Page 32 of Undefeated Love
Katlin took her smallest pistol from her ankle holster and curled it in her fist with the barrel running up her wrist.
She stood. “Let go of Nikkole. If you kill her, you’ll never have me. Now let her go.”
Jack dropped Katlin’s lookalike as though she were a poisonous snake.
Katlin rotated her wrist, brought her left hand up to clasp her shooting hand and squeezed the trigger. She heard a second bullet discharge at the same time.
Jack fell to the floor with a bullet in the head and one in the heart.
Nikkole scrambled and grabbed Jack’s gun, pointing it at Katlin. “You killed him, you fucking bitch. You never loved him.”
“No, Nikkole. I never loved Jack. But you did.” Katlin was frozen in place. She honestly believed that Nikkole would kill her if she moved. Katlin didn’t have a death wish. In fact, she had more to live for now than ever before.
“I can’t live without him.” Nikkole took the gun and shoved it under her chin. “I’m coming, Jack.” She pulled the trigger.
Katlin turned around and walked out of the house. She didn’t make it two steps beyond the front door before she bent over and threw up. Without looking back, she walked out the gate and into the streets of Johannesburg.
CHAPTER14
Later the SameDay
Katlin wasn’t sure how long she’d wandered the streets. She had to get out of that house. Not just because Alex was there. Not because she had just killed Jack. But because Nikkole had killed herself.
Over the love of a fucking man.
What a waste.
Katlin was done with men. She was done with love. She wasn’t sure what she’d done wrong in her life that God was punishing her with thinking, believing, that the men in her life loved her. Twice, now, she’d fallen in love with the wrong man. Both men had betrayed her love for another woman, or in Ty’s case, several women.
Had Alex had other women while she was gone on missions? Was JJ just the most recent in a long list of affairs?
She couldn’t stop her brain from replaying the video she’d seen so many times before leaving Los Angeles. Alex on his knee. JJs melodic voice, “Of course I’ll marry you, Alex.” She bent over into a nearby bush and emptied what little was left in her stomach.
Work. That’s where she needed to concentrate from now on. No more men. Ever. Katlin reviewed the mission beginning to end. She’d hesitated far too many times, endangering her team. Even then, at the end of the mission, she wasn’t sure she’d made the right decisions. The current situation wasn’t working for her, and it certainly wasn’t working for her team. She refused to put them in danger due to her physical and mental condition. She couldn’t live with herself if a member of her team had gotten killed because of her.
Katlin knew exactly what she had to do.
She knew her team. Nita would find and destroy all the fertilized eggs. Lei Lu would erase any electronic sign that they were there. Grace and Tori would retrieve everything from the embassy then prep the plane to return to Washington.
Katlin sent them a group text:
I have some diplomatic issues that I need to resolve with the South African government. It would be best if you got off the ground and out of South African airspace as soon as possible. Take Alex’s team with you. There’s a U.S. diplomatic jet leaving later tonight.
Everything she’d said in the text was true, but not necessarily accurate.
Several replied back:
See you back in D.C.
When the Ladies were a little over an hour from touchdown at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Katlin sent the group another text:
I’m leaving the team, and Section 7. I love you all and that’s why I can’t continue to endanger your lives ever again. Stay safe!
When General Ava Standish awoke the next morning, she’d also have a text from Katlin:
I’m going on medical leave until further notice.
The next morning, she sent Barry Howell, her high school friend, personal attorney as well as corporate attorney for Guardian Security, a text:
