Page 20 of One Cry Too Loud
My chest tightened. I assumed this bastard would shoot at me and offer up his position. I had no idea he’d actually walk out and speak.
I did as the man asked. Not only did I not have a choice, but Kat was hiding in the swamp area as well. She probably had a gun trained on him as we spoke. But why would he walk out? Wouldn’t he have seen Kat hide herself?
“Hands on your head also,” the man said as I turned around and took him in. He was tall. He had a runner’s build, a crooked smile, and eyes that sized me up like a jungle cat looking at a gazelle. “Good man. Get on your knees.”
“I don’t think I’m going to be doing that,” I said, glaring at the man.
“Is that right?” He asked cockily. “Would you rather me kill you standing up? It’s all the same to me. All I need is your right thumb to claim the kill.”
A wave of sickness ran through me. Is that what Nefarious was requesting in order to get his ‘prize’? I shook it off and steeled myself.
“You’re not getting my thumb. You’re not getting anything except a prison sentence,” I said.
“That’s laughable,” the archer said.
“Attempted murder and destruction of property as well as what I can only assume is a laundry list of things I’d rather not think about, given the fact that you’re the kind of human garbagethat surfs the dark web for jobs,” I said. “All that adds up to a hefty sentence, and that’s what you’ll be getting when I bring you in.”
He laughed loud and hard. “You’re bringing me in? Is that what you think? You think you’ve got this whole thing all figured out?”
“How did you find us?” I asked, glaring at the man with balled fists and a thumping heart.
“And you think you can ask me questions?” He practically buckled over with laughter. He didn’t, of course. Doing that would shift his aim away from me. I didn’t know anything about this man, but he struck me as too much of a professional to ever do that. “Is that because that little minx you’ve got hiding in the swamp? The one with the gun?”
My blood ran cold.
“She’s the best shot I’ve ever seen, and she’s quicker than she is good,” I said tersely. “She’ll have a bullet in your heart before you can use that arrow.”
“I’m sure she is, and I’m sure she would, but you’re not the only one who has a little minx in the woods,” the man said. He puckered up and whistled loudly. “Mimi, bring her out!”
I turned at the sound of sloshing and, with horror, saw a lanky, thin woman with a hunter’s braid push Kat forward. Kat looked at me with eyes that were more ashamed than frightened, and spying her hands, I saw that she-like me, wasn’t armed. This Mimi person must have forced her to drop her gun too.
For her part, Mimi had a bow and arrow that matched the archer’s. She glanced at me for only a moment before her attention turned back to the archer.
“This is my Mimi. As you can see, she has your Kat,” the archer said. “That means, among other things, that you don’t have the leverage you think you do. It also means that you’re notgoing to live through this, either of you. And when I’m done with you, I’ll kill the rest of the people in that stupid bar.”
“He doesn’t even want all of them!” Kat said. “Nefarious only wants me, Jackson, and Nate! Let the others go!”
“Maybe it’s notallabout Nefarious. I mean, sure, I’m doing this because of the bounty on your heads, but I also just have some good old fashioned bloodlust.” He smirked. “A guy’s gotta have some fun too.”
“What the hell could he possibly do for you that would be worth this?” I asked. “You’re about to kill half a dozen people. What could he offer you that’s worth you doing that?”
The archer’s smile widened. “Freedom.” He looked over to Mimi for an instant. “Isn’t that right, baby?”
Mimi didn’t answer with her words. Instead, she tipped her bow and arrow up so that it sat slightly over Kat’s left shoulder. She let go. The arrow flew through the air and, to my surprise, it struck the male archer in the neck.
His eyes grew wide as blood exploded all around him. Like a punctured water balloon, the crimson liquid spilled from him, staining the ground as he fell backward.
“Wh-Why?” He choked out in a wrecked and barely audible whisper as he grappled at his neck futilely. If he was any kind of a hunter, if he had ever killed anyone with that thing, he would know how hopeless his position was. He would be dead in minutes. Nothing out here could stop that.
“Why?” She asked, pushing Kat in my direction. “Because I like freedom too, my love.” She tossed the bow down and pulled a gun from her waistband. “And because I hate bows and arrows.” Her eyes slid toward Kat who was rushing toward me. “Now, the three of us need to come to some sort of agreement here. Otherwise, somebody dies.”
CHAPTER 14
“What do you want from us, Mimi?” Kat asked, glaring at the woman as she stood next to me. She wasn’t afraid. Or, more likely, if she was afraid, she didn’t let it show. Her voice was steady, her body did not shake. Kat stood tall, her feet firmly planted, as she stared down a woman who-just seconds ago, had an arrow pointed at her throat.
“Don’t call me that. My name is Michelle,” Mimi-or Michelle said, her nostrils flaring as she spoke. “Mimi is something he called me because he thought I was adorable. Something tells me he doesn’t think I’m so adorable anymore.”
“He’s dying, Mim-Michelle,” I said. “He’ll be dead in minutes, maybe seconds if you don’t let me intervene. The man who owns this coffeehouse, he seems like the type who might have a first aid kit. I’m not sure how much good it’ll do, given the severity of this man’s injuries, but if you’ll just let me-”
