Page 52 of Pretty Little Trigger

CHAPTER 51

Hunter

The blood’s already drying on my hands.

I’m busy giving my statement to the detective.

Dave. We’ve worked together for years.

He knows who I am. This is a formality.

Alana’s is standing next to me, tucked beneath my arm, wrapped in a crinkled emergency foil blanket.

She hasn’t let go of me since.

I’m not sure I’ve let go of her either.

It’s after 2 a.m. The gallery’s cleared out.

Forensics have come and gone.

The team is keeping the press at bay.

The body’s been removed.

It keeps playing on a loop: his hands on Alana.

The gun to her throat.

Her gasp. I’d do it again.

No hesitation. No regret.

Two shots. One to stop him.

One to end him. I give Dave the clean, clinical version.

He scribbles something in his notepad.

He’s older, sharp-eyed, not easily rattled.

“You fired two shots?”

“Yes.”

“Was the second shot necessary?

“First one took him down.

Second made sure he didn’t get back up.

”

He raises an eyebrow.

“Did you perceive an ongoing threat?”

I meet his gaze without flinching.

“He had his hands on her.”

A long pause.

I level him with a look.

One he knows not to challenge.

Eventually, he nods and closes his notebook.

“I get it.”

Do you?

Does anyone? He touched her .

And I’d pull the trigger again.

Twice.

Alana speaks then, her voice quiet but sure.

“He was one of the men who took me. His name was Kaden.”

Dave looks from her to me, back again.

“Thank you, Miss. We’re still confirming his identity. Kaden’s… likely an alias. They rarely use real names in jobs like these.”

Alana stiffens.

I press a kiss to her temple.

I told myself I could protect her from a distance.

That staying away was safer.

That she’d be better off without me.

But the second I saw her dress swish past the security camera, disappearing into that back hallway, something in me snapped.

My body moved before I had a plan.

And when I found her—bloody, shaking, fighting—there wasn’t a single part of me that hesitated.

Dave clears his throat.

“Anything else you want to add?”

I shake my head.

“Alright. We’ve got everything we need.”

I nod, but I’m not really listening.

The buzzing in my ears is back.

Not adrenaline this time, but guilt.

Rage. Helplessness. Because no matter how many times I save her, I’ll never feel like I’ve done enough.

Alana looks up at me, “Tessa?”

“She’s okay,” I point to where all the girls are huddled.

“She’s with Riley and Kyra. They’ve got her.”

I start to turn, to walk away from her so she can join her friends, because I told myself I would.

But then, her fingers find mine.

Curl tight. One word, whispered like a plea.

“ Don’t.”

So I don’t. I stay.