Chapter 82
MASON
Through the scope, I watch Lily twist away from Kelly's grip, not hesitating in the moment my wide shot gives her. She's not panicking. She's buying time, making herself difficult and hard to handle.
That's my girl.
I'm positioned on the ridge two hundred yards out, prone behind my rifle with a clear sight line through the broken window on the east side. The scope brings everything into sharp focus: Lily zip-tied and Kelly wrestling her to use as a shield.
My finger rests on the trigger, but the shot isn’t clean.
“Come on,” I mutter, waiting for a kill shot. Jake and Luke are thirty seconds out, moving in low from opposite angles. Because this extraction needs to be surgical—no collateral damage, no missed intel, no chance Kelly's network gets spooked before we can roll them up.
The comms crackle in my ear.
"In position," I hear Jake's voice, low and calm.
"In position," Luke confirms.
I key my mic once, for acknowledgment. Then I watch the breach begin.
The loading bay door explodes inward as Luke kicks it off its hinges. The crash echoes through the warehouse. Jake comes through the side entrance simultaneously, rifle up, sweeping left.
Kelly's head snaps toward the sound.
Through my scope, I watch him calculate in real time—two entry points, coordinated breach, professional operators. His hand goes for the weapon at his hip.
Then he spins and grabs Lily.
He yanks her in front of him, one arm locked around her throat, using her body as a shield. My crosshairs are on his head—clean shot, perfect angle—and then Lily's there, blocking the kill zone.
I lose the shot.
"Fuck." The word is barely a breath, but my finger stays on the trigger, tracking, searching for an opening that doesn't exist. Kelly's positioned himself perfectly—Lily's body covers every vital target. If I take the shot now, the round goes through her to reach him.
Not acceptable.
I key the comms, voice clipped and urgent. "Overwatch compromised. Target using hostage as shield. Go hot. Breach now."
Jake and Luke don't hesitate.
They move in fast and aggressive, rifles trained but unable to fire for the same reason I can't—Lily's in the way. Luke sweeps right, Jake left, cutting off Kelly's angles, closing the distance with brutal efficiency.
Kelly backs toward the far wall, dragging Lily with him. "Stay back! I'll—"
Luke doesn't give him time to finish the threat.
He closes the gap in two strides, using the momentary distraction of Jake's approach from the opposite side. Luke's hand clamps down on Kelly's wrist—the one holding the weapon—and twists with vicious precision. The gun clatters to the concrete.
Kelly tries to tighten his grip on Lily's throat, but Jake's already there, driving his shoulder into Kelly's side and breaking his hold. Lily stumbles forward, free.
Luke drives Kelly face-first into the concrete, one knee in his back, pinning him with the full weight of his body. Kelly's weapon skids across the floor, well out of reach.
I'm moving—down the ridge, through the warehouse entrance, my rifle slung as I close the distance. By the time I reach them, Luke has Kelly immobilized, face pressed into the concrete, arms wrenched behind his back.
Lily is standing now, rubbing her wrists where the zip ties cut into her skin. Her eyes find mine immediately. “I shouldn’t have come, I know Mandy’s dead,” she says in such sadness I want to rip Kelly’s fingernails off one by one for giving my girl a false sense of hope.
Instead I walk to where Kelly's weapon landed and pick it up. I check the chamber and confirm it's loaded.
Then I walk to Lily and hold it out to her. "Your choice," I offer quietly.
Jake and Luke stand ready but don’t move.
Lily stares at the gun in my hand. Then at Kelly, still pinned beneath Luke's knee, his face pressed into the concrete.
Truthfully, I want to take the shot myself.
Kelly put his hands on my girl—I want to use him for target practice and leave him to bleed out as vultures waited to peck his eyes out.
I also don’t want her to have this on her conscience.
Like I told her before, she’s not a killer.
The toll for taking a life if you haven’t dealt with it mentally is high. I saw it in the military all the time.
But I want Lily to have what she needs.
"Your choice," I repeat. "He touched you. He threatened you. He was part of the operation that killed your sister. You get the closure you want. But if you want, I’ll handle it for you."
Her hand is shaking as she reaches for the weapon, but when her fingers close around the grip, the shaking stops. She steps forward.
Luke shifts his weight, giving her the angle she needs while keeping Kelly immobilized.
Kelly tries to lift his head. "Wait—"
Lily doesn't wait.
She aims and fires.