Page 31 of Not This Place

"Guess they call out the cavalry when Rangers are shot at," Ethan murmured.

Rachel glanced back towards where Alice Danvers was still hiding behind the sole remaining SUV.

“I think it might be the billionaire,” she pointed out. “Here, you good?”

“I’m fine.”

He fell into step behind her as she hastened towards the fire escape in the opposite building. She shouted at Alice, “Don’t go anywhere!”

But she needn’t have bothered. The billionaire was laying on the ground, looking far less dignified than the imposing figure she’d cut earlier when the lightning had been right.

The building housing the two snipers looked as if it had once been a car shop, but was now an empty husk. She sprinted up the fire escape, her footsteps clanging.

Ethan came behind her.

As they neared the top, Rachel slowed, cautious. “Stay on the ground, Joseph. John, help is on the way! Don’t be stupid.”

Faint cursing. “You shot my brother!”

“He was trying to shoot me. Don’t make the same mistake,” she retorted.

She inched slowly along the edge of the fire escape platform. But instead of entering through the opening, she held a finger to her lips and indicated Ethan should stay put, out of sign a few steps down from the top. For her part, she swung over the railing, still avoiding the doorway cut in the wall.

If Joseph or John were planning anything, they'd be aiming right at it. Now, on the other side of the railing, with nothing to prevent her twenty-foot fall, Rachel shimmied along a concrete parapet encircling the top of the building.

She shimmied a good fifteen feet away from the expected entrance and then vaulted the concrete.

John was groaning, clutching at his chest, but Joseph had his machine gun in hand, tongue sticking out of his lips, aiming directly at the fire escape, his finger on the trigger.

She had landed a few paces behind his prone figure.

His hair was greasy and matted, and the career criminal was muttering darkly under his breath, issuing a series of expletives as he lined up his shot.

She didn't give him a chance to fire. With a swift kick, she disarmed the man, sending the weapon skittering across the concrete rooftop and over the edge. Joseph let out a startled cry, turning sharply. His eyes widened with fear when he saw her standing there.

"End of the line," Rachel said, her words echoing in the night.

Joseph's gaze flickered between Rachel and his injured brother. "You shot him!" he repeated, anger replacing his initial fear.

"He was shooting at me," she countered coldly. "And you would've done the same."

"You don't understand," Joseph began to protest, but Rachel cut him off.

"No more excuses." She gestured with her gun for him to move away from John. "Get over there."

Joseph complied after a moment's hesitation, stumbling towards the parapet where Rachel had vaulted over earlier. He kept glancing back towards his brother, who'd fallen silent now. Rachel hoped it was unconsciousness brought on by shock and not something worse.

As Joseph moved away, Ethan emerged from the fire escape entrance silently. His gaze met Rachel's, and they shared a nod of understanding. Together, they approached John slowly, keeping their guns trained on Joseph just in case he decided to do something stupid.

Ethan knelt down next to John first while Rachel kept her gun pointed at Joseph, who had gone very still now. The flashing lights of the police cars illuminated the scene in alternating red and blue hues as they came closer.

Ethan touched John's neck gently, and then he grimaced. He shook his head. “He’s gone.”

Joseph let out a faint scream at this declaration.

His body crumbled to the ground, and he sobbed into his hands. Rachel's heart clenched.

"Call it in," she muttered to Ethan, keeping her gaze fixed on the grieving man.

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