22. Dana
Two fingers on my right hand start to tingle, and I flex them to get more blood flowing as I watch Logan tell Michael about my deception.
That’s the thing though: I didn’t see it as deception at the time. I meant to protect them and keep everyone else in this town from ending up like Stan.
How was I supposed to know that Betty and the ladies could have probably handled themselves? Or that the town had more than proximity holding them together?
And how was I supposed to know that Matteo would be coming here to witness my execution?
I didn’t know, because, just like last time, I was kept in the dark. Except this time, I’m alone. Before, I had Jessa. I had her, and I lost her.
Logan talks to Michael before their eyes rest on me, and I continue fisting my palm as my fingers warm once again.
Kaley and I are tied up differently than Jack, Michael, and Logan. Our arms are secured close to our bodies in front; theirs are spread out wide or back behind them. Kaley is bound, but I could probably get her out of her ties if I wanted to. She’s wounded though, so what is she going to do, crawl out of here and down the mountain?
The other two guys from Michael’s team aren’t here, and I wonder if they are still alive. I don’t want any more death on my hands.
“Piper.” Logan’s answer catches my attention.
“What? But we haven’t seen her since…” Jack’s voice trails off as Logan nods.
“Since when? Who’s Piper?” I inject myself into their conversation. It’s time they stop keeping things from me.
If I’m going to be the one dying out here today, I want to know what they know.
All three of them look at me, and I furrow my brow while clenching my lips. Michael looks back to Logan, and his shoulders drop a little.
“We call her Piper. We don’t know who she is. It was the name she had on her name tag when we last saw her.” Michael pauses as the other two listen quietly. “She’s—this isn’t good.” His sober expression scares me.
“What kind of a killer wears a name tag?” Of all the things I should probably ask, this one is pretty low on the list, but I’m not sure I want answers to any of the other questions I have.
“It’s not what you think.” Logan takes over the conversation. “It was a setup. About seven years ago, we were working security for a senator who had gotten some threats on his life. We were to accompany him from a meeting back to his home state. They ambushed us in a coffee shop. She was dressed as a waitress. We stopped there randomly, and there she was, serving us roofied coffee.”
Logan struggles through his story. No doubt it isn’t one of his team’s finer moments, and the anger he had when he saw that woman in the cabin comes back as he continues, “She shot him in front of us, right there in the restaurant. Took something out of his pocket and walked out like nothing happened. She hasn’t been seen since, and we were never able to ID her.”
I suddenly feel sick. Is that what’s going to happen to me? I don’t want Kaley to live with this. That highly focused woman walked into the cabin like she had one purpose and all the confidence in the world.
They hunted us with skill, patience, and rigor, and one by one my options for walking out of here alive are dwindling away. My limbs turn numb again as I look at their faces, each one matching the next. Regret—maybe remorse. Are they realizing they are about to lose me too?
The sharp contact of boot heels on cement commands our attention, and we look in unison toward the person walking out of the shadows. I can tell by the look on Logan’s face that it’s the one they call Piper, the same woman he recognized instantly at the cabin.
Her expression indifferent. She isn’t smug or afraid; there is no smile or frown. Her quiet confidence is unsettling. She carries herself with the credence of someone who is sure of themselves and their strength, and the men are silent.
I try to look past her, to see if anyone is with her, but the shadows make it difficult to tell.
Logan speaks first, drawing her attention to him. “You have two members of our team.”
“They’re alive. They’re being held in another area close by, to keep you from attempting anything. They’ll be released to you—shortly.” She stops short of saying after they kill me.
“Why this contract?” Logan speaks up again, and when she doesn’t answer right away he continues, “Is that your thing? Taking out people who don’t deserve it?”
Her face twitches at his implication. “I remember you, you know.” She speaks without emotion. “Do you really think the senator, that family man”—disdain coats those words—“didn’t deserve exactly what happened to him?”
“He was on his way home from meeting with a series of charities to benefit at-risk youth in remote areas. He had a daughter.” Logan’s tone tells me it haunts him still.
The flash of a smirk crosses her lips before her face becomes unreadable once more. She takes a deep breath. “We have access to different information than you do.” She doesn’t explain herself further, and Logan sneers at her, unaccepting of her reasons for killing the person he was tasked to protect.
“You know there is a fourth.” Michael speaks up, and her head turns to meet his eyes. She doesn’t speak, so he keeps talking. “The contract had four takers. There is one more out there.”
I think I see what he’s doing. He’s trying to distract her so she’ll go tell her team, and maybe we can make an escape. At least, that’s what I hope he’s doing.
“He’s been neutralized,” she answers apathetically, and Michael loses a bit of composure at her response.
Inevitability settles into my bones.
These are the final moments of my life.
“Please. Can you take her away? I don’t want her to watch me—” Choking on my words, I tilt my head toward Kaley. I don’t want her to watch me die. My lip trembles; I can’t help it. My limbs are stiff, and my eyes well with the start of my tears. I can’t keep them from rolling out of my lids and down my cheeks.
As Piper’s eyes settle on mine, her face softens. Then her hand goes to her ear, and she pauses. She must have an earpiece in.
Her attention turns back to me. “I can’t move her. It isn’t safe. My buyer just pulled up.”
Reaching around behind her, she pulls a gun from behind her back and points it lazily at the floor.
“Please. Let them go. Take them out a different door. Matteo will kill all of them. Just kill me now and get it over with.” Again her face changes as I plead, and I look back to Michael and the guys, who are all staring quietly at me. “I’m so sorry,” I whisper to them as more tears roll down my cheeks.
When Matteo walks in here and sees them, he’ll kill them all, but not before he makes them watch as he kills me—slowly, because he never got to torture Jessa for killing his only son.
I lock eyes with Michael as he swallows a hard lump in his throat.
What do you say when you know it’s the end?
I feel like I should know this, and I’m forgetting something. No matter how much time we get, it will always feel like it’s not enough, and I won’t get another chance.
What should I say?
“My contract is specific. I’m waiting for my buyer.” Tilting her head toward Michael, she continues, “They will not be harmed.” The confidence behind her words is not warranted. Matteo is a monster. He’ll stay behind and kill them himself if he has to.
A door in the distance creaks open, and the room around me dims. I thought I heard birds flying around in the rafters before, but the sound of my heartbeat is the only thing filling my ears.
I don’t even feel cold anymore.
The footsteps stalk closer, and I watch the distinguished features of Matteo’s face slowly come into the light. A sick pain hits my stomach as he zeroes in on the men before turning his attention to the woman holding the gun.
Matteo pauses as he assesses the assassin. Then he closes some of the distance between them and stops ten feet away from her. He takes in her face for almost a minute before speaking.
“Jake Kenton is my contract killer.”
Piper keeps her expression tight, allowing only a hint of emotion to escape. “He’s here. He’s part of a larger team. You’ll be dealing with me.”
A satisfied smile crosses Matteo’s face as he scans each one of us before his gaze lands on me. “I hope you understand this is just business.” But his expression turns stony, telling me that this is absolutely personal for him.
“I’m glad you see it that way,” Piper answers coolly. She turns her head toward all of us on the floor before a sound catches her attention.
“What’s that?” Matteo takes half a step back, looking toward the ceiling.
The rhythmic thud of blades slicing through the air registers in the distance outside.
“That’s my ride,” she answers, without taking her eyes off us.
Matteo relaxes. “Are there any others?”
“Everyone else is dead. Casualties.” She shrugs. Her response is clipped, but it seems to satisfy Matteo.
I look at the three guys, and all of them are trying to process this information.
She told us Grey and Eagle were hidden away and safe.
“Were there any files?”
“No.” Her eyes flash to mine before looking away. “We’ve determined any files have long since been destroyed.”
I glance at Logan. He’s watching her, confused.
I don’t know her reasons for lying to him. She has the disk. Is this what she wanted out of this hit all along? Take me out, collect the money, and leave with Zane’s program? At least the Sparrs won’t have it. But who will?
Matteo looks disappointed, but the way he glances over at Michael and the guys tells me he’ll kill them as a consolation prize instead.
Then his face twists into a gleeful sneer.