Page 80 of What Doesn't Kill Us

At first glance, I don’t see Darius or Agatha, but the closer I get to the far doorway, I see Agatha on the ground, with Dare kneeling over her. He’s speaking to her, and she’s swatting him away, so I keep moving toward the exit in search of Dmitri.

I skirt along the wall, around the ruckus, peeking around the doorway, then hurrying down the hallway. I turn the corner, and a small group of men are rushing toward me. They slow when they see me, and I stop, putting my hands up and waiting for them to approach. Luckily, they’re stupid about it and don’t approach me all at once, so I make quick work of the first one. The other two come at me a bit more aggressively, but I quickly disarm the one on my left, using the element of surprise to my advantage and then shooting his partner with the gun I swiped.

I’m facing off with the remaining man, and he curses me as he lowers his gun. I smile and laugh. “Can’t just kill me, can you?”

He glares at me, spittle flying from his lips as he calls me every uncreative bad word he can think of. But I’m right. He really can’t kill me.

Knowing there’s an order to take me alive changes things. I step up to him, pulling my hand back and slamming the butt of my gun into his face. His head snaps back, but then he straightens, spitting blood, and we stand there staring at each other. “I need to know where he is.”

It appears most of these men are here under duress. I’m sure there are a few truly loyal people, but this is where the idea of having a bigger army always backfires. The more people you work with, the more likely they don’t want to be there. If they don’t want to be there, they won’t put their life on the line to protect you. He cocks his head at me, his mouth bloody when he speaks. “To what end? If it’s not him, it’s someone else. Do I want to go out there as a marked man?”

“Marked man or dead man. You decide.”

He gives me an assessing look, then asks, “You’re with Jayme, right?”

I frown, taken aback by his question, but respond, “I don’t know about being with Jayme, but yeah, I know the guy. He’s kind of a pain in the ass.”

He curses under his breath, then spins around and moves back down the hallway, motioning for me to follow. He’s muttering to himself as he rushes, and honestly, I’m not even sure he’s leading me anywhere other than into a trap. I check what’s left of my weapons, realizing a little too late that I should’ve grabbed more, but here I am.

He stops at the door at the end of the hall and turns to me. “As soon as we go through this doorway, he’s going to see you. There’s a walkway suspended across the middle of the room. I don’t know where he is on it, but that’s where he is. He’s going to be in the middle of the other men, so honestly, you’re better off just killing them all.”

“And are all the men up there loyal to him?”

He shakes his head. “No. Only a handful. But you won’t know who is or isn’t, so I’ll go in first, and you can kinda duck behind me. There’s a slight chance we might at least be able to get underneath the walkway before he notices. It’s a very slim chance, though, and the first thing they’re going to do is shoot me to get me out of the way. They won’t kill you unless you make them. If you have to choose between being dead or being taken, you want to choose dead.”

This is the second time these words have been said to me tonight.

Apparently, this guy is a real piece of shit, or at the very least, has some real piece-of-shit ideas for me. I nod. “Will I be able to tell him apart from the rest of the crowd?”

“Yes. He’ll be the only one over-dressed for the occasion. Are you ready?”

“Can I have your gun?”

He raises his eyebrows at me, his lips twisting. “You’re right, you know. Jayme is a real pain in the ass. He has been since back before he found out any of this shit with his sister. Never would’ve thought I’d see the day that selfish bastard started jeopardizing his reputation for someone else, but here we are.” He reaches inside his jacket, pulls out a pistol, and hands it to me. “Have one of mine. That’s got a full mag. Don’t waste them.”

I give him a nod, and then he turns and slowly pushes the door open. I’m right at his back, and I peek around him, noting the walkway he spoke of and the cluster of men congregated there.

I put my hand on the man’s arm, and he turns back to me. “I need him to move position. I’ll never be able to get him up there.”

He scowls as he considers his options. “How far are you willing to go?”

I consider his question for a moment, realizing there isn’t any length too far if it means this will be over once and for all. And I can’t wait and rally the troops because if I do, then Dmitri will be in the wind again, and we’ll be right back to square one. “As far as it takes.”

He nods again, then turns and takes off in the other direction. I follow, and we hurry to the other side of the warehouse, exiting out into the parking lot. He pulls out a two-way radio. “Mark is on the move. Current location: rear parking lot. Mark is alone. Repeat, mark is alone.”

I can already hear the commotion in the building and people shouting. I have no idea where my people are, but I know what has to be done. I look at this man who helped me when he didn’t have to and rest my hand on the shoulder. “You get out of here. Get out of here and get your family to safety.”

He scoffs, then shakes his head. “No, I’ll cover you. I can’t just leave.”

I bark out a laugh, shaking my head as I say, “There’s only room for one death wish right now. We can settle up later; just find me.”

He sighs, and I see the indecision in his eyes, so I continue, “Don’t be a fool. You’ll just get in my way, anyway.”

His lips twist, but he nods without further comment, then turns and heads off along the building and disappears around the corner. The commotion is getting louder, and I take a deep breath in, then let it out before I break into a run across the parking lot.

I hear the door burst open behind me, footfalls pounding on the pavement as they give chase. I race across the parking lot, taking twists and turns until I find myself at a dead-end. I curse myself, recognizing what a completely asinine plan this likely was, but I know I’m out of options.

I whirl around just in time to see a group of men headed my way. They’re walking now, the lot of them looking pleased with my current predicament. The group stops when they’re only about ten yards from me, the few in the front pointing their weapons at me.

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