Page 57 of Target Me
Breaking into a jog, Bear flanked me as we made our way over the grass and down to the riverside. A quarter mile downstream, we found the boathouse. The structure looked as though it had seen better days, the once cheery yellow paint curling away from rotting wooden walls. A large tree branch had fallen through the roof at one point, the gaping hole adding to the dilapidated look of the place.
Bear held up his hand, motioning me to approach on the near side while he moved around to the far side. I nodded, moving in at a crouch until I could look in through the window. Damon paced at the edge of the dock, hands gripping at his hair as he muttered to himself, a rambling stream of consciousness I couldn’t follow.
At the edge of a worktable on the opposite wall sat a small handgun. Shifting to get a better look at the room, I stilled at the sight of Avery’s unmoving form, slumped in a chair. Ropes held her small body in place, and the sight of blood running down her legs made my insides twist unpleasantly.
Movement behind Damon’s back caught my eye, Bear moving into position. He glanced toward my hiding spot, counting down from three on his fingers. At one, he lunged for Damon while I sprang up and vaulted through the window.
“What the…” Damon wrenched around, crying out as Bear squeezed him tighter in a… Well… a bear hug. Much less pleasant than his normal hugs, though.
A pop echoed through the room, and Damon whimpered, falling still in Bear’s arms.
“Was that your shoulder?” Bear asked in wonder.
“Fuck you.”
Ignoring the exchange, I hustled over to Avery, lifting her head and checking her pupils, checking her pulse, and ensuring she could breathe. I loosened the restraints around her and laid her aside gently as Bear maneuvered Damon into her place. There was nothing gentle about the knots I tied to keep him secured. In fact, I took a sick amount of pleasure in his groans as I immobilized his bad arm.
“We want some answers, and I have a strange feeling you’re the one who can give them,” I started, straightening up and moving to stand shoulder to shoulder with Bear.
Looking down at this man whom we had fought beside, had been willing to die beside, I felt like I saw a stranger.
“We know the General issued a kill order for me, and you refused. Let’s start there, shall we?”
Damon gritted his teeth, huffing great breaths through his nose, but between one moment and the next, the fight bled out of him. Before our eyes, he aged a decade, the pain in his eyes too real to be a farce.
“I was his killer,” he said simply.
A small groan came from the body at my feet, and I dropped quickly to my knees to check on her.
“Welcome back, hen. It’s okay. You’re safe now.” Avery’s eyelids fluttered before flying open. Her hand lashed out, striking me on the jaw hard enough to turn my head.
“I deserved that, but come on now, hen. We’re finally getting some answers.”
As my voice registered with her, she relaxed, reaching a hand out to cling at the front of my shirt.
“It’s Damon,” she whispered urgently.
“We know. Look.” I turned her head to show her where our former friend had been trussed up tight.
“Well, now that’s sorted, back to this ‘I’m a killer’ thing,” Bear said, taking control of the room.
“I was stupid. Broke and stupid when he approached me. Promised he could get me promoted faster than I ever dreamed. Adrien, too. All I had to do was eliminate one easy target and provide evidence.” He scoffed. “You know the saying if the offer seems to be too good to be true, it probably is? Well, this was more like I put myself in a prison of my own making and took down the only person I ever loved with me.”
I settled onto the ground, pulling Avery into my lap just to hold her close. I didn’t want to think about what could have happened if we hadn’t got here in time.
“The target was a woman. The profile he gave me said she was a threat to national security. I abducted her, recorded her last words, and disposed of the body where no one would find her.” He glanced at Avery.
“For what it’s worth, you were her last thought. Did you like the little recording? I’m sure she won’t mind me laying blame on her, after all, she’s been dead over a decade.”
Avery recoiled as though his words could do physical damage.
“I didn’t know I was acting on behalf of a jaded fucking husband. I got the promotion, chose whatever deployment I wanted, and in return, I occasionally got a tap on the shoulder. A little nudge in the direction of a new target. Adrien was so fucking happy. How the fuck could I have taken that away from him?” His eyes shone, pleading with us to understand his choices.
I couldn’t keep the sneer from my face.
“And then you happened,” he said, turning on me so suddenly that Avery hid her face in my neck.
“You couldn’t let shit go. Had to go digging around where you shouldn’t have. Such a good little soldier. It was the first time I refused a mission. I told him he could take everything away from me. Hell, give me a dishonorable discharge. I didn’t care.”
