“Open your mouth,” I said.

Blood trickled from his nose and the defiance in his words was absent from his eyes.

“Open your mouth,” I said.

He kept it shut.

I took the end of the gun and pressed it to his lips. He squirmed beneath me.

“Open or I’ll make my own hole,” I said.

His lips finally parted and I shoved the gun into his mouth.

“Let’s try again,” I said. “Ready to listen?”

He made a nodding movement, his eyes glued to the gun in his mouth.

“Good,” I said. “We’re never going to talk again. And you’re going to choose how that happens. You leave Bella alone and you’ll never see me again after today. That’s option number one. Nod or gag or something if you understand.”

He made the nodding motion again.

“Well done,” I said. “Option number two. Pay close attention. If you so much as say hello to Bella again, I will come and kill you. Just like this. We’ll be on the floor again, you’ll be eating the gun and I’ll pull the trigger. Several times. We won’t talk. I’ll just kill you.”  I leaned down over him, my eyes inches from his. “And I’m guessing you know enough about me now from Zip to know I’ve done it before. So taking you out will be like scraping gum off my shoe. Easy and quick. We clear?”

He made the nodding motion again.

I pulled the gun from his mouth and pressed it against his left eye. He squirmed again, but couldn’t move me.

“And if you so much as breathe on her kid again, I’m gonna let my friend play with you,” I said. “For a long time.”  I pressed harder against his eyes. “Tell me you understand.”

“I understand,” he whispered.

There was a part of me that just wanted to end his life right there, to give everyone the peace of mind they needed to know he’d never bother Bella again. But I’d done that before and it hadn’t given me what I’d hoped it would. It had given me more than I could handle. In every way.

I pulled the gun from his eye and stood up. “Get on the couch.”

Hanson pushed himself up and fell back on to the couch, blood still trickling from his nose. He wiped at his mouth and stared at me.

“You keep looking at me like that and you’re going to lose one of those eyes,” I said.

He moved his gaze to his knees.

Carter came back into the room behind me. “I found a really tiny hall closet and wedged all of them in there. Then I tied the door shut with a curtain cord.”

“Nice work.”

“I’ve still got it.”

“I’ll say.”

“Now what?  He motioned at Hanson. “We bury his body somewhere?”

Hanson couldn’t help but glance in his direction.

Carter smiled at him.

“No,” I said. “He knows he can walk out of here if he behaves himself.”

“Can’t believe I came all this way and I don’t get to shoot anyone,” Carter said. “Seems so anti-climactic.”

“Maybe we can find someone on the way home.”

“Jesus, I hope so.”

Hanson stared at us like he couldn’t decide if we were serious or insane.

I was comfortable with him wondering.

“So are we good then?” Carter asked.

“Think so,” I said.

And we were until Bella opened the front door, holding a gun.

FIFTY-ONE

Bella aimed Alex’s gun squarely at Hanson. “I want him dead.”

Carter grinned. “This your wife?”

I positioned myself between her and David, the gun now aimed at my chest. “No, Bella. We’re cool. We don’t need to do this.”

Carter backed up and stepped out of the line of fire. I knew he was moving to a spot where he could take out Bella if he needed to. I glanced at him and shook my head.

“We don’t.”  She held the gun steady. “I do.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Don’t tell me what I need, Noah,” she said. She sidestepped me, bringing David back into her sight. Her arms shook as she re-leveled the gun. “Don’t tell me what I need. You aren’t the one he’s after. Knowing he can come after me whenever he wants. Knowing he can take my son whenever he wants. That he can fuck up my life in about a million other ways. You don’t have to live with any of that. I do.”  Her eyes narrowed. “But not if he’s dead.”

“It’ll make things worse,” I said.

“Not for me it won’t,” she said. “Can’t get any worse. He took my son. And he’ll do it again.”

“No, he won’t,” I said. I stepped toward her, my arm outstretched. “It’s taken care of.”

“Noah, I’ll shoot you if you don’t move,” she said. “I don’t want to, but I will.”

I could see Carter shift his gun in his hands. I glanced at him again, but he was focused on her. He didn’t lower the gun and I knew he’d pull the trigger before she ever got a shot off.

I inclined my head toward the kitchen. She followed my gaze. Alex stood there, just in view, Jackson right next to him, licking a Popsicle. “Look. He’s okay. Alex has him. We can get out of here.”

Her focus shifted and her eyes softened. The nose of the gun dipped slightly.

Jackson looked at us then. His eyes brightened and he dropped the Popsicle to the floor. “Mommy!”

He took off running for her before Alex could grab him.

Jackson was halfway across the room when Hanson launched himself off the couch, grabbing him around the ankles and tripping him up.

Before I could move, Alex was on top of him, ripping him off Jackson, his forearm flat across Hanson’s throat. Jackson scrambled to his feet and sprinted to Bella, crying and sobbing.

Bella dropped the gun and went down to her knees to scoop him up. She was crying, too.

Alex rolled Hanson over, his arm still locked around Hanson’s neck. Hanson kicked and grunted, but Alex used his weight to keep him down on the ground, beneath him.

Carter was next to me, holding the gun Bella dropped. “Pull him off?”

“Not sure we can,” I said.

“He’s gonna choke him out. For good.”

“I know.”  I hesitated. “Don’t, Alex.”

Alex didn’t move and Hanson’s flailing slowed.

“Liz would shoot you, Alex,” I said. “You know she would.”

The only sound in the room was Jax sobbing on Bella’s shoulder.

“Alex,” I said. “Don’t. Don’t disappoint her like I did.”

Alex’s shoulder muscles flinched and his body slid to the side of Hanson’s. He brought his arm around from Hanson’s throat, his chest heaving, sweat covering his red face. He pushed himself to his feet, glanced at me and went over to Bella.

“Is he okay?” he whispered.

Bella nodded, still hugging Jax.

Hanson stirred on the floor. He was still alive.

“Get them outside,” I said to Carter. “I’ll be out in a minute.”

Carter said something quietly to Bella, something I couldn’t hear. She stood, picked Jackson up and the four of them disappeared out the front door.

Hanson turned over on his back, his chest heaving.

I bent down next to him. His eyes rolled in my direction.

“There are now three of us willing to kill you,” I said. “You better hope you never see any of us ever again.”

I walked out of the house. His ragged breaths echoing against the marble were the last thing I heard.

FIFTY-TWO

The sun dove behind the Gulf, casting long shadows as we all stood on the sidewalk.

“We need to finish anything in there?” Carter asked.

“No,” I said. “We’re done.”

“Can’t blame a guy for trying.”

I looked at Alex. “You guys should get to the airport. Tickets are already set. You fly out tonight.”

He was standing next to Bella and Jackson. He didn’t have his arm around her, but he might as well have. She was brushed up against him and he gave off an air of protection.

“Leave the car at the airport?” Alex asked.

“Yeah,” I said, making a mental note to call Ike before we headed out. “Leave the keys in the glove compartment. I’ll have someone pick it up.”