59. Ace
Ace
His hand moves.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Toward his weapon.
“Don’t.”
I step out.
Gun up.
Locked on him.
The room freezes.
Dalton doesn’t even flinch.
“You were closer than I thought,” he says.
“You’re done.”
Trigger moves in.
Beast drops in from above.
Blaze: “All exits covered.”
We’ve got him.
Every angle.
Every move.
This ends here.
“Hands up,” I order.
“Slow.”
He exhales.
Like he’s bored.
Then raises them.
I don’t trust it.
“On your knees.”
He doesn’t move.
Instead—
He looks at her.
“Do you even know what you’re holding?”
“Enough,” I snap.
But she answers.
“Yeah,” she says. “I know you ruined my life to keep it hidden.”
That lands.
“I trusted you,” she says.
Not angry.
Just… real.
“And you let me go to prison.”
“It was necessary,” he replies.
That does it.
I step forward.
“Get down—”
“No.”
Everything stills.
Tessa steps forward.
Closer to him.
Too close.
I hate it.
But I hold.
Because she needs this.
“You don’t get to say that,” she tells him. “You don’t get to decide what was necessary.”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“I understand enough. You used me.”
Silence.
Heavy.
He shifts.
Weight change.
Angle—
There.
“Move!” I shout—
Everything explodes into motion.
He lunges.
Not for the door.
For her.
I fire.
One shot.
Clean.
He drops.
Hard.
Weapon hitting the floor.
Silence crashes down.
Final this time.
I move in fast.
Kick the weapon away.
Drop him fully.
Trigger locks him down.
Beast secures.
Done.
Tessa stands still.
Watching.
Breathing.
Alive.
I step in front of her.
“You okay?”
She looks at me.
Really looks.
And this time—
There’s no fear.
“Yeah,” she whispers.
Sirens rise in the distance.
Finally—
Justice.