Page 18 of Endurance
“We should just shoot her,” Brenna mumbled. “I bet that’d draw the bastard out.”
A smile spread across my face. I looked over at Louie and saw that he was also smiling. Maura had definitely rubbed off on Brenna.
“No innocents,” Maura said, wiping away my smile. Maura had insisted we all wear masks to hide our identities from Alex’s sister. I wasn’t completely on board with that.
“I doubt the junkie is innocent,” Brenna quipped. “What if I maim her? She’ll live.”
I couldn’t help but laugh and from the chuckles coming through my earpiece I wasn’t the only one.
“And now she’s high,” Brenna scoffed. “She isn’t moving from that spot anytime soon.” She was right. Tiffany, I thought was his sister’s name, had her head thrown back in the rocking chair she sat in, riding her heroin high.
The front door opened and both Louie and I ducked back behind the trees.
“Don’t move,” Asher said. “He’s looking around.”
We stayed still and waited.
“Okay, he’s walking over to the sister,” Asher informed.
I nodded at Louie, silently telling him to peek first because his tree had a big bush in front of it that would help keep him hidden. Just as he got a visual Brenna’s voice came through the earpiece. “That’s fucking disgusting.” Louie ducked back behind his tree, his shoulders shaking as he fought not to laugh. Curiosity getting the best of me, I peeked out and saw what all the fuss was about. I didn’t look long before ducking back behind my tree and shook my head. The sister was going to town on her brother’s dick.
“Please let me shoot them. My eyes can’t take it,” Brenna begged.
Louie let out a tiny snort and then gave me an apologetic look.
“Can you get him in the leg?” Maura asked, obviously coming up with a plan B.
“Yeah, I can,” Brenna replied in a giddy tone. I was beginning to think Maura had corrupted the girl.
“We move in once she takes the shot,” Maura ordered, and we all responded that we understood. “Okay, Brenna.”
The shot echoed through the trees and the next thing we heard was a masculine roar.
Maura ordered for Brenna and Asher to take out the tires on their cars and then more shots rang out. Louie and I jumped out from behind the trees and advanced on the house.
“Get my gun,” Alex yelled at his sister and she ran into their house, leaving Alex bleeding on the porch.
Telling me what I already knew, Maura said, “Jamie, the sister went inside for a gun.”
I veered away from Louie. “I’ll go in from the back.”
“I’ll go too. Finn, you’re with Maura,” Dean said, and I fought not to roll my eyes.
I made it to the back door and didn’t bother waiting for Dean to catch up. To please Maura, he’d probably try and force me to put my mask on, which I had no intention of doing. From all the information I'd been able to dig up on Alex Roth, I knew his sister was the one thing he seemed to care about. He'd killed my unborn daughter. I was going to make sure he knew what our loss felt like.
The backdoor led into a dated kitchen. Gun held out in front of me, I crept further into the house and walked slowly through an open threshold that led into a dining room. Something moved in my peripheral. I just had enough time to jump out of the way before the junkie bitch’s body slammed into me. The drugs obviously were boosting her confidence because she came at me again. I released a warning shot above her head. She let out a scream, ducking down as the bullet whizzed past her and shattered the glass on a family picture hanging on the wall behind her. Without missing a beat, she scooped up a piece of broken glass and charged at me again. I tried to grab her wrist, but she jerked out of my reach and cut my inner arm.
I let out a grunt and backhanded her. She flew backward and slammed against the wall headfirst. She let out a hysterical little laugh and staggered back to her feet. She faced off with me again with a psychotic smile and blood trickling down from her temple. She lifted her now bloody piece of glass and I knew she was going to charge at me again. If I hadn't needed her alive, I would have shot her. I took a step toward her intending to knock her out, but Dean finally showed up. He came up behind her and locked his arms around hers. She fought, trying with all her might to cut him with the glass. I snagged her wrist and ripped her weapon away.
“Jamie?” Maura called out to me. Before I could answer her, Dean tossed Tiffany at me.
“Where’s your fucking mask?” he snarled as he pulled some zip-ties from his pocket. I didn’t bother responding. Grabbing one of the four chairs surrounding the dining table, he sat it in front of Tiffany. I shoved her into the chair and held her there while Dean tied her hands to the legs.
“We got her,” Dean responded to Maura after we secured Tiffany and were heading toward the front door to check on the situation outside.
“Jamie?” Maura asked again just as I stepped onto the porch. Maura was standing there, looking ready to come inside if need be. Behind her, Louie and Finn had their guns pointed at Alex where he lay beaten and bloody. Maura ripped off her mask, her anger blazing in her eyes. I knew she was going to rip into me about my mask, but something caught her attention. Her anger instantly vanished and was replaced with worry. She went to reach for me, then caught herself and dropped her hand back at her side. Her eyes lifted back to mine briefly before she looked away.
Louie came up next and pointed at my arm. “What happened?”