Page 57 of Rogue Survivor
“Let Veronica go,” Connor says. “And you can walk out of here. But decide quickly, or you won’t be walkin’ anywhere ever again. ”
“Don’t fucking move,” Reggie orders. “Iownyou here shitheads. All the women you’vedisposed ofover the last five years? I know where you buried every one of them. And what about that cop out in Mountain City? You know what happens to cop killers in prison. One phone call from me, and the two of you are someone’s bitches for the rest of your very short lives.”
“Last chance, dickheads.” Connor shrugs. “You think I care if you live or die?”
“Walt…?” Archer motions for Veronica to get behind him, then takes several stepswithher toward the door. “What if he’s right?”
Milton huffs. “Coward.” He shoves Connor, sending him onto his ass. “Boss? Let me kill him.”
“I love you, darlin’,” Connor says. He rubs his leg, long, slow strokes from his knee to the top of his boot. Hisgoodleg. “Remember what I told you earlier? In the elevator?” His gaze drops from my eyes to the floor.
“Get down. And don’t get up until I say it’s safe.”
He’s about to do something. Something dangerous. After a quick glance around the vault, I realize I can’t just stay down. Archer isn’t holding a gun on my baby girl. She’s not tied up. Milton’s focused on Connor, and Reggie? I canfeelhis desperation. He’s about to lose everything. This is the closest we’ve been to free since the parking garage, and I don’t care if it’s the last thing I do, I’m saving my daughter. And maybe, the man I love.
“Now!” Connor shouts, and I spin on my knees, grab Reggie’s gun by the barrel, and twist as hard as I can.
The roar from behind me is feral. Full of rage and pain and desperation. Reggie kicks me in the stomach, and I lose my breath. The barrel slips from my grasp. In that instant, my heart crumbles into a thousand pieces. I failed. Again. And I’m going to die. Curling into a ball, I look for my daughter. As long as she’s free, nothing else matters. She’s out of the vault, out of Archer’s reach, and she locks eyes with me.
Pushing up on an elbow, I press my hand to my heart.“Love you, baby girl,” I mouth.
“Mom! Get down!”
A body hits the marble to my left, and I drop seconds before Connor leaps over me and tackles Reggie. What is he holding? Silvery metal. Sharp spikes. He plunges the weapon into Reggie’s chest, then wraps his fingers around the man’s throat.
Despite the blood soaking into Reggie’s dress shirt, he slams his gun against Connor’s cheek.
Glass shatters. Shouts—lots of them—get louder by the second, and the distraction gives Connor the advantage he needs. Pulling thethingfrom Reggie’s chest, he presses the twin points to the man’s neck, sitting on him and pinning Reggie’s arms with his knees. “Get to Veronica, darlin’. Make sure she doesn’t see this.”
I scramble up, only then noticing Milton crumpled in a heap, all the life gone from his eyes. Before I reach the vault door, AJ and a whole mess of Texas Rangers flood the small space. Hardison calls my name, wraps his arm around my shoulders, and guides me out into the hall where Veronica sits on the floor, Elmore at her side.
“Mom!”
My daughter and I hold onto one another, sobbing, until AJ’s voice cuts through everything. “Just a few more steps. The EMTs are waiting. You’re in bad shape, idiot. What the fuck were you thinking?”
“Isabel…and Veronica…”
“We’re here!” I can’t let my daughter go, but Connor needs me. Needsus.
“Mom, it’s okay. I’ll be right behind you,” V says quietly. She swipes at her cheeks and offers me a small smile. “I’m okay. Make sure Connor is too.”
Pushing through the throng of Rangers, I stop short when I see the man I love. His hazel eyes have lost all their fire. I’m not sure he can focus on me. Or anything at all. “What’s wrong? Connor? Talk to me.” I cup his cheeks, willing him to snap out of it, and his lips curve into a weak grin.
“Broken,” he says, the word slurring a little. “Gonna get fixed up. You should come with. Veronica too. AJ? Make sure—”
“Everyone’s going to the hospital.” AJ gestures to the EMTs waiting in the lobby. “Mitzi’s already on her way, and her mom will meet her there.”
When Veronica shuffles over to us, Connor straightens, and it makes me love him even more that he’d try to be strong for my daughter. She peers up at him, tears in her eyes. “You kept your promise.”
“Had to. Remember what you said earlier? ‘Bout family?” he asks.
“Yeah.”
Something passes between the two of them. A moment. An emotion. Whatever it is, Connor seems to draw strength from it, because he shakes off AJ’s hold and stands on his own. “You mean it?”
Veronica holds out her pinky. “Yup. Promise.”
He hooks his finger with hers. I don’t know what they said to one another, but the meaning behind the words? Plain as day. The three of us? We’re a family.
