23. Michael
Of everything that could have gone wrong on this mission, this is the one thing I did not see coming. We’ve all been completely immobilized.
The smug look on Matteo’s face as he struts around the room feels like the figurative nail in all of our coffins—especially Jack and Dana’s.
Logan has gone deadly quiet beside me.
After the hit on the senator, Piper vanished into thin air. Every road we took to try and find her was a dead end. At times, it felt like we were chasing a ghost. Now we finally have a lead, and Logan is powerless to do anything but glare at her.
Matteo sets his focus on Dana, and I hate that I’m unable to keep her safe yet again.
“You weren’t easy to find, my dear, and this hit wasn’t cheap.” Piper’s eyes flash with some unrecognizable emotion, but she composes herself quickly. Matteo, with his eyes on us, doesn’t notice.
Over the last seven years, Piper had slipped so far off our radar that I don’t recall much about her anymore.
But I’m sure Logan knows every last detail. That’s what happens when you obsess over someone for so long.
Matteo falls back into his arrogance as he talks to Piper. “Your people took my gun from me outside. After you kill this one, leave me yours, and there’s an extra hundred grand in it for you.” His eyes jump gleefully toward the three of us. Dana was right; he won’t walk out of here until we’re all dead.
“That isn’t in my contract,” she responds impassively. We are only words to her, an agreement on a piece of paper.
“Fine. You’ll leave them tied up after, and I’ll retrieve my own gun from outside.”
She doesn’t respond. Instead, her eyes meet mine before they make their way around the room. She skips over Logan, and I wonder if she knows he’s been looking for her.
Matteo takes her silence for agreement and turns to Jack. “I know I said this is just business, but we both know that isn’t true, Jack. You’ll die last, and you’ll bleed out slowly all over this concrete for what you did to my son.”
Jack has gone as silent as Logan. No one dares to move, and I look over at Dana, who is lost in her head. Her eyes are on the ground, focused on a spot beyond her feet. Her face is relaxed; she’s resigned to her fate. Kaley has her lips pinched together. Her face is red, and she’s too scared to look up.
I want to say everything and nothing. I can’t make any of this easier. I can’t move. Yelling will only urge Matteo to draw this out. It’ll show him that Dana is more than someone we are failing to protect, and he will use that information to make us all pay for Jessa publicly humiliating his family last year.
That’s what this is for him.
Revenge.
Because of what Jessa did on a live and very open stream, Maxwell died publicly, and Matteo lost face among many in his organization. The massacre that is about to happen here will work in his favor. He can claw back some of the respect he feels he is owed among his criminal peers.
Pacing a few feet, Matteo glares at Jack for a few moments before walking over to him and punching downward into his head. Jack grunts as his body jerks, his restraints holding him tight.
Matteo shakes out his fist. “Fuck, that felt good.”
Jack kicks his legs up, and I reach one of mine over to force some distance between them.
“Enough.” It’s the first sign of anything close to emotion I’ve seen from Piper. Her eyes stay locked on Matteo.
I catch the serious look on her face as she lifts her hand to her head before dropping it quickly. I noticed an earpiece earlier. Chatter must be picking up, and something is going to happen soon. A sick feeling flows into my bloodstream.
My mind goes to Grey and Eagle, and I close my eyes in prayer. Not knowing what happened to them is worse than knowing, and I hope they were together. I hope they didn’t suffer if they are no longer here.
Then memories of my dad hit me. I remember the day I was told my father had been murdered in the line of duty. When we don’t have all the information, our brains have a way of filling in the blanks for us, and my version of how everything must have played out still haunts me.
My own death will be the same way. No one outside of this room will know of our final moments, and the thought is an isolating one. This must have been what Dana felt for the past year. Thinking her only friend was gone and picking up the pieces all by herself.
I want to tell her that Jessa is alive and she isn’t alone, but I can’t. Matteo can never know. He’d use the full extent of his organization to find her, and Dana would never forgive me.
“Let’s get this over with.” Matteo’s impatience pulls me out of my thoughts, and I notice the light in the room has dimmed. It must be late afternoon by now.
Matteo sets his sights on Dana with an evil sneer. He’s unable to mask the joy he’s feeling as tears run down her face, soaking her top at the neckline.
“One moment.” Holding her gun by her side, Piper repeatedly taps the barrel against her leg as she dips her head to the side in concentration.
It’s the same move we make when we’re listening intently through our earpieces.
“No. Shoot her. Now.” Matteo turns to face Piper and points a finger in Dana’s direction.
Slowly, she turns her head from us to meet Matteo’s stare before the rest of her body follows and she squares herself on him.
She speaks deathly slow. “My contract is specific. I’m waiting for my buyer.”
The look on her face conveys a finality that seems out of place at this moment.
The room plunges into silence. Only the sound of a sniffle from Kaley tells us we are all still alive as Matteo’s confidence falters.
“What are you—” Whatever his question was, the sound of boot heels stops him, and we wait for the person they belong to to emerge from the shadows.
When they come into view, Dana’s choked cry tells me I’m not imagining things.
She sees the same thing I do.
“JESSA!” she cries at the same time Matteo growls her name. He instinctively takes a predatory step in her direction, and Jack fights against his ties, but it’s futile. We aren’t getting out of this without some help.
Jessa pauses her approach, and Piper cocks her gun, forcing Matteo to stop mid-step. He attempts to school his features, lifting his hands away from his body to try and diffuse the situation, but his eyes remain locked on Jessa. He must understand that Piper has already lifted her gun and pointed it at what seems to be her actual target this evening—Matteo Sparr.
“What a surprise.” Matteo’s expression is consumed by enraged shock, yet he speaks slowly through gritted teeth, trying to maintain his composure.
I look over at Dana. Tears are still flowing over her reddened face, but her smile is unrestrained. She glances from her friend to me, silently asking me to confirm this is really happening, and I form my lips into a silent shush and slowly shake my head.
I have no idea how Jessa is here with our contract killer, nor any idea what is going to happen, but I know that any sudden move can make things go from bad to worse.
I glance at Jack as I consider the situation, and he’s gone still as well.
Jessa has only looked briefly at Dana, and she hasn’t looked our way yet. No doubt she’s trying to keep Matteo’s attention off of her connection to us.
“You killed my son.” Matteo’s eyes remain locked on the only thing that matters to him now—Jessa.
My palms sweat as the silence lingers. Matteo had no idea Jessa was alive. His composure crumbles, taking the last threads of his control with it.
Finally, he reaches his arms in front of him, bares his teeth, and lunges toward Jessa as if to kill her with his bare hands. “You’re?—”
Jessa nods before diverting her gaze away from Matteo.
Everything stops.
The echo from the blast ricochets around the room, physically startling everyone as Matteo’s head jerks away from the gun. His body instantly falls limp, carried over by the force of impact.