He hung up the phone.
“Is she going to be able to stop the transfer?” I asked.
“She is going to try.” He turned to the clerk. “The bank—do you know where it is?”
“You’re practically next to it,” she said. “It’s just down the street from us.”
“Next to it?” Tank said.
“It’s about eight buildings down from us. It’s right at the end of the block. You’ll see it on the corner. Who knows how long it will take the police to get there? You’re a big guy. If you want to make sure those men don’t leave, you could be waiting outside for them within the next minute.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
“WE NEED TO GO,” I SAID to Tank. “We need to stop them.”
“You need to stay here,” he said. “I’ll go.”
“If you think I’m not going to help my husband, you’re wrong.”
“And how do you plan on helping him?”
“I have a gun, don’t I? So do you. I’ll use it if I have to.”
“You have guns?” the clerk asked.
“We were given hand guns to protect ourselves when we were brought here,” Tank said. “I’m a former SEAL, ma’am. There’s no need to worry.”
“I believe there is,” she said with a trace of fear in her voice. “I believe I see where this is headed, and I want no part of it.”
A moment ago, she was looking at us with concern. Now, she was looking at us as if we might cause her harm.
“I don’t do guns,” she said. “And because I don’t, I’ll need to ask each of you to leave now. I let you use our phone. I told you where the bank is. Now, I’m asking you to go. I don’t want any trouble here.”
“We didn’t mean to upset you,” I said. “In fact, I want to thank you for helping us.”
“I’m closing the shop,” the woman said, motioning for us to move out of the office and into the retail space. When we entered it, I saw two women sifting through the racks of clothes. “I’m sorry for what happened to you, but none of this is going to end well. Not with guns, it won’t. It never does. The door is ahead of you—use it. Good luck to you, but don’t come back.”
As we moved toward the door, the woman’s voice lingered behind us: “Ladies, I’m afraid I have to close shop,” she said. “There’s been an emergency, and I need to get to the hospital. I apologize. If you come back tomorrow, we’d be happy to take twenty percent off your purchase for the inconvenience.”
The door was just swinging shut behind us when I heard one of the customers say, “If you’re going to chase us out of here, I’d be happier with twenty-five percent.”
“I NEED YOU TO GO BACK to the lagoon,” Tank said. “Steven might be waiting for you. I need you to listen to me on this. My job isn’t just to protect Alex—it’s also to protect you.”
“Everything I have in this world is in that bank,” I said. “Do you understand that? Do you have any idea what that man means to me? There’s a chance that I might have lost our child, but I’m sure as hell not going to lose my husband. I plan to fight for him, just as you would fight for Lisa if you were in my shoes. We’re ending this together. So, I suggest we figure out a plan and move on it.”
“You don’t have my training.”
“Few do, Tank, but I’m hardly useless. And the more time we stand here arguing about this on the sidewalk, the more time those men have to take Alex away from me. We’re wasting time. I’m not going anywhere. If I have the chance, I plan to kill that motherfucker Wes on my own for all that he’s put us through. He deserves to die.”
“And you need to think rationally.”
“Who says that I’m not?”
“Unless your life is at risk, you're not going to fire that gun, Jennifer,” he said.
But when I started to move toward the bank, I didn’t say that I wouldn’t.
“LISTEN TO ME,” TANK said as he stepped beside me. “I need you to calm down. I need you to think clearly.”
“Who says that I’m not?”
“I do. You’re hot. And in these situations, you can’t go in hot. Everything needs to be calculated.”
“Then add it up for me.”
“The bank is there,” he said, pointing ahead of us. “Do you see it? Right on the corner. I don’t see any signs of them on the street, so they’re likely still inside. Our best option is surprise. They won’t kill Alex in the bank. They won’t try anything there because they want to leave with their money intact. Our best recourse is to find a place to conceal ourselves so that we can see them when they leave the bank without them seeing us. Then we’ll act.”
“And how do you propose that we act?”
“I’ll jump them. When they leave the bank, they won’t have their guns drawn. Never underestimate the power of an ambush. All I need to do is shoot one of them in the leg, point my gun straight at Wes, and order the rest of his sons to drop face-first on the ground, or their father will die. If they don’t, I’ll shoot another one of them. If anyone else tries to go for their gun, I’ll just shoot them all, and I’ll shoot to kill to make certain that Alex is safe.”
“If you shoot someone in the leg, what’s to prevent them from reaching for their gun and shooting at you? Do you even know how many rounds of ammunition you have in the gun they gave you?”
“They gave us each a Glock 23.”
“How do you know that?”
Instead of replying, all he did was give me a look.
“Fine. How many rounds?”
“Nine.”
“That’s cutting it close.”
“I never miss, Jennifer.”
“We’re surrounded by civilians. There are women and children here. What if somebody gets in your way?”
“Then I’ll deal with it.”
“I’m sorry, Tank. I’ve got way too much on the line here. I trust you, but I also trust myself. You need my help.”
“I’m telling you that I don’t.”
“And I’m telling you that you might. At the very least, I can have your back. I might not be as well trained as you, but I do know how to handle a gun. I’ve had plenty of experience shooting one.”
“Not in this kind of situation, you haven’t.”
Alex was my main concern. Arguing with Tank was getting us nowhere, so I decided that I would do what I wanted to do when and if the moment presented itself to me. I looked around us. “Where are the police? Why aren’t they here yet?”
“I asked them to come in plainclothes. Given the situation, they know that was the right call. If they were suited up—which they probably were—they had to go back to wherever their station is, and change into their own clothes. This is a small island with a limited police force—it’s not Manhattan. Getting them here in plainclothes is going to take time.”
“Time we don’t have.”
“You’re probably right. But they’re not here yet. I’d know a cop in a second if I saw one. And I don’t see one yet.”
“That van ahead of us—it’s tall and wide. What if we stood just behind it? It’s close to the bank. We can conceal ourselves while keeping watch on who leaves the bank—and who enters it.”
“Good idea. Let’s go.”
But just at the moment when we started to move toward the van, Alex came out of the bank followed by Wes and his three sons.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
THEY SAY THAT IN EVERY life there comes a day of reckoning, a time when unsettled scores demand retribution. This was ours.
And the game was on.
Before Tank could grab my arm and lead me away to the safety the van promised, I saw Alex turn to us and recognize us. Then, his lips parted in shock as he appeared to say “No...” when he realized that somehow we’d come for him.
And then the others noticed us.
At that moment, time flipped a switch—and time seemed to stop. I heard my pulse thrum in my ears. I felt a jolt of electricity shoot through my body. And even though everything that happened ne
xt took place within a matter of minutes—if it was even that long—my mind processed all of it as if it were unfolding before me in slow motion.
Tank pulled the gun from the back of his pants, lunged forward, and aimed it at the men just as the civilians on the sidewalk processed what was going down, and ran screaming into the streets.
“Faces down on the sidewalk!” Tank ordered. “Do it now, or I’ll shoot!”
I pulled out my own gun, stood just behind Tank, and pointed that mother straight at Wes’ forehead, whose face had dissolved into a kind of rage that had the weight of determination behind it. With a bright swing of his fist, he spun around and bashed it against the side of Alex’s temple, knocking him hard to the ground.
I heard a gunshot go off, and it took me a moment to realize that it was Tank who had fired first. One of Wes’ sons went down in a bellow of pain, but the other two were quick. They drew their own guns just as Wes went for his own. Tank shot again, and I saw another man fall to the pavement, but not before shots were fired at us.
Shots that missed us in the gathering chaos.
“Arms down!” Tank shouted. “Do it now, or I will kill you, Wes! Do your sons hear me? They’d better. I will kill your father. And then I’ll finish off the rest of you. Your choice!”
I saw one of Wes’ sons sit up and struggle to reach for his gun, but before he could, I instinctively shot him in the face, and watched his head blow apart when the bullet connected with his skull. It was enough to cover Wes with his son’s brain matter, and when that happened, he and his last-standing son opened fire on us.
Tank went flat to the ground and began to shoot when they did.
I flung my back against the building at my right, and also opened fired in an attempt to strike Wes down. Bullets whizzed past us. I saw Alex swing out his legs, which brought down Wes’ last-standing son. He fell hard to the ground, his head connecting first, but he was strong. As if his life depended on it—because it did—he began to fight with Alex while Wes fell back behind one of the bank’s pillars in an effort to shield himself.
“Shoot them all,” Tank instructed me. “But shoot carefully—you have only four bullets left. They’ve had their chance. Shoot to kill.”
And so I shot one of Wes’ sons. I shot him in the chest, and a burst of blood filled the air around him in a deadly red mist. Then, I aimed my gun at the man who was on top of Alex, exchanging blows.
But Tank got to him first.
He fired a shot, and the man suddenly reared back as blood jetted out of his neck in torrents. For a moment, he just lingered there in an odd kind of disbelief before he folded on top of Alex, who took no chances. He pushed the man off of him and turned to Wes, who was concealed by the pillar.
And I knew.
In my soul, I knew what was coming next. With Alex out in the open with no protection, Wes would turn his gun on him and kill him in retribution for all that he had just lost.
Unwilling to allow that to happen, instinct took hold of me, and I mainlined forward with my gun held out in front of me before Wes could turn his own gun on Alex.
Tank shouted at me to stop, but I didn’t. I was going to kill that sonofabitch before he had a chance to kill my husband. And so I didn’t stop, not even when I heard Tank rushing behind me. He fired a shot at the pillar to keep Wes at bay, causing a burst of marble to spray in front of me, but it was all for not. When I neared Wes, he snaked around the pillar with his gun trained on me. I rolled onto the ground before he could shoot me.
And then seconds became milliseconds.
His gun went off.
My gun went off.
With the shattering sound of each shot, I felt a bullet pierce through me.
I crumpled hard to the sidewalk. As I lay there on my back, I was aware of another shot going off. I heard Wes yelp, I watched the sky begin to dim, and then Tank was at my side.
“Jennifer,” he said to me. “You’re bleeding heavily.”
The world started to spin, but as much as I tried to right it, I couldn’t.
There was only one thing I needed to know.
“Is Alex alive?” I asked.
“I’m right here,” Alex said. He came up behind me and lifted me into his lap. “I’m here,” he said again. “Help her,” he said to Tank. “Please!”
In a haze, I watched Tank remove the very shirt he’d wrapped around Alex’s throat after we crashed. So, this is how it would end—with Alex’s blood pressed against my own blood.
As it should be...
Even though I could feel Tank working on me and could hear my husband telling me that he loved me even while he began to weep, I was aware that I was beginning to slip away.
I locked eyes with Alex, reached out an unsteady hand, and placed the palm of that hand against the rough of his beard. “I had to do it,” I said. “I couldn’t not help you. You’re alive now. Some will say I made a stupid mistake, but I didn’t. You’re alive. If I’ve lost my life to save yours, I can die knowing that.”
“We need an ambulance!” Tank shouted out. “Somebody! Please! Call for an ambulance!”
“Stop the blood, Tank!” Alex said.
“She was hit hard. I’m trying my best.”
“I need you to listen to me,” I said to Alex. “If I die from this, I need you to find someone else. I need you to find love again. A love better than what we shared together. It’s possible. Please, tell me that you’ll do that.”
“I won’t,” he said. “No one can replace you. And besides—you’re going nowhere.”
“That’s the thing,” I said. “I’ve been here before—right after we crashed. I remember this feeling, only this time it’s somehow worse.”
“Don’t leave me,” he said.
My voice was barely a whisper when I spoke. “I’m trying not to.”
“Promise me that you won’t. We’ve been through so much together, Jennifer. What happened here can’t be the end of us.”
“Please do as I asked,” I said.
“You can come through this!”
“And I might. But my mind is fading right now. If I don’t make it, I need you to promise me that when you’re ready, you will find another woman, you will marry her, and you will have the child I failed to give to you.”
“You didn’t fail,” he said, his voice choked with emotion.
“We both know that I did. Take care of Cutter. Get the others out of here. Tell everyone that I love them. Give Lisa and Barbara a hug and a kiss for me. I don’t want to go just yet, so try your best to keep me here.”
“We will. We are. You can’t go. Please don’t go.”
But I felt that I was going. I wasn’t sure where I’d been hit, but it was significant enough to make everything around me become wildly iridescent—almost hallucinogenic. I felt Tank tug his shirt somewhere around the upper part of my body. I thought of my best friends Lisa and Blackwell and of the crazy life I’d lived up until that point, and then I looked hazily up at Alex. He was crying. Tears were streaming down his cheeks and disappearing into his beard. I could feel him holding me, I could feel his love coursing through me, and I told him that I loved him again just before I lost control of my body and slumped into his arms.
Many readers have asked, so! ;-)
Here is the reading order for the Annihilate Me series:
Annihilate Me, Vol. 1
Annihilate Me, Vol. 2
Annihilate Me, Vol. 3
Annihilate Me, Vol. 4
Annihilate Me, Holiday
Unleash Me, Vol. 1
Unleash Me, Vol. 2
Unleash Me, Vol. 3
Annihilate Him, Vol. 1
Annihilate Him, Vol. 2
Annihilate Him, Vol. 3
Ignite Me
Annihilate Him: Holiday
A Dangerous Widow
Annihilate Them
Annihilate Them: Holiday
Unleash Me: Wedding
THANK YOU FOR READING the continuation of Alex and Jenn
ifer’s story in Annihilate Him, Vol. 2! I hope that you enjoyed it! And just wait for what happens to all of the characters in Annihilate Him, Vol. 3.
All four volumes of Annihilate Him are now available, which includes the fun, romantic comedy Annihilate Him: Holiday! You can find them wherever ebooks are sold.
Also, two new stand-alone books are now available: Ignite Me, which is written in the Annihilate Me universe (Blackwell is ALL over this book); and then there’s A Dangerous Widow, which is PURE romantic suspense filled with characters from the Annihilate Me universe. Learn more about them on the next few pages.
Ignite Me will tell the story of Alex’s hunky cousin, Brock Wenn, and what happens to him when he falls for Madison Wells, a gorgeous young woman who just happens to find herself as Barbara Blackwell’s brand new personal assistant. As you can imagine, Blackwell isn’t about to make anything exactly easy for Madison. And since Brock is no Alex—he’s far from being a billionaire—he’ll be struggling to make it in New York just as much as Madison is. So, how will their relationship unfold given the pressures of life, the difficulties of work, and the strong possibilities of love? And with such a white-hot attraction between them from the first moment they meet—which Blackwell recognizes at once?
Good luck with that...
Ignite Me is a stand-alone novel available now wherever ebooks are sold.
Fans of romantic suspense—and the Annihilate Me series, which this book is a part of—might be interested in the stand-alone novel A Dangerous Widow, which tells the challenging love story between Kate Stone and Ben Cade. The description follows.
When they killed her man—she became dangerous.
Annihilate Him (Volume 2) Page 16
