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113, 115, 117… There. 119. It was right next to the stairs leading up to the second floor, and as I was watching the door, it opened. I immediately ducked into the shadows under the stairs, my heart pounding.

The blonde lady stepped out, glanced around, then closed the door behind her and walked off at a quick pace in her spiky heels.

It took me a second to compose myself.

This was the most outrageous, most scandalous, atrocious thing I’d ever contemplated doing, and when I checked in with all the emotions thumping through my body, I found I was okay with it.

I glanced around the parking lot again, which was quiet now, and took the gun out of my backpack. I stuck it in my other back pocket, then scurried over to the door the blonde lady had walked out of. After knocking sharply, I stepped to one side and pressed my back to the wall, so I was out of range of the peephole.

My whole body was thrumming with nerves as I waited, as I listened to footsteps coming up to the door. The bugs were chirping in the bushes around the motel, and the hum of air-conditioning units filled the atmosphere with more background noise. Maybe, if I was lucky, the people staying in the rooms either side of this one would be out eating dinner, or, if they were in, have their TVs loud enough that they wouldn’t hear me.

I felt someone pause by the door, then they pulled the chain off and opened it. I waited, holding my nerve until the door was open wide enough, then I stepped out of the shadows and into the doorway, meaning Chris couldn’t shut it in my face.

‘Hi,’ I said with a grin. ‘Miss me?’

‘What the fuck?’

He was uglier than I’d given him credit for back in Salt Lake City. Maybe it was because he wasn’t wearing his charming sneer and laughing at Brooke’s witty conversation, but up close like this I could smell his overpowering cologne and see all the hairs on his neck he hadn’t bothered to shave.

‘Give her back,’ I said clearly.

Chris lunged for me, and I read in his movement that he was planning to take me too, but I was quicker than him.I pivoted out of his way and reached for the gun in my back pocket.

Even though my hands were shaking, I aimed it right at his face.

‘Give her back,’ I repeated, as Chris stumbled away. ‘Or I’ll shoot your fucking face off.’

‘Jessie?’

Chris took another step back into the room, and I saw her then, on the second bed, farthest from the door. She was still wearing her jeans and T-shirt from Kansas City.

‘Try me,’ I said to Chris. ‘Please.’

‘Jesus Christ,’ he said.

I wasn’t a brave person. For years, people had been telling me to be more confident, to take risks, to see in myself the potential that my teachers saw in me. That was easier said than done. While some people were trying to hype me up, others were doing their best to tear me down, and I didn’t have enough strength in me to let my cheerleaders win.

It turned out there was an override switch for Mouse – I could turn her off if it meant helping someone I really cared about. It had taken Brooke being in danger for me to fully realize that.

Brooke stumbled inelegantly off the bed and got to her feet, swaying a little.

I pushed down on the safety and pulled the slide back.

Brooke walked unsteadily to the door and Chris put an arm out, like he could keep her away from me. She shoved him, just with one hand, but he hadn’t expected that, andshe managed to knock him off balance. I grabbed her wrist and tugged her behind me.

‘Don’t come after us,’ I said. ‘If I ever see you or the woman again, I’ll shoot you first. Do you understand?’

Chris didn’t say anything, just curled his lip at me.

Then I made my first mistake.

Brooke was breathing hard, close enough to me that I could feel her warmth, and I glanced over my shoulder to check she was okay.

Chris took the opportunity to lunge toward us again and I didn’t think. I couldn’t make my thoughts move that quickly even if I wanted to.

Luckily for him, my instinct wasn’t to press down on the trigger, but to grab the knife out of my pocket and shove the blade up into the palm of his hand. The knife met resistance, and his mouth dropped open in a silent scream, then I pushed harder, and the tip came through the other side.

His chest contracted, like he was going to throw up, and he stumbled backward.