelings of guilt to come over me, but nothing did. Instead my focus went back to Liam. There was only one man left.

Flicking away wet hair that was sticking to my face, I exited the room cautiously. Creeping down the hallway on silent footsteps, I held the gun up with both hands and blinked away the water sliding over my eyes. I was going to save my man if it was the last thing I did.

The alarm shut off even if the water kept running, which meant someone turned the alarm off. Was it the other men? Was Liam's family able to subdue the other men? Shoving away those questions I kept my eyes on Liam's office.

Keeping my steps silent, I cautiously approached Liam’s office.

“Report!” The man yelled into what I only assumed were connected earpieces. There was a long pause, and then I heard Liam’s voice and a rush of relief ran through me.

“I can’t transfer money if the systems are down, Salvatore,” Liam said as I came up to the doorway of his office.

“It’s a good thing the money isn’t that important.” The man raised his gun to Liam.

I aimed for the man’s head, took a breath, and pulled the trigger, but I wasn’t the first to shoot. After watching the mystery man collapse, I ran into the office. Liam sat behind the desk and he looked at me. His hand was on his chest and as he pulled it away slowly I saw the blood covering it. Blood spread across his shirt and terror ripped through me.

“Liam!” I screamed, running into the office and catching him as he collapsed out of his chair. We both fell to the floor.

“Ashley!” I screamed as loudly as possible while I laid Liam on his back and turned his head to the side.

“Liam, no! I love you! You can’t leave me! Hold on!” I stared into his ice-blue eyes as he stared back at me. Ashley arrived quickly, and started applying pressure to the wound on his chest. As Liam's eyes closed, a piercing scream erupted from me.

Chapter 50

Hannah

There were four moments in my life that irrevocably changed me and turned me into the woman I was. The woman who doesn’t hesitate to kill those who harmed her or the people she loved.

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