Page 55 of Fast Fury

She had no idea how she’d gotten away. People must have seen her. They had definitely heard the shots. The agent would have called the cops.

Being on edge for so long was eating away at her. She’d stopped partway here to throw her disposable raincoat and wig in a Dumpster outside a restaurant in Lahaina. Hani must be dead now, considering how many times she’d hit him center mass at close range. He couldn’t ID her. But that agent could.

Dragging her purse from the passenger seat, her half-empty pistol safely tucked away inside, she exited her vehicle. She’d parked right at the base of the stairs leading to her second-floor room, allowing her to get to it as quickly as possible.

Two steps from the base of the staircase, she froze when a man appeared out of the shadows to confront her. She started to reach for her pistol, heart in her throat, but the man held up a hand in warning.

“Don’t,” was all he said. He had an accent.

Diane stood there frozen, ready to bolt if he took another step toward her.

He didn’t. Merely stood there staring at her, the dim glare of the nearby streetlamp gleaming on his dark hair and black leather jacket. “I saw what you did.”

What?Her insides curdled. She started to take a step backward, but he stopped her with a single word.

“Stop.” It was so cold, so full of menace, that she automatically stilled. The man cocked his head, revealing a dark goatee and mustache. His black eyes glittered at her, the icy calculation there chilling her. Was he a cop? Something worse?

She darted a frantic glance around. Was he alone? Was anyone watching them?

“Why’d you kill him?”

Her gaze snapped back to him, the muscles in her jaw trembling. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she grated out.

Without looking away he held up his phone and touched the screen. A video clip started playing, showing a view from across and down the street from Hani’s unit.

Diane blanched when it showed her coming out from between the detached townhomes and opening fire on Hani. She held her breath, flinched as the bullets struck him, taking him to the pavement. She hated seeing it. Her belly clenched with guilt and fear.

The man lowered his phone, that dead-eyed stare making her skin crawl and her heart hammer. “Why’d you do it?” he repeated.

She couldn’t answer. Couldn’t even swallow she was so scared.

“I could turn you in.”

An image of prison popped into her head. Her in an orange jumpsuit, her ankles and wrists shackled in cuffs and chains. A big, uniformed guard escorting her into her cell. The finality of the metallic clang when the door locked. An image of her future.

He raised a taunting eyebrow. “You gonna tell me?”

“He killed my daughter with his drugs,” she forced out, her voice shaking.

His expression never changed. “So you wanted revenge.”

“Yes,” she hissed, the anger growing now, burning away the terror that had frozen her.

He raked his chilly gaze over her, a smirk twisting his mouth. “I wouldn’t have thought someone like you would have the guts. I’m impressed.”

I don’t care what you think.She raised her chin, glared back at him. She’d gone into this knowing she would pay eventually. At least she’d killed two of the people responsible for Bailey’s death. It wasn’t enough, but it was something.

The smirk turned into a grin. “I like your attitude. So I’ll give you a choice, since it benefits us both.”

She eyed him warily, darted another glance around to make sure no one else was watching. “You a cop?”

He gave a cold laugh. “No.”

“A dealer?”

“I’m a businessman.”

Yeah, she could guess what business he was in. Her lips curled in disgust.

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