Page 51 of Honoring Lena

So there was only Ed left to deal with. Her lips twisted into a sneer. Now to just take him down. She didn’t care whether that was dead or alive, though Paxton would flip if she lost him an informant like Ed.

“You killed Amara?” Marshall’s nostrils flared.

Lena picked up her pace, worried he’d do something stupid, like get himself killed. She couldn’t lose someone else that she loved, not when she’d just found a chance at happiness again.

“I tried to make you see reason, but, no, you had to stay on your high horse.” Ed dripped with such condescension, Lena wondered how he’d ever hid his duplicity.

Marshall’s chin shifted as he clenched his jaw. “You make me sick.”

“And you’ve never had the balls to do what needed done,” Ed spat back.

Lena was so close she could smell the sharp tang of fear emanating from Ed. She just needed a distraction, something to get him to point the gun somewhere else. She gazed at Marshall over Ed’s shoulder, hoping she could communicate her need, but Marshall’s hard stare never left Ed’s face. Marshall took another step forward, his eyes narrowing on Ed.

“So, what, you hide like a coward behind women and children?” He took another step closer and spread his arms wide in challenge. “Why don’t you come at me head on, without the protection of a three-year-old?”

“Better yet, why don’t I just kill you?” Ed shifted the gun to point it at Marshall.

Lena darted forward. Wrapping her left arm around Ed’s neck, she snaked her right hand down his outstretched arm, grabbed his wrist, and pulled up. He growled and bucked against her, but she held tight, twisting his hand back. As he bent forward, lifting her off her feet, pounding footsteps rushed to her. Her body flipped up over Ed’s back as a shot blasted loud in her ear. White-hot pain seared her head, then she fell over his body into darkness.

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