If you so much as move an inch, you’re dead.” Rob pressed the gun even harder against Cruz’s head.

My heart froze, seeing his finger tighten on the trigger.

“On your knees!” he shouted.

Cruz complied, getting down on the ground.

Why wasn’t he fighting back? “Why did you do it?” he asked, his eyes closed like he had just given up.

“What? Kill your sister?”

“Everything.”

Rob chuckled. “I suppose I owe you an explanation as a last dying wish. It would only be fair, especially since I get to keep your girl and do whatever the hell I want with her.”

I couldn’t stand to watch this any longer. As silently as I could, I stepped out of my heels, holding one of them like a weapon. First, this man had ruined my life five years ago, and now, when things were finally piecing themselves back together again, he wanted to just walk right in and shatter everything. Not this time.

“Your sister was a good cop. One of the best. She could weasel her way into any situation. Charm her way to the top. She tried the same shit with me. I nearly killed her the night I found out she was working under cover. You see, the police have been trying to take down my ring for years. Half the ODs in the city are due to me. But, hey, it’s not my fault if people can’t handle their urges. I’m just giving the Londoners what Americans have had for decades. The hard stuff. The good stuff.” He smirked, circling around me. “I tried to offer her money. I could’ve used a girl like her on my team, but she refused. Her pride got in the way. Pity really. There was a raid scheduled on the casino the day after I had her killed. No one dared to show their faces. Funny how fear is the ultimate controller of men.”

“That’s what this is really about isn’t it?” Cruz spat. “Money was never a problem, was it?”

“Of course not.” He adjusted his grip on the gun. “VanGuard pays me well. Very well. But, it wasn’t… satisfying. I wanted something more. I wanted people to quiver whenever they saw me.”

“And that’s why you hated me so much. I didn't bow down to you.”

“But look where you are now!” He exclaimed. “Down on your knees before me!” There was a note of euphoria in his voice. This man had lost his mind.

“And you won’t be the last. Your death will just be another in a long line of others to come. Many will try to stop me, but no one will succeed,” he boasted, his chest jutting out in a pompous way that made me sick.

Fury overtook me, and I rushed forward, stabbing him with the heel of my shoe.

He cried out, his arm swinging to the left, his gun clipping me in the head. I went flying across the room, slamming into a nearby lamp. It shattered with a loud pop. I closed my eyes, covering my face against the rain of glass shards.

“Amelia!” I heard Cruz scream my name, but it was too late.

The bullet had already left the chamber.

* * *

Everything was black. No matter where I looked, darkness followed. I tried to wade through it, but it was useless. I wasn’t going anywhere.

So I lay there, suspended in that ethereal blackness, trying to figure out how I had gotten there.

Slowly, the cobwebs melted away as my memory returned like an old movie reel, playing frame by frame.

First, excruciating pain that radiated through my chest. Then, a warmness that flooded that same area, trickling down every inch of my body. Next came a deep, deep coldness that penetrated through my bones.

I remembered Cruz calling out my name, a note of hysteria in his words. I couldn’t quite understand what he was saying; all of his words were jumbled. He kept patting my cheek and trying to get me to look at him, but I couldn’t focus.

He picked me up and carried me through the night into the back of a bright green car. We were smooshed between two booster seats…

And then, nothing.

I tried to remember what came next, but it was just a blank space in my mind. I looked around, hoping my environment would lend some clues, but it was the same impenetrable darkness.

“Amelia…” My name came as a faint whisper. “Please…”

I tilted my head, trying to figure out where it was coming from.

“You have to wake up…”

Cruz.

He was talking to me. But where was he?

I swam forward, but I didn’t move. I was stuck.

Something grabbed my ankles, pulling me downward. I kicked, trying to loosen its grip, but it just held me tighter and tighter.

“I love you…”

Suddenly, a bright light shone overhead. It blinded me for a second, but soon enough, my eyes adjusted. It gave me strength – the strength I needed to pull away from the darkness.

I swam hard and fast, determined to reach the light. To get to Cruz.

* * *

I gasped, my body jolting in an unfamiliar bed.

“Amelia!”

Cruz was by my side in an instant, holding my hand in his. There were tears in his eyes. I couldn’t understand why.

“I’m so glad you’re awake… You had me so worried…” He held me by the face with such a gentle touch that it was almost like he was afraid of breaking me. “Are you alright…? Does anything hurt…? Do you want me to call a nurse?” He was speaking so quickly that it was difficult to follow what he was saying.

“Slow down…” I croaked, my throat so dry that the words seemed to shrivel inside of me.

“Sorry… I’m just worried.”

“About…?” My mind was foggy. It felt like my head weighed a ton, and if I wasn’t careful, it would snap my neck.

“You…” He looked away. “I’m so sorry… I should have protected you… instead… I let you get shot. It’s all my fault.”

“Wait… did you just say I got shot?”

He didn’t answer me.

Gingerly, I moved my body, but I couldn’t feel a thing. “Are you sure?”

“You’re on a lot of pain medication…” Cruz continued to avoid making eye contact.

“What happened to Rob?” I asked, trying to piece everything together.

“I took care of him…”

“You mean?”

He nodded.

“Good.” I melted into my bed, staring at the ceiling. “Thank you…”

“How can you thank me when I was the reason you got shot? If I had just attacked him from the beginning instead of trying to get answers, you wouldn’t be in this hospital bed right now.”

I placed my hand on his cheek. “I could never blame you for trying to find out answers. I’ve been trying to do the same thing ever since my family was murdered… their killer was never caught… never brought to trial… I was always left to wonder why he did it… why he chose my family… and I fear that I will never find out… that I’ll never get them the justice they deserve. But, you did… you got your sister’s killer. You got the answers you needed. To me, Cruz, you’re a hero.”

He looked at me long and hard before a small smile broke out on his face. “I love you…” he whispered, gently kissing my lips. “But remind me never to piss you off when you’re wearing high heels.”

We both laughed, knowing that everything was going to be okay.