Save Your Breath (Morgan Dane #6)(88)

Chapter Forty-Five

Lance turned his hand so Kim couldn’t see the rock he’d picked up from the beach when he had released her brother. At some point, she had to lose her concentration. She intended to kill them all. He had nothing to lose by trying.

Had Morgan received his text? Had she called the police?

He couldn’t depend on help arriving. He had to stop Kim and her brother. He was grateful Morgan wasn’t here, about to be shot.

Stephen stumbled up the slope onto a trail that led into the woods. Lance had taken off his NVGs to go into the water, but the moon provided enough light on the beach for him to watch Stephen’s form disappear into the woods. The buildings couldn’t have been far from the water because a few minutes later, a white utility van appeared from around a bunch of trees. Stephen drove the vehicle onto the beach and stopped next to his sister. He stepped out of the vehicle. When he turned, the moon lit his face, which looked like raw meat. One eye was swollen almost shut. His nose had ballooned, and drying blood coated his chin. He was moving slowly, as if he didn’t have much fight left in him. Had Lance broken one of his ribs too? He hoped so.

If Lance could take Kim and her gun out of the picture, Sharp would be able to handle the injured Stephen. Lance tightened his grip around the rock. The gun in her hands was a semiautomatic. If he missed, she could shoot them all in a couple of seconds.

Stephen opened the cargo doors of the van.

Kim gestured toward Sharp. “Now pick her up and put her in the van.”

“No.” Sharp planted his body-armor-clad self in front of Olivia. “You just said you were going to kill us all. I’m not going to make it easier for you.”

With her gaze locked on Sharp, Kim lifted the gun and looked down the sight. “Are you volunteering to go first?”

Sharp didn’t move. Lance whipped the rock at Kim with a vicious overhand. He was barely ten feet away. It struck her on the side of the face. Her head snapped around. She stumbled sideways, bobbling the gun. Lance lunged at her. Stephen tried to block him, but Lance knocked him aside with his shoulder and kicked him in the balls. Stephen hit the dirt like a sandbag.

Lance kept moving. Five feet. He almost had her.

A hand grabbed his ankle. He went down on his face in the dirt. Looking back, Lance saw Stephen, still lying on the ground and holding his boot with both hands. Lance kicked him in the face. “Let go!”

Fresh blood spurted. Stephen groaned and went limp.

Lance scrambled to one knee. Kim whipped the handgun around and pointed it at him. He rolled, trying to get out of the path of her aim, but there was no close cover.

A gunshot rang out over the woods. Lance froze. To his shock, so did Kim. She hadn’t fired the shot. Who had?

“Stop!”

Lance knew that voice. They all turned their heads. Morgan stood about eight feet behind Kim, her own gun leveled at the literary agent’s body. Relief, pride, and love all surged through his chest. Morgan still had his back, as always, despite the fact that Lance had deliberately removed her from the action.

“Put down the gun, or I will shoot you,” Morgan said.

Kim didn’t move for a few seconds. Was she considering not surrendering? Even if Morgan wasn’t an excellent shot—which she was—Kim would be hard to miss at that range. Was Kim suicidal? Morgan had once shot a man in a similar situation. She was not a violent woman, unless someone she loved was threatened.

But Kim was desperate. She dropped to the ground and swung the gun 180 degrees—pointing it right back at Morgan.

Two shots rang out, almost simultaneously.

Morgan stumbled backward. Her hand went to her ribs. She’d been shot.

No!

His gaze swung back to Kim. She was scrambling to her feet and stumbling toward the woods. Her gun lay on the ground. Morgan missed?

“Kim!” Stephen shouted in a weak voice.

But Kim didn’t even look back at her brother’s pathetic call.

Ignoring Kim, Lance refocused on Morgan. She was holding her side and gasping. Was she bleeding? Panicking, he surged to his feet and started toward her. But she recovered before he could reach her. Then she did what he least expected: she sprinted right past him faster than he thought she could run.

“I’ve got Stephen!” Sharp yelled, heading for Kim’s brother and collecting Kim’s gun on the way.

Shocked, Lance lost a second before starting after Morgan. Kim had slowed, and Morgan caught her in a few strides. She reached forward and shoved Kim’s shoulder. The agent tipped forward and face-planted, sliding in the weeds. Morgan was on her in a second, landing hard, then planting a knee in the agent’s lower back.

Lance caught up as Morgan forced the agent’s arms behind her. She glanced over her shoulder. “Do you have zip ties?”

“I do.” Lance handed them over.

Morgan secured Kim’s hands. Then she sat back on her heels, breathing hard.

Lance crouched next to her, shoving up the hem of her jacket. “Are you hurt?”

When his hands hit the body armor, he exhaled. “You’re wearing your vest.”

“You saw me put it on.” Morgan took off her jacket and vest.

“I forgot.” Lance had panicked.

She lifted the hem of her shirt. “I feel like I was hit with a hammer.”

“You’re going to have a big-ass bruise.” Which Lance was grateful for.