Chapter 183: Finish it

Chapter 183: Finish it
The dust from the breached door swirled in the beam of the tactical light attached to Kieran’s rifle. He stepped through the debris, his heart hammering a frantic rhythm against his ribs until his gaze landed on the center of the room.

Catherine.

She was slumped in a metal chair, her face pale and streaked with sweat, but her eyes were open, burning with a ferocious, terrified intensity.

"Kieran!" she gasped, her voice raw.

He was across the room in two strides, dropping the rifle to let it hang by its strap as he reached for the zip ties binding her wrists. His hands, usually so steady, trembled slightly as they touched her skin.

"I’ve got you," he breathed, slicing the plastic with a combat knife. "I’ve got you, babe."

Her hands came free, but she didn't lunge for him. She went rigid, her eyes widening. "Don't move me! Stop!"

Kieran froze, his hands hovering over her shoulders. "What?"

"There's a taser rigged to my spine," she hissed through gritted teeth. "The sensor is on the seat. If I move, it triggers."

Kieran looked behind her, spotting the wires snaking down the back of the chair to a crude battery pack taped to the frame. He looked back at her, a muscle jumping in his jaw.

"Well, hello to you too," he muttered, masking his horror with sarcasm. "Where is Chiara?"

"The cabinet," Catherine whispered, tilting her head toward the metal desk in the corner. "She's fine, she’s hiding. But leave her, I want her to stay there. I don't want her to see me like this. Just help me first."

"Kieran," Solomon warned from the doorway, his weapon trained on the corridor outside. "Gabo must have radioed for backup before the breach. We have maybe two minutes before the rest of the yard descends on this room. We gotta hurry."

"Right," Kieran said, his focus snapping back to the device. He examined the wiring. It was a dead man’s switch. If the pressure lifted, the circuit closed. There was no time to defuse it.

He looked into Catherine’s eyes. "I think I understand how this works. I can't remove it while you're sitting down. I have to break the circuit."

Catherine nodded, bracing herself. She knew what was coming.

"My love," Kieran whispered, cupping her face, his thumb brushing away a tear. "I swear to God, I am going to hate doing this."

Kieran gripped her under the arms and yanked her violently upward and forward.

Catherine screamed—a guttural, tearing sound that echoed off the steel walls—as the voltage surged through her one last time. Her body arched in agony, every muscle seizing.

In the same motion, Kieran drew his handgun and fired a single, deafening shot into the battery pack on the chair, shattering the casing and severing the wires.

The current cut out instantly.

Catherine collapsed, dead weight, falling into Kieran’s arms. She was trembling violently, aftershocks racking her frame, her breathing coming in jagged gasps.

"I've got you," Kieran murmured into her hair, holding her tight, absorbing her tremors. "It's okay. It's over. You're safe."

He held her for a precious second, feeling her heart race against his chest, before the soldier in him took over again. "Let's get our baby and get out of here. Alright?"

Catherine nodded against his chest, her legs weak but her will iron.

Kieran looked over his shoulder. "Solomon, go get Chiara."

Solomon nodded and turned toward the desk, holstering his weapon to appear less threatening to the child.

Kieran helped Catherine steady herself, keeping one arm wrapped protectively around her waist. He began to turn toward the door—

The sound was faint, but in Kieran’s world, it was louder than a scream. The mechanical slide of a pistol chambering a round. Directly behind him.

He started to spin, raising his weapon, but he was too slow.

Catherine wasn't.

She had been facing the door over Kieran's shoulder. She saw the shadow darken the threshold. She saw the glint of the silver pistol.

With a speed born of pure, unadulterated hatred, she snatched the gun from Kieran’s hand. The recoil jerked her arm back, but her grip was like steel.

Gabo Valente stood in the doorway, his eyes wide with shock. A dark bloom of red exploded on his white shirt, just below the ribs.

He staggered back, his finger squeezing the trigger of his own gun in a reflex action. Two shots went wild, pinging harmlessly off the corrugated metal ceiling, sending dust raining down.

Gabo’s knees buckled. He collapsed backward, hitting the floor with a wet thud.

The room went silent, save for the ringing in their ears and the ragged sound of Gabo choking.

Kieran stared at his wife. Her face was a mask of cold fury, her eyes dry and deadly. She stepped away from him, the gun still raised, walking toward the fallen man.

Kieran followed her close. Gabo lay on his back, clutching his stomach, blood bubbling past his lips. He looked up at them, his eyes glazing over, fear finally replacing the arrogance.

Kieran looked down at him and kicked his gun, then extended his hand toward Catherine. "Give me the gun. I'll finish it."

Catherine didn't look at Kieran. She stared at Gabo.

"No," she whispered.

She fired. She didn't stop. She walked closer, standing directly over him, firing rhythmically, methodically. She put bullets in his chest. In his throat. In his face. She fired until the slide locked back, the gun clicking empty on a dead chamber and most bones of his face shattered, turning him into a dysmorphic pile of blood and encephalic mass.

Only then did she stop.

Catherine stood there for a moment, breathing hard, the smell of gunpowder sharp in the air. The trembling in her hands stopped.

She turned to Kieran and handed him the empty weapon, handle first.

Across the room, Solomon stood frozen by the desk, his hand hovering over the cabinet door. He shook his head, clearing the ringing from his ears, and knelt in front of the rusted metal cabinet. He tapped gently on the door.

For a moment, there was silence.

Then, a tiny, trembling voice drifted out from the darkness inside, untouched by the horror that had just unfolded.

"What is the magic word?"