Page 41 of Witness Protection

He got back to his feet to peer inside the factory. Cayden was already back inside from the back entrance. Vlad took cover behind some machinery. As much as it killed him to do it, he had no choice.

Another bullet hit the dirt next to his boot. “Cayden! Take Sophia!”

It didn’t matter if Hawk came out of this alive. She was all that mattered. For some reason, Vasily’s killer had kept Sophia breathing, and right now Hawk didn’t have a friend in the world.

He’d go down a martyr. Sacrifice himself for the family. For Sophia.

He took a few deep breaths, centering himself, then charged to the entrance with his shotgun, unloading the fucker on everyone in his way. A bullet grazed his thigh, almost making his lose footing, and another got him in his side. The darkness shrouded the wild exchange, the deafening noise making his ears ring.

Images flashed in his head—Sophia’s lips, Vasily’s dead body, and a blurry figure of his mother.

All became quiet.

He wasn’t sure how many he’d killed or how much time had passed. Was he even still alive? Hawk brushed himself off, scanning the darkness. He limped forward, the gravel crunching beneath his boots. There were bodies everywhere. Some he recognized, others he didn’t. Gunpowder clouded the air, irritated his senses. He pushed open the main door, and it swung briefly on its last metal hinge before falling inwards, creating a bold echo and cloud of dust.

A bullet pinged off the wall.

Vladimir was on the ground near the basement, clutching his stomach with one hand and haphazardly aiming his handgun with the other.

“Drop it,” said Hawk.

He was in pain, tired, and done with the fucking day. Cayden was gone. Hawk wasn’t in the mood for games or more gunshot wounds.

Vlad shot again, missing him by a few feet. Hawk pulled his 9mm from its holster and shot the old man right in the hand. He yelped, dropping the gun.

Hawk walked over, each step punctuated. He squatted down next to his old friend. “Why?”

“Three million.”

“Fucking sell-out.”

Vlad spat blood. “I’m over sixty. My boss is dead. What did you expect me to do?”

“Not kill his daughter, that’s for damn sure. I thought I could trust you, but you’re no different than all the others.” Hawk’s emotions bubbled to the surface, which only pissed him off more. Vasily had been like a father, and Vlad had been a constant fixture in his life, a man he trusted.

Now he had no one. Only himself.

Vlad gasped, hunching to the side and curling up his legs. He had a mortal wound right in the gut. Cayden had ensured this was his last stop.

“Hawk, I need to tell you something.” His voice became more and more faint. “Your parents…” He began to sputter blood.

Hawk holstered his gun and grabbed Vlad by the collar with both fists, lifting him partially off the ground. The old man groaned in protest. “What about my parents?”

A sick grin appeared on his face. “You think Vasily saved you? Raised you because he’d always wanted a son?” He let out a choked laugh. “I was there. We killed your parents because your father refused to work for us. Vasily was going to rape your mother first, but he heard you coming downstairs, so he put a bullet in her head.”

Hawk froze.

“Vasily felt sorry for you. Thought it would be a novelty to train his own assassin from childhood. I told him to kill you, but he never did listen to my advice.”

A frog built up in his throat, burning with emotion. His eyes watered, but he wouldn’t blink and give this two-faced pig the satisfaction.

“All these years, we’ve kept it from you. I told him that if you ever found out you’d kill us all. He’d created a monster.”

“Does Sophia know?”

He scoffed. “That little bitch has her head in the clouds. She actually believes her mother was killed by a rival when she was born.”

In one motion, he whipped out his gun, pressed it to Vladimir’s temple and pulled the trigger, emptying his entire clip into the piece of shit. Hawk dropped down and rolled to his back when it was done. He was covered in blood splatter, but too fucked to care. He exhaled, staring at the lone bulb swinging above him.

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