Page 119 of Aftermath
She raced over to me, and Mallory lifted the gun, aiming it at her.
“Stop,” I called. “Don’t hurt her.”
Her eyes flickered between the two of us as she weighed the choice.
“Don’t hurt her,” I pleaded again. “You have what you want. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”
I accepted my fate. One more bullet, that’s all it would take. Tears streamed down Len’s face.
Mallory stared at the pair of us. Movement to my right caught my eye at the doorway. It was slight, so slight that the other two didn’t notice. The small reflection light flickered again, and I knew.
“Let me say goodbye,” I said to Mallory.
“No,” she said.
“Please,” Len cried.
“It’s not for me; it’s for her,” I assured Mallory. “Just let her say goodbye.”
Mallory nodded and kept the gun pointed at us. Len quickly melted to on the floor, wrapping her arms around my neck.
“Do something,” she begged.
“Grey,” I whispered in her ear.
It a one single word, but it was enough for me to feel the way her muscles relaxed for only a second.
She moved back, and her eyes held mine, searching.
I gave her a little nod, one Mallory would think was me encouraging her to go. Instead, I confirmed what she thought.
“I won’t leave,“ Len said and stood to turn.
She put her body in front of me, placing herself between me and the gun.
“Move,” Mallory demanded.
“No,” she said. “If you want to kill him, you’ll have to kill me first.”
My chest ached at that. Len was playing with fire and I didn’t like it, but there wasn’t much more I could do. We needed to hold Mallory‘s attention.
“Move,” Mallory demanded again.
“No,” she said. “You’ll have to make me.”
Mallory started to stalk across the warehouse, gun still raised, pointed directly at Len’s head. I tensed, praying my team would move fast.
With Mallory finally focused entirely on us, her back to the door, I saw the first person enter.
Mallory was inches from Len and held the gun straight to her head. I could see the way her finger twitched on the trigger and held my breath as Len closed her eyes.
Before she could pull the trigger, a shot rang out, and Mallory collapsed.
I forced myself toward her, the pain in my leg agonizing, but I was able to still limp.
Len rushed away from her, but I hurried toward her and knelt beside her to check her pulse. By the time my fingers met her neck she was completely gone .
I moved over to Len, who stood shaking and staring at her friend‘s lifeless body. I held her up.
