Page 79 of Salvation

He doesn’t. Instead, he points them at me. Both of them. Directly at my chest. His hands are steady as we face-off. “I can’t do that, Luke.”

He starts to move. I move with him. We’re circling each other… Neither of us giving an inch. Both of our hands are steady as we level our weapons at the man across from him.

Ignoring Hope, who is groaning as she awakens on the ground, I keep my eyes on Gabrial. He says, “I’m going to walk out of here, Luke. You’re going to let me go. Yes, I’ve done terrible things. I’ve killed. But every person I’ve killed was bad. They hurt people, Luke.

“Women… children… animals. I have never killed an innocent.” He glances at Alan laying still on the ground. “Even him… a cop… your partner. You know he was the one stalking us all? He stalked Hope. He watched her. He was obsessed with her. He touched her when she was unconscious just now…

“He was also on the take. He’s been on my payroll for years. YEARS, Luke.

“You know why it was so hard to pin anything on me?” I jerk my chin at the body on the floor. “Because of HIM. I paid him to scare witnesses. I paid him to lose evidence. I paid him to make things go away.

“I can’t go to jail, Luke. You know what they’ll do to me there. They’ll rip me apart.

“No, I won’t be going to jail.”

He means it. His voice says he means it.

Only one of us is walking out of here.

I swallow. “You are going to jail, Gabrial. It’s where you deserve to be.”

Shaking his head at me, he smiles sadly. “Maybe I do. But I’ll never serve time. I won’t go to jail. It will never happen.”

He takes a step away from me, toward the door. I yell, “Gabrial, I will shoot you.”

I will. I’ll have to.

He smiles coldly, and before I realize his intent, he moves the gun away from my chest and pulls the trigger. My upper right arm is crippled with pain. I feel the bone under my bicep shatter, as the bullet pierces it. I scream out in pain and rage as my fingers go numb, “Mother fucker!” My gun flies out of my hand as I drop the other one from the shock. I dive for one as the pain in my arm threatens to consume me.

My left hand touches the handle of one of my guns. My fingers grapple with it, trying desperately to get a grip on it as Gabrial stands over me, pointing both guns down at me. He says, “You won’t let me go, will you?”

I shake my head and cuss as my fingers bump the gun and it slips away. Reaching for it with everything in me, I grip it again. I’m right-handed and he knew that. That’s why he shot me in the right arm. He could have killed me, but he didn’t. He moved the gun before he shot, ensuring it wasn’t a critical injury.

He didn’t take me out.

But I will not let him get away. “No, I won’t. I’m a cop. You’re a criminal. My job is to put you away. To keep the streets safe. To keep Hope safe. You are a danger to her, Gabrial.

“Take a fucking look around! I won’t let you go!”

Sighing, he mutters, “That’s what I was afraid of. I’m sorry, Luke. Truly I am. I loved you. I still love you. But you won’t stop. You won’t stop until I’m put away. And I won’t go to prison. This is the only way.

“I’m truly sorry.”

He levels the gun at my head.

I’ve failed…

He’s going to kill me.

At least Hope knew I loved her.

If nothing else, she knew.

I watch, as if in slow motion, as his finger touches the trigger. The shot rings out, echoing within the vastness of the warehouse. I stare at him, refusing to look away. He’ll have to watch me die.

Nothing happens to me. Gabrial’s eyes widen in shocked disbelief as his mouth goes slack. He gasps, looking down. We both watch as blood explodes across the white shirt covering his chest. It spreads so rapidly, coating the fabric. Turning his white shirt blood red. He staggers, his arm falling to his side, the gun falling from his fingertips.

A tortured scream rings out, “NOOOOOOOOOO!”

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