Chapter Sixteen
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Lauren’s heart was racing out of control, her pulse pounding in her ears as she stared at the scene unfolding in front of her. Reggie stood there, masked, holding Elsie with a gun pressed to her temple.
The past clawed at her, threatening to drag her under—darkness, fear, the cold bite of duct tape against her skin.
Not now. Focus.
She forced herself to breathe, to see the reality in front of her instead of the nightmare behind her. This wasn’t sixteen years ago. She wasn’t helpless. She was a cop, and somehow she had to defuse this situation before Elsie got killed.
“Reggie,” Lauren called out, her voice steadier than she felt. “You don’t have to do this. Just put the gun down.”
Reggie’s head tilted slightly, like he was amused. His grip on Elsie tightened even more.
“Well, well,” he said, his voice still low and dripping with dark humor. “Still got that fight in you, huh, Lauren? Tell me—are you still enjoying the little tattoo I gave you sixteen years ago?”
The words hit like a slap, but Lauren didn’t flinch. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.
Elsie let out a choked sob, her frail body trembling against Reggie’s iron grip.
Lauren took a small step forward, her hands slightly raised, her weapon still at her side. “This is over. Just let her go. You don’t have to hurt anyone else.”
Reggie laughed, a hollow, chilling sound. “Fifteen years, Lauren. Fifteen years in a fuckin’ cage, thinking about you.” He shifted slightly, angling Elsie’s trembling body. “And Isabel, too. That bitch is next, by the way.”
Before Lauren could respond, Jesse’s voice cut through the tension, sharp and steady.
“That’s assuming you’ll get out of this alive,” Jesse said, his gun still trained on Reggie.
Reggie’s laughter grew louder, wilder. “Oh, I’ll get out. I’ve got a human shield, remember?” He jerked Elsie, making her cry out softly.
Lauren’s chest tightened, but she forced the fear down, locking eyes with Reggie. She kept her voice low, firm, steady despite the chaos unraveling inside her.
“There have been enough deaths,” she said, her gaze unwavering. “You’ve finished the mission you started sixteen years ago with Nicky and Abilene. This doesn’t have to end with more blood.”
Reggie’s head tilted slightly, a dark grin twitching at the corner of his mouth like he had something clever to say. But before he could speak, the sharp screech of tires tore through the tense air, snapping everyone’s attention toward the road.
A truck barreled around the corner, moving fast, gravel spitting from its tires as it skidded to a stop in front of Lauren’s house.
“Reardon,” Jesse spat, his jaw tightening.
Yes, it was, and Lauren knew this wasn’t good. Things were about to go from bad to worse. Especially since Belinda was in the passenger’s seat, and Reggie no doubt had his sister on his hit list, too.
Reardon jumped out of the truck, gun already drawn, his face set in a hard glare. Belinda was with him, her eyes wide with fear, gripping the door handle as if torn between staying and running.
“Stay put, Belinda!” Reardon barked at her, not sparing her a glance as he stalked to the front end of his truck, partially ducking down behind it and using it as cover.
Jesse shifted slightly, his stance rigid as he kept his weapon trained on Reggie. “How the hell did you know he was here, Reardon?”
Reardon didn’t hesitate. “Reggie called the landline at our house and left a message. He told Belinda where to find him.”
Lauren’s heart thudded. She flicked her gaze back to Reggie, searching for any reaction, any sign of confirmation or denial. Reggie didn’t give her a verbal one, but he yanked off his mask, and she could see the sonofabitch’s smile.
Calm, almost amused.
Reggie certainly didn’t deny that he’d sent that text. Didn’t confirm it either. He just stood there with the gun still pressed against Elsie’s temple, like he was in complete control of the situation.
Lauren’s pulse roared in her ears, but she forced herself to focus. Every second counted. One wrong move, and Elsie would pay the price.
“Bitch number three,” Reggie called out. “AKA, my darling sister who tried to fuckin’ murder me.”
His voice got louder with each word, and Lauren could see him quickly becoming more and more unhinged. The rage had him by the throat now. That lust for what Reggie no doubt deemed as rightful justice. That rage wasn’t going to let go.
“You sick fuck,” Reardon shouted back at Reggie. “Let go of her and face me like a man. Show me you have balls and not chickenshit marbles.”
“Hell,” Jesse muttered. “Throttle back, Reardon,” he warned the man.
Reardon didn’t. Neither did Reggie.
“I’ll let go of the old bitch if my darling sister will step her cowardly ass out of that truck and walk toward me,” Reggie snarled.
“I’ll trade the old bitch for her, and then Belinda and I can have a nice chat about how a fuckin’ sister should treat her brother.
And it sure as hell isn’t trying to kill him. ”
“You would have killed Lauren,” Belinda said. Not a shout, and her voice was shaking hard.
“Oh, boo-fucking-hoo.” Reggie jammed the gun harder against Elsie’s head. “Get out of the truck,” Reggie demanded. And his gaze slashed to Lauren. “You come out, too, and I’ll get two birds with one stone.”
“To hell you will,” Reardon yelled at the top of his lungs. He made a sound that wasn’t even human. Like some enraged animal going in for a kill.
“Reardon, stand down,” Jesse ordered him.
But Reardon was already moving out from the truck.
Already taking aim at Reggie.
Her heart thundered in her chest, every muscle coiled tight as she kept her eyes locked on Reggie. His grip on Elsie was firm, but something shifted—a flicker in his posture, a crack in his confidence.
Panic.
It was there for just a second before he moved, trying to swing his gun away from Elsie and toward Reardon. But the motion was sloppy, rushed. Elsie lost her footing, stumbling a little. Not nearly enough though for Lauren or anyone else to have a clean shot at Reggie.
And that’s when it happened.
A gunshot blasted through the air.
For a couple of heart stopping moments, Lauren thought Elsie had been hit. That Reggie had shot her. But then she looked at Reardon and realized that he was the one who’d fired.
Reardon’s shot slammed right into Reggie’s chest. The force of it spun him slightly before he crumpled to the ground, his gun slipping from his hand, landing near Elsie as she scrambled away, sobbing.
Lauren moved fast, rushing forward alongside Jesse. Her breath was ragged, her pulse going a mile a minute in her ears, but her focus was sharp, locked on Reggie’s body.
Jesse kicked Reggie’s gun out of reach, his voice cutting through the chaos. “Weapon secure!”
Lauren dropped to her knees beside Reggie, staring down at the man who had haunted her nightmares for sixteen years. With his mask off, she could see his face—older, worn by time, but still the same monster.
Blood seeped through his fingers as he clutched his chest, gasping, his breaths wet and shallow.
“You’re done,” Jesse muttered beside her, his voice low and cold.
Reggie’s eyes met Lauren’s, something dark flickering there—defiance, maybe. Or regret. She didn’t know. She didn’t care.
She didn’t feel fear anymore.
Just relief.
It was over. After sixteen years, it was finally over.