Page 122 of Second Chance Savior

Rainey fired.

Torres cried out as he fell onto the forest floor. Bloodwelled at his upper chest. I screamed and dove beside him, pressing my hands to the wound. Torres’s eyelids fluttered.

“Get up, Charlotte,” Rainey said. “We only came out here to get rid of him. Now we need to get back on the road. You’re driving. But we’re not going to Last Refuge, obviously.”

“I will not go anywhere with you,” I spat out.

“Don’t make this more difficult. We don’t have a lot of time.”

“Screw. You.” Hot blood spilled between my fingers. I was wearing Genevieve’s blazer over a tank top, and I took it off, pressing the jacket against the wound. “Hold on, okay?” I murmured to Torres. “You’re strong. You’ve been through this before. Just hold on.”

Rainey pointed the gun at me. “Move. Or I’ll shoot you too.”

“No, you won’t. You want the bounty Stillwater placed on me, right? The deadline has passed. Or is it the list, and you’re hoping to hold me hostage to get it back from River? That won’t work. We’ve sent copies all over the media. Reporters are just waiting on word from us, and then the stories will break.”

“Come on. I know you’re bluffing. My Stillwater handler told me about Jud Hale’s little ploy. Steal the list to buy his freedom. The dumbass really thought that would work? Then I heard from SAC Stanford that you people had opened Jud’s safe deposit box. You said a few minutes ago that River’s still working on something. Not too hard to put the pieces together. That file is stored with heavy encryption, and unless someone cracks it or has the key, it’s no use to anyone.”

“I never said River hadn’t cracked it yet.”

“But if you’d gotten access already, you’d know my name is on it.”

Pure rage flooded me. “How dare you?”

“How dare I? Do you have any clue what my salary is like? How could I not? This isn’t about a stupid bounty. This is about me leveling up. I’ve been passing on small pieces of info to Stillwater for years in exchange for enough extra to get by. But I’m going to trade you for a new gig as a Stillwater lieutenant. That’s where the money is. If Jud’s list gets out there, I’m burned anyway. Stillwater can make me a fresh identity, set me up somewhere else with a swanky new life. I’m done with this basic shit.”

“Did you drug Brynn at the botanic gardens? You set us up from the start?”

“She’s the one who called me and Torres to help you out. Lucky break for me. I informed Stillwater about your increased security. I got Brynn out of the way, and then made sure Stillwater’s operatives knew where to find you and Torres.”

I looked down at Torres. His face was clenched with pain, but it was more than that. His eyes held the same fury that I felt at what Rainey was saying.

Then Torres moved his fingers like he was pointing at something. His eyes kept shifting down. He wanted me to see something. But what?

“Should’ve been easy for them to snatch you,” Rainey went on. “Got a guy to break my arm intwo placesto make it look good. Any clue how much that hurt? But then Kwon showed up. So I whispered in the ears of all my buddies in the Denver police. Told them Kwon was the real kidnapper. SAC Stanford didn’t buy it completely, but the Denver detectives did.”

With effort, Torres reached down and touched his pant leg. I followed the seam of his khakis. A strip of darker fabric peeked out from the cuff.

An ankle holster.

“You’re despicable,” I said, sliding Torres’s spare gun from the nylon.

“You think there’s a point in fighting Stillwater? There’s not. They’ll always come back stronger. They’ll always win, and theyneverforgive or forget. That’s why I know they’ll still want you. Alive is probably better, because that way they can use you against Kwon. Make him dance like a puppet on strings trying to save you. But if you don’t start cooperating in two more seconds, then I’ll just have to deliver your lifeless?—”

I chambered a round, spun, and pulled the trigger. Rainey’s eyes widened in shock, but he recovered quickly. My shot had missed.

“Oh, now you’re dead for sure.” His teeth clenched in a snarl as he aimed.

I ran at him. Used all my strength and momentum to knock him back in the dirt. He only had use of one arm, so I had a chance. I had to believe it.

Then he hit me hard against the side of my head. Plucked Torres’s gun from my hand and pinned me with his body.

“Just for that, I’m going to make this hurt.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

River

I staredat the list of names on the screen.

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