Chapter 27 Jace
JACE
The address for victim number eleven leads me to a small house in a residential neighborhood, and I move between houses toward the target's house.
The sun has fully risen now and residents are starting their days, backing cars out of driveways and heading to work or holiday shopping.
I keep my movements casual and unhurried like I belong here, while Sabine waits in the truck like I told her.
I'm not taking a risk that she'll get injured and be unable to hand in all that evidence.
I can handle pressing this man to flip and turn on Bryan without her.
The house is dark, but it's early. With no lights on yet, it appears number eleven is still sleeping.
With no tire tracks down the fresh snow on the driveway, I know he hasn't left yet.
But I pause when I see a light set of foot prints headed up the front steps.
They're fresh but snow has started to fill them in already, and from the look of it, they belong to someone large.
So I keep walking, moving past the front and doubling back.
I approach from the side yard where a privacy fence provides cover from neighboring houses, testing the gate to find it unlocked.
The backyard's empty and quiet, and I move quickly to the rear entrance of the house, which has another set of prints, this set fresher, not nearly as filled in by snow as the ones out front.
The door has been jimmied so the latch won't catch anymore, and warning bells start ringing in my mind before I even push it open.
The kitchen comes into view first, and I see blood spatter across the white cabinets and tile floor.
A body lies face down near the sink, and I recognize the build and hair color of victim number eleven from the photos Sabine showed me.
My first instinct is to back out of this house and leave, but I'm foolish and curious.
I step inside, but my hand moves to my weapon.
Someone has been in this home doing my job for me and I'm too late.
The living room reveals the second body.
Victim number twelve sits propped against the couch with his throat cut so deep his head lolls backward and his eyes stare at nothing.
The blood has started to dry, which means they've been dead for at least an hour, maybe more.
Someone got here before me and finished the job I was supposed to complete.
It means Barone sent another killer, maybe someone I know well because I work with them, and if that's the case, it's someone who might be happy to see me and collect whatever bounty's been offered for my head.
I start to back away and head out of the house when I hear a creak, and I freeze when cold metal presses against the back of my head and a voice I recognize speaks from behind me.
"Hello, Jace. Been looking for you everywhere." Carlo Rossi's voice is lethal, speaking so calmly in a sinister tone. He's been waiting for me to come and he baited both of them to one place to make sure the job is done correctly. "Drop your weapon and put your hands behind your head. Slowly."
I release my grip on the gun and let it fall to the floor, then lace my fingers behind my head. My mind races though a million different scenarios, but even with my size advantage over him, all of them end with me dead. I’m fast, but I'm not faster than a speeding bullet.
"Turn around." Carlo steps back to give me room to move while keeping his weapon trained on my head. "I want to see your face when I tell you how much the boss is paying for your corpse."
I turn slowly and meet his eyes. He looks tired and angry, but there is a hint of satisfaction. He's been hunting me for days and he's about to get his payoff. His finger rests on the trigger, and I know he won’t hesitate to shoot me if I so much as flinch.
"You didn’t have to kill them." I gesture toward the bodies with my chin.
"They were on my list. I was going to handle it.
" The thought of having two more witnesses for Sabine's case flits through my mind, but it looks like that's not going to happen now.
Hannah and Everette are going to have to carry that for her.
"Your list doesn’t matter anymore." Carlo's smile is cold and sardonic. "You're a traitor and a dead man walking. The boss wanted me to finish your job and then bring him proof that you paid for your betrayal. These two were easy. You're going to be more satisfying."
"The boss is going down, Rossi." Adrenaline pumps through my chest, but I manage to keep my tone level.
I'm so glad I made Sabine wait in the car.
She knows to run if I don't come back quickly.
"I made sure of that before I went rogue.
Even if you kill me right now, Barone will be arrested within days and the entire organization will collapse. "
"Bold talk from a man with a gun to his head." Carlo's expression doesn’t change. "But you won't live long enough to tell anyone about Barone… And I'll be spending my money while you're rotting on this floor next to these two."
"You've been killing for him for how long?
" Men like him need a reminder of their fragility, and I need time to think about what to do.
Getting in his head is the only way to do that.
"Ten years? Fifteen? How many people have you murdered because Barone told you to?
At what point does the human conscience rebel against that much death? "
"My conscience died a long time ago, Morelli. You should know that." Carlo gestures with the gun toward the floor. "On your knees, Jace."
"You'll live your whole life being a killer, slaughtering people in cold blood, and wake up one day to find the guilty stains don't let you sleep at night…
Same way they fuck me up too." From one killer to another, I hope he understands.
My life may be over, but he has a chance to stop and do a one-eighty.
"I fucking said on your knees!" He jerks the gun hard at my chest and I know better than to test him. He wants me to bow to him because it humiliates me, so I lower my hands and jut my chin out, leaning into the gun's barrel as I speak.
"Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock… How long will you be his bitch?"
"I'll put this gun in your mouth and make it that much more humiliating, fucker. Now get on your fucking knees."
I lower myself to my knees slowly, buying seconds to find an opening or a weakness in his positioning. But Carlo's done this before and he knows better than to get close enough for me to grab the weapon. He stands three feet away with a clear line of sight and no obstacles between us.
"You made a mistake choosing that woman over the organization." He scoffs and shakes his head. "You were one of the best we had. The boss trusted you, and you threw it all away for a bitch who's gonna die anyway."
"She's worth more than anything Barone could offer, and killing me doesn’t change that."
Carlo shrugs and adjusts his grip on the weapon.
He starts to say something else, probably some speech about loyalty and why I should've stayed faithful to the organization, but movement behind him cuts him off.
Sabine appears in the doorway from the kitchen with her weapon drawn, and before Carlo can react, she fires twice into his shoulder.
Carlo spins and returns fire, bullets tearing through the doorframe where Sabine was standing a moment before.
She ducks into the room, closing the distance and driving her fist into his injured shoulder.
He roars and swings at her with the gun, catching her temple and sending her stumbling backward, but it's just the distraction I need.
I surge to my feet, kicking Carlo's gun from his hand as he raises it at her, but he spins on me, slamming his elbow into my ribcage so hard I double over and all the wind is knocked out of me.
Sabine recovers and pulls a knife from her boot, but Carlo turns on her with a wicked grin, as if he thinks he can take her out too. They grapple for control of the blade. I see it flash between them, see blood bloom across fabric, but I can’t tell immediately who is injured.
Then Sabine yelps and stumbles back with the knife buried in her side, and rage consumes me.
I move before conscious thought can form, grabbing Carlo's head and twisting with all the strength I possess.
The snap is sickly and violent, a grotesque sound of cartilage and bone breaking, and he drops to the floor, neck broken and eyes staring at nothing.
Sabine collapses against the wall with her hand pressed to the wound, blood seeping between her fingers. I rush to her side, pulling her hand away to assess the damage, and my stomach drops when I see how deep the blade penetrated.
"We need to get you to a hospital." My hands shake as I try to apply pressure to the wound. "Right now, Sabine. You're losing too much blood."
"No." Her voice is weak but determined. "This is my plan. I need you to listen to me."
Sirens wail in the distance, growing louder with each passing second. Someone must've heard the gunshots and called the police, and we have maybe two minutes before they arrive. I look around frantically for a way to carry her out, but she grabs my wrist with surprising strength.
"Stop." Her eyes lock onto mine. "You can’t take me out of here. The police are coming and they're going to find me with these bodies. Let them find me…" She's almost gasping for breath.
"You're bleeding." This is killing me. I can't leave her here. "I need to get you to a hospital."
"The military won’t let me die if they know I'm guilty of something." Her breathing is labored but her logic is sound. "You know they want their pound of flesh."
The sirens are closer now, maybe a minute away.
I can hear multiple vehicles approaching from different directions, and I know we're out of time.
But everything in me rebels against the idea of leaving her here bleeding and surrounded by corpses.
I don't want this. This isn't the way it's supposed to happen.
"I won’t leave you." I'm trembling. I swear I'm close to crying.
"You have to." Sabine reaches up and touches my face with her blood-stained hand. "Take the phones to Hannah. She'll get them to the right people…" Blood leaks from her mouth now, and I touch it. "Please go before they take you too…"
"Sabine, please…" I love her. I can't just walk away.
"Please, Jace. Trust me. This is the only way to get my story heard and make sure Bryan faces justice. You have to let me do this."
The sirens are on the street now, multiple vehicles converging on this location.
I have seconds to make a decision that'll determine whether we both get arrested or I escape and can continue fighting for her freedom from the outside.
The logical part of my brain knows she's right, but the part that loves her screams to stay and fight.
"Take the phones," she whispers, and I hear a rasp.
The blade has punctured a lung. They're filling with blood.
"Get them to Hannah and make sure she understands how important they are. The videos, the evidence, everything we need to prove what Bryan did. Don’t let them get destroyed or lost in the chaos. "
I stand, my entire body trembling with the effort of making myself move away from her. "This isn't over, Bean…" I touch her face again and press a kiss to her forehead. "I love you."
"I know." She smiles despite the pain etched across her features. "I love you too. Now go before they trap you here."
The words shatter something inside me, but I force my legs to move toward the back door.
Every step feels wrong, every instinct screams to turn around and stay with her, but I keep walking until I reach the yard and the fence beyond.
Behind me, I hear car doors slamming and voices shouting commands, and I know Sabine's about to be surrounded by police and taken into custody.
I run through the neighboring yards and reach my truck with lungs burning and tears streaming down my face.
The bag of phones sits on the passenger seat where we left them, and I start the engine with hands that shake so badly I can barely grip the steering wheel.
The truck lurches forward and I navigate away from the sirens and the flashing lights.
Two police cars pass me heading toward the scene, but I force myself to maintain a normal speed and not draw attention.
Every fiber of my being wants to turn around and go back for her, to storm through the police line and carry her out regardless of who tries to stop me.
But she asked me to trust her, so I have to do that.
When I'm far enough away that the sirens have faded to nothing, I pull into an empty parking lot and lose control.
My fists slam into the steering wheel over and over while I roar my frustration and fear into the silence.
The impact bruises my knuckles and cracks the hard plastic, but the pain feels insignificant compared to the agony of leaving Sabine bleeding on the floor of a stranger's house.
She could die. She could bleed out before an ambulance even gets to her, alone and in pain while I drive away to safety, and that thought threatens to destroy whatever sanity I have left.
The image of her slumped against the wall with blood soaking through her shirt burns behind my eyelids, and I can’t make it stop.
But Sabine Hart is the strongest person I've ever met. She survived rape and betrayal and weeks of running for her life, and she'll survive this too. She has to.
Because the alternative is unthinkable, and I refuse to accept a world where she doesn’t exist.