“Don’t say it!” Shep warns. Turning back to Gallo, he adds, “Can we stop with this already? I mean, you’ve already caught us – what else are you hoping to-”

The two men stand face-to-face, and Gallo lets out the slightest of smirks.

Shep’s expression falls. He’s paste white. Like he just saw a ghost. Or a thief. “You want the money for yourself, don’t you?” he stutters.

Gallo doesn’t answer. He just steadies his aim.

“Don’t do it!” I plead. “I’ll tell you where it is!”

“So the big dollars were yours?” Shep asks. “Who brought you in? Lapidus? Quincy?”

The answer never comes. Gallo licks his lips. “Goodbye, Shep.”

“Jimmy, please…” Shep begs as his voice cracks and shatters. “You d-d-d…” He can’t get the words out. As big as he is, his whole body’s shaking. His eyes flood with tears. “Not in the h-hea…”

“No…!” Charlie cries.

Gallo doesn’t flinch. He just pulls the trigger.

“Please don’t…!” I yell.

It’s too late. The shot hisses like a dart from a blowgun. Then another. And another. All three explode in Shep’s chest, sending him crashing back into the concrete wall. He grabs at the wounds, but the blood’s already everywhere. It covers his hands and bubbles up from his mouth. He tries to breathe, but all that comes out is an empty, wet wheeze. Still, he’s on his feet… staring back at Gallo… at all of us… with a dead man’s gray eyes. They’re wide with fear – like a child who knows he’s hurt, but hasn’t yet decided to cry. He staggers, trying to take a step forward… struggling to keep his… c’mon, Shep… you can make it…

Gallo raises his gun again, but quickly realizes he doesn’t have to.

Unable to hold his own weight, Shep’s legs buckle, and like a giant oak, the big man falls forward, straight for the creaky wooden slats in the floor. But just as he hits – as the thud thunders through the tunnel – the wood shakes, but somehow, it holds.

“Shep!” Charlie screams, racing out and sliding knees-first next to Shep’s facedown body. “Are you okay? Please, buddy… please be okay!” Squinting through a rush of tears, Charlie nudges the back of Shep’s shoulder, searching for a reaction. Nothing – not even a twitch. “C’mon, Shep… I know you’re there – please be there!” Ignoring the puddle of blood that’s seeping out below Shep, Charlie shoves his hands under Shep’s shoulder and waist, and tries to flip him on his back.

“Charlie, don’t touch him!” I shout.

“Both of you – nobody move!” Gallo barks.

Charlie abruptly lets go, and Shep’s body sinks face-first, back to the ground. The pool of blood is already seeping between the grooves in the wood planks. I look away and gag from the tinge of pre-vomit in my throat. That’s when I spot the hypodermic needle right next to Shep’s head. Charlie spots it too. His eyes are wide. He sees it as a break; I see it as a dumb way to get himself killed.

Don’t do it, I warn with a glance.

Charlie doesn’t care. Right there, a surge of adrenaline turns anguish to blood lust. He goes to grab it and…

“I said, don’t move!” Gallo explodes, rushing in behind him. There’s a quiet click and Charlie looks over his shoulder. Gallo’s got his gun aimed at my brother’s back. DeSanctis, who’s still blocking the door, has his pointed at me.

“Charlie, listen to him!” I plead, my voice cracking.

“Finally, someone with some sense,” Gallo says, turning his gun toward me. He steps in close and shoves the barrel into my cheek. “Now I’m going to ask you again, Oliver. You know what we’re after. Just tell us where it is.”

Unable to move, I stare over Gallo’s shoulder. Behind him, Charlie’s still down on his knees, primed to explode. Scouring the room, he searches for another out. But no matter where he looks, he still sees Shep. So do I – which is why I’m not letting it happen again.

“Don’t be stupid, Oliver,” Gallo warns. “Give it up and you can walk out of here.”

“Don’t tell him squat!” Charlie shouts. “You give him a dime and he’ll leave us lying here with Shep.”

“Shut your mouth!” Gallo snaps, pointing his gun at Charlie.

Stiffening with fear, I’m completely paralyzed. Charlie slaps me awake with a look. Don’t say it, he warns. Don’t give him anything. The problem is, no matter how good my poker face is, Gallo already knows my weakness.

With a ferret’s grin and his gun still pointed at Charlie, Gallo pulls back the hammer and studies my response. “How much is he worth to you, Oliver?”

“Please don’t…!” I beg, barely able to get the words out.

Leaving nothing to chance, DeSanctis moves in behind me, his gun digging into the back of my neck.

Behind Charlie, Gallo flicks his finger against the trigger. The gun’s pointed at the back of Charlie’s head, but Gallo’s watching me. Still kneeling next to Shep’s body, Charlie cranes his neck around and fights to get my attention. My eyes glaze and a hot spasm scratches up from my throat. We both know the outcome. No matter what we give Gallo, he’s not letting us leave. Not after everything we’ve seen. Still, Charlie searches my face, looking for something… anything… to get out of here. It doesn’t come.

Stubborn to his last breath, he turns away and stares back at Shep’s broken body. But it’s not until I notice Shep’s blood seeping down through the wood in the floor that I actually see it – our one way out. Charlie has his back to me, but I spot the sudden pitch in his shoulders. He sees it too. Hunched over as if the pressure’s too much, Charlie kneels in close to Shep’s body… and carefully wedges his fingers around the edges of the loose wood plank that’s in the floor.

“You know how to save him,” Gallo warns, still focused on me. “Just tell us where the money is.” From where Gallo’s standing behind Charlie, he can’t see a thing. Three feet away, I see it all. As quickly as I can, I angle my body so DeSanctis can’t get a clear view.

“Please don’t hurt him,” I beg. “The information’s all yours – I just need to get it from the bank – I don’t have it on me.”

It’s all I can do. Keep trying to stall.

Pretending to brace himself for the gunshot, Charlie curls down even tighter – and curls his fingers around the sides of the wood. It wobbles slightly, but not enough. There’s still a nail barely holding it in place. Focused on the thin gaps between the planks, Charlie wedges his fingers in as deep as they’ll go. If he digs any deeper, his knuckles’ll bleed. He doesn’t care. He needs the leverage. With one final shove, his skin is rubbed raw. The tendons in his forearm twitch, and I can tell his fingers are wrapping around the bottom edges of the plank. Almost there – keep going, bro. He pulls as hard as he can without revealing himself. It quickly starts coming loose.

“Oliver, you’re too smart not to’ve memorized it,” Gallo warns as he takes aim at my brother. “Do better.”

Behind Gallo, Charlie turns just enough to shoot me a look. Don’t say it, he tells me. The wood’s about to give way.

“Three seconds,” Gallo says. “After that, you sweep up his brains yourself. One…”

Just give me another second, Ollie. That’s all I need.

“Two…”

Just one more second…

Gallo’s finger slips around the trigger. “Thr-”

“Please – don’t do it! If you want it, it’s in an account in An-”

Ollie, move! Charlie motions with nothing but a glance. There’s a sharp crack as the wood comes loose.

Following the sound, Gallo turns away from me and spins toward my brother. He looks at the ground, but Charlie’s already on his feet, swinging the wood plank like a baseball bat. The flat side catches Gallo square in the jaw, sending a mouthful of spit flying across the room. The sound alone is worth it… a sickeningly sweet crack that knocks him – and his gun – straight to the floor.