Page 53 of Absolution

“Get down.” Bennett lowered his voice as he jerked Ella behind the counter.

“You know why I’m here.” Collins’ voice was louder that time, suggesting he’d taken a step toward Tucker.

“A little birdie told me you’d been paid to finish me.”

There was no fear as Tucker spoke, only growing anger that this moron, who’d already attempted to screw him over once, was back to add more misery to his life.

Why won’t these idiots just leave me alone?

“A birdie called Bennet, by any chance?” Collins’ chuckle sounded as shallow as Collins was.

“Fuck you.” Bennett shot the insult from Tucker’s left. “You think you can just threaten my daughter, and I won’t have anything to say about it?”

“Oh, yeah.” Collins was much closer now, his silhouette visible as he moved. He was close enough that discharging any firearm could prove to be fatal for Tucker, a fact that wasn’t lost on Tucker as his finger brushed over the trigger of the gun he’d stolen from the moron in the forest.

I could do it.His pulse quickened. Since leaving special ops, he’d never intended to take another life, yet now the thought was all too appealing.One simple action and I’d pump enough bullets into Collins that he’d never get up again.

“Silly me.” Collins’ laughter crashed over Tucker. “I forgot you’re father of the fucking year, Alexander!”

“You told me you were coming here to deal with Bowman and that Ella was with him.” Bennett sounded like he was hyperventilating. “Why do that if you didn’t want me to show up and warn her?”

“That’s precisely why he did it.” Suddenly, the plan unfolded in Tucker’s head. “He got you here because he wants you dead, too, Bennett.”

“Correction,” Collins interrupted. “Kennerwants you dead. I’m just a gun-for-hire.”

“Just go!” Ella sounded close to tears. “Just go and leave us alone.”

“I don’t think so,” Collins snarled. “And much though I’d love to get to know you better, Miss Bennett, it seems your standards are too low, even for me.”

“That’s enough!” Tucker’s free hand balled into a fist at the insult. “You’ve said what you wanted to say. How about you and I do what we should have done years ago and finish this? Let’s take this outside, Collins.”

Tucker didn’t want to shoot him in front of Ella. Even in the darkness of the power cut, he wanted to avoid the hurt he’d seen etched into her eyes after he’d killed the ginger git in the woods, but increasingly, he knew that’s what had to be done. Collins wouldn’t leave there of his own accord.

“Hmmm.” Collins’ alleged playful deliberation only protracted the burgeoning sense of doom. “I don’t think so.”

“What?” For the first time since he’d grabbed his weapon, Tucker felt control of the situation slipping from his fingers. “If you want me, I’m here. Just shoot me.”

Tucker hadn’t seen Collins with a gun, only because the bastard had relieved them of electricity before he arrived, but he couldn’t imagine any scenario where Collins would turn up there unarmed. He was willing to bet Collins had one pointed at him right then.

“No!” From past the island, his little girl protested. “Don’t shoot. Just go!”

“Again, no.” Collins’ voice resounded only seconds before he fired. For a fraction of a moment, the center of the kitchen was illuminated by the blast, Tucker’s heart briefly stopping as he acknowledged the direction of the bullet.

Yet again, Collins hadn’t done the decent thing. He hadn’t aimed the shot in Tucker’s direction. Instead, it was speeding toward the woman he loved. In the split-second he had to register the fact, he realized there was nothing he could do to prevent it.

“No!” He leapt in Ella’s direction, regardless, throwing the gun ahead of him.

Unable to just stand there and watch his worst fear playing out, Tucker was resolved to do anything he could to save her, but before he even made it around the counter, the victim’s pained cry pierced the air.

Chapter Twenty-One

Attrition

Ella

It all happened so fast.

The exchange between Tucker and Collins had grown nastier, and before she’d known it, a gun had been fired. She’d held her breath as the deafening noise of the shot drowned out every other sense, but before she could even decide what to do next, Alexander had shoved her to one side. She fell awkwardly, inwardly cursing her father, but seconds later, his pained cry had silenced her criticism.

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