Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 81285 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81285 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Then, she stilled. Her hands fell to her side, and the life left her body.
She was gone.
Dammit.
She was just a kid.
She had her whole life ahead of her, and he’d stolen it from her.
My pulse thundered in my ears, but it wasn’t enough to drown out the whisper, You waited too long. It replayed in my head over and over as I looked up at the man on the stage. He didn’t even look rattled, and that calmness chilled me more than the blood pooling at his boots.
He remained standing in the center of the stage with his rifle still raised, smoke curling from the barrel. He’d shot and killed three without hesitation.
He wanted to make a point, and he made it.
We all could see that he wasn’t bluffing.
We weren’t bluffing either. They’d crossed a line. This was no longer a robbery. This was war, and these assholes were about to go down.
I glanced around the room, and my eyes landed on Memphis. We didn’t nod. We didn’t speak. We just knew.
It was time.
I looked over to my other brothers, seeing the same shift in their eyes, and I knew we were done playing it safe. Slowly, carefully, I shifted my weight to the side, then inched my right hand down the small of my back. Each of my brothers was doing the same.
Subtle movements masked by the chaos of trembling bodies and frightened cries. I wrapped my fingers around the grip of my gun, and my heart started pounding as I eased it from the holster. I was preparing to take my shot when everything went black.
The room was so dark I could barely see what was in front of me, but that didn’t stop me from getting to my feet. I was about to make my way to the stage when the front doors exploded open with a hard thud, and the back doors did the same.
Seconds later, the security lights came on, giving enough light for me to see Grim, Creed, and Rusty charging in through the front and Skid, Ghost, and Gash rushing in from the back, cutting off all the exits. Gunfire erupted, and I used the opportunity to take out the asshole on the stage.
It just took one shot.
One squeeze of the trigger, and he jerked backward.
The rifle slipped from his grip, and the girls screeched when the sorry sack of shit toppled off the platform and onto the ground next to them. My brothers were taking shots, too. Ghost and Rusty moved past me, dropping one of the robbers before he even knew they were coming.
The smell of gunpowder mixed with perfume and spilled liquor burned the back of my throat as screams gave way to the rising panic. Just then, I turned and caught the silhouette of my brother.
His calm demeanor from earlier was gone, and he was now firing wildly into the crowd. Memphis fired a shot, and Davis staggered mid-step. The impact snapped him back, and his rifle clattered to the floor as he dropped to his knees.
His eyes met mine as he clutched his chest and fell forward, blood immediately pooling around him. I stood there, staring at him, as the room echoed with the last few rounds before falling into silence.
Smoke hung in the air.
Cries and whimpers faded.
And the lights flickered back to life, revealing the bodies that were scattered across the floor. I held onto my weapon as I scanned the room for a moment, but there was no movement
The nightmare had hit fast and violent.
But it was over.
And my brother lay bleeding out at the center of it. I walked over and knelt down next to him, carefully rolling him over and removing his mask. As I looked down at him, I didn’t feel triumph. I didn’t feel relief. I felt numb.
He’d made a choice coming here tonight.
And we’d made ours.
“Why?” I whispered. “Why would you do this?”
I didn’t expect him to answer.
I thought he was already gone, and then, he gargled, “You took what was mine… You couldn’t leave it alone. You had to win… You always win.”
“I didn’t win shit,” I argued. “Look around. People died tonight. They died because you…”
“Just once… I just wanted to be the one… just once.”
He closed his eyes, and blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
This was it. My brother was dying.
I could’ve told him that he got what he deserved, but instead, I leaned forward and whispered, “For me, you were always the one. I wish that had been enough.”
I watched my brother take his last breath. I couldn’t imagine anything worse, and then, I looked up and found Presley standing in front of me with tears streaming down her face. It wasn’t until then that I heard all the sirens.
Damn. There was no end to this fucking nightmare.