Chapter Forty-five
The blast sent June back on her heels and she stumbled over the threshold and fell on her rear. To her horror, the bearded man came for her. Her shot had missed him and blown a hole in the wall above him instead. She clamored backward, catching sight of Natalie on the floor before her, and Vaughn just beyond that. They weren’t moving, weren’t awake.
Were they—? She didn’t have time to think. The man, he was coming. She struggled to grip her gun. She had one shot left. One shot. She lifted it and tried to aim, but he was nearly on her. She closed her eyes, ready to pull the trigger.
Her ears rang as a shot resounded, nearly deafening her. She tensed, expecting the recoil of the gun, but nothing happened. She opened her eyes. The man was down, sprawled on his back, his gun flung at his side.
She blinked, confused. A figure stepped into view from beside her. It was another man. This one was much bigger than the one on the floor. He looked down at her and offered a meaty hand, a spent gun in the other. Tentatively, she took it and he helped her up. He walked over to the bearded man, kicked his gun away, and then kicked him to see if he was dead.
When he looked back to June, he spoke. “I never did like that son of a bitch.”