Page 45 of Secrets Beneath the Waves

Right now, all he had the power to do was decide how to go out onhisterms. What did it mean to finally be free in this moment? He got to make the choice and find peace with what was about to happen. If that meant crying out to God in his last moments, then so be it.

This was about making the right choice. The best choice he could.

For Zeyla. For justice. Maybe actually just for himself—so he could be the man he wanted to be, even if it was only for a few seconds.

Then it would all be over.

Ramon followed the guy in front around a corner between two buildings. He didn’t give any indication that anything had changed or that he was about to try something.

That’s all it would be—trying.

In a second, he would probably regret the decision. But he wouldn’t just roll over and go out without putting up a fight.

Ramon spun and slammed an elbow into the man behind him, then kicked his leg into the guy now in front. The guy stumbled back into the wall while the one he’d elbowed rallied, and the man in the lead turned with his gun raised.

Yeah, this wasn’t going to go well.

But that just meant Ramon had nothing to lose right now.

He grabbed the top of the rifle to his right, capturing it with his left hand. With his right hand, he grabbed the man’s knife from the sheath on his belt. He threw the knife at the man to his left.

The third guy, the one he’d kicked, pushed off the wall and came over, swinging his gun down from over his head. Ramonspun with the grip he had on the rifle and kicked the guy as well, knocking him into the other one before the weapon came swinging down. The two of them went sprawling, knocking heads and going down to the ground unconscious in a heap.

Ramon turned to the guy he’d flung that knife at, who now had it sticking out of his right shoulder just outside the edge of his protective vest.

He dropped the gun he was holding and pulled the knife from his chest.

Ramon rushed him, unwilling to let the guy start a fight with that blade when Ramon was unarmed. He tackled the guy to the ground, both of them landing in a heap with a grunt. The guy yelled, the sound so loud it disoriented Ramon, but he put all his focus into grabbing the wrist holding that knife.

He held it fast.

The guy slapped Ramon’s ear with his palm.

Ringing erupted in his head, the sound even more disorienting than the yell. He wrapped his arm around Ramon’s neck and snaked his legs around Ramon’s hips.Not good.

Ramon ducked his head and elbowed his way out of the hold. He shifted and pushed against the man’s throat with his forearm, making sure the guy didn’t have room to move and bite Ramon’s arm. The clamp of the guy’s legs on Ramon’s legs tightened. He hadn’t managed to get all the way out of the hold.

His grip on the knife slacked just a fraction, barely anything, but this guy took the chance and turned it toward Ramon. He grabbed Ramon’s head in another hold and tried to move the knife toward him.

Ramon watched the tip of the blade move slowly toward him. Every heartbeat in his chest stretched to a string of seconds, drawn out. Would this moment be his last?

No.

He wasn’t at peace with it, and he never would be.

Ramon braced against the guy and pushed with both hands. The knife moved away from him, but he didn’t relax. Couldn’t give this man even a tiny bit of room to rally and end Ramon’s life.

The other man brought his free arm down and slammed it into Ramon’s forearm.

Bone cracked.

Ramon cried out, and the guy rolled them both. He sank the knife into Ramon’s shoulder. “An eye for an eye. Isn’t that how it goes?”

He left the knife embedded in Ramon’s shoulder to the hilt and got to his feet. He lifted his boot and stomped on Ramon’s thigh.

He cried out and curled up on his side on the ground. Pain exploding across his body.

Ramon gritted his teeth and pulled the knife out.