Page 43 of Carter
At the landing, River crouched by the door, his fingers moving fast over the lock. A soft click. He eased it open.
Inside, the tower was dim, shadows stretching long.Monitors flickered with security feeds—black screens now, thanks to Cyclone. A man stood in the center, broad shoulders, expensive jacket, hands clasped behind his back like a general surveying his empire.
Graves.
He turned slowly as we stepped in, a smile cutting across his face. Cold. Confident. The kind of smile I’d seen on warlords who thought money and men made them untouchable.
“So the soldier finally comes to collect his prize,” he drawled. “You think taking me down will end this? She’ll always be marked. Harper is leverage too valuable to waste.”
The words detonated inside me. My rifle came up, sight trained dead center on his chest.
“One more word with her name in your mouth,” I said, my voice low, lethal, “and it’s your last.”
He laughed, dark and easy, like the whole damn yard wasn’t about to burn around him. “Do it, soldier. Shoot me. But it won’t matter. Contracts don’t vanish with one dead man. They multiply. And she’ll never stop running.”
River’s eyes flicked to me, waiting. My finger tightened on the trigger, every muscle taut.
Because this wasn’t just about ending Graves. This was about making damn sure Harper could breathe free air again.
And I was ready to pull the trigger.
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My finger tightened on the trigger, every muscle taut, Graves’ smirk fixed in my sights.
He didn’t flinch. Didn’t even blink. Just stood there with that slick calm of a man who thought money and power made him bulletproof.
“You can kill me,” he drawled, voice rich with arrogance. “But it won’t stop what’s already in motion. The girl’s name is out there. She’s leverage. And leverage never goes away.”
My vision tunneled, fury pounding hot in my ears. He didn’t see a woman. Didn’t see Harper. He saw a pawn on his board, a mark to move across a map.
“Say her name again,” I rasped, my voice a low growl, “and I swear to God, it’ll be your last word.”
River shifted at my side, calm but coiled. “Carter.” A warning. A reminder.
But all I saw was Harper in chains. Harper clinging to me, whisperingI’m not as strong as you think,and still standing anyway.
I wasn’t going to let this bastard’s voice follow her into her dreams.
Graves’ smile widened, slow and poisonous. “Har—”
The shot cracked like thunder.
His body jerked, spun, and dropped hard to the floor. Blood spread dark across the steel.
For a long moment, the tower was silent except for my ragged breathing. River exhaled, not relief, not judgment, just acceptance.
I lowered my rifle, my chest heaving. “It ends with him.”
But even as I said it, I knew the truth. This was only the start.
Harper was still marked. And I wasn’t stopping until every name on every list burned with Graves.
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