Page 63 of Omega

The other three scattered in three different directions, and I realized this was my cue. I adjusted my two-handed grip on the pistol, aimed at the torso of the left-most attacker, held my breath…squeezed the trigger.

BANG!The gun jumped in my hands, and my target twisted, stumbled, a red circle spreading on his stomach. Shit. I’d have to shoot him again. I aimed more carefully this time, drawing bead on his face. Deep breath, hold it…BANG!…let it out. He dropped, gurgling. I’d missed his head, the round going through his throat.

My stomach lurched, my eyes watered.

No time for that, bitch, I told myself.

I had no clue where Harris was hiding. I hadn’t seen a muzzle flash, and the sound had bounced off the walls, effectively disguising its location of origin. Clearly the remaining two thugs weren’t sure either, because they had both dropped to the ground in the waist-high grass and were firing their weapons at random, spraying bullets in every direction.

One pinged loudly off the barrel in front of me, startling me so badly I screamed. Which, in hindsight, was a dumb idea. One of the bad guys stood up and moved toward me in a crouch, an evil grin on his face.

CRACKCRACK!He fell, toppling like a bag of bricks, his head exploding in a red mist. Oh fuck, that was nasty. His entire face was gone, just…gone.

Bile filled my mouth, and this time I couldn’t choke it back.

I heard shouting in Portuguese. I spat the nastiness out of my mouth and then looked up to see Harris approaching the last man left alive. Harris gestured with his gun, and the man dropped his weapon, held up his hands.

“Stay there, Layla,” Harris said, not looking in my direction.

I stayed put.

The man spoke, and Harris responded, his voice terse and harsh. The man said something else, and this time Harris responded with a shout, and the man backed up, both hands high in a gesture that clearly meant “no, no, don’t shoot!”

Harris shot.

CRACK!One bullet right between the eyes. Harris lowered his weapon and moved from body to body, nudging them with his boot. One, the man I’d shot, moaned.

CRACK!The moaning stopped.

“You can come out now,” Harris said.

He was rifling through the pockets of each of the dead men, taking clips, currency, and weapons. He stuffed everything he took into his black bag, which he then zipped and slung on his shoulder.

I was making my way through the grass, knees weak, stomach lurching, heart hammering. I tried not to look down at the red-stained grass, but I couldn’t help it.

I stopped next to Harris and stared down at the man I’d shot. I’d hit him in the stomach and the throat, and Harris had finished him with a bullet in the forehead.

There was blood everywhere. The grass was crimson and wet, and the stink was nauseating.

“Okay?” Harris asked, glancing at me.

I shook my head negative. “I’m fine.”

Harris barked a laugh. “Well that was clear as mud. I’ll ask again, Layla. You good?”

I closed my eyes and focused on breathing shallowly and evenly. “Just get me out of here. Please?”

He reached out and took my hand. “You’re fine. You did great. We’re gone, okay?” I felt him squeeze my hand. “Look at me, Layla. Eyes on mine.” I forced my eyes open; his gaze was calm and cool, his eyes green as freshly mown grass. “You did great.”

“I shot him. Twice.”

“He was going to kill you.”

I shook my head. “No, he wasn’t. He was going to bring me back to Vitaly.He’sthe one who wants to kill me, now. I think Cut was important to him. So now I’m on his shit list and so is Kyrie. He doesn’t want us dead, he wants us alive so he can torture us andthenkill us.”

“Don’t think about that,” Harris said, hiking his bag higher on his shoulder and taking my other hand. “I’m with you, now. I’ll get you out of here. I promise. No one else will ever lay a hand on you, or Kyrie. You have my word.”

I felt weak, shaky, and vulnerable, and I hated it. I hated myself for feeling weak. I hated myself for showing that weakness to Harris. And I hated Harris for seeing it and acting like it was no big deal. Itwasa big deal. I’m not weak. I’ve never been weak. I don’t show weakness. I don’t need anyone.