I make a classic rookie mistake, but I can’t help it. I can’t stop my eyes from sliding over to the bed to see if she’s okay. Wolfe fires his weapon and the burning heat of a bullet slices into my right shoulder, dropping my arm to my side like an animal carcass hanging in a butcher shop.

“Mmm!” Red’s eyes are wide as she tries to scream. She shuffles to the edge of the bed, but I shake my head at her and she stops.

Luckily I didn’t drop my sig sauer. I lunge at Wolfe, trying to make it harder for him to pick me off like a kid with a BB gun and a string of tin cans. I rush him, head down, and catch him off guard as I thud into his gut and we both tumble over.

The searing pain in my shoulder really kicks in as blood spills out of me and drips off my leather jacket.

“Fuck you.” Wolfe’s lips pull back, exposing his yellowing teeth to me as he rolls me over and pins me to the floor.

Red doesn’t stop this time. She jumps off the bed and runs toward Wolfe. But he easily swats her away and she thumps to the floor like a sack of potatoes. Rage burns inside me stronger than the pain of the bullet hole and I manage to slice a punch across Wolfe’s face with my good hand.

He’s completely unfazed, even as his lip splits open and drips red. He leans over me. “That the best you got?” He spits his blood across my face in a spray.

I manage to lift my hips enough to roll him back. He’s not under me, but at least I’m not under him either. The gun still dangles from my right hand. The hand I can’t lift now that he’s shot my shoulder. We both look down at it and I reach for it with my left hand when Wolfe kicks it free from my grip and it slides away from me.

Fuck!

Panicked, I jump on him, using what’s left of my adrenaline to scramble for his gun and Wolfe rolls away, keeping it hidden beneath him. I know as soon as he moves, as soon as he gets to his feet or even rolls over, that’s it. He’s got his gun. Mine is across the floor. I use all of my bodyweight and try to keep him pinned to the floor, but he’s strong and he’s not shot. He’s going to win.

“Mmm!” Red gives another muffled cry and kicks my gun back to my side.

I quickly snatch it up, struggling to point it at Wolfe. He thrashes like a giant being held down by only string, bouncing me off him as he claws at the floor for his own weapon. He has it. I can tell by the way his body stiffens confidently, like a man who knows he’s won.

The room is shades of blue and red, but the strange hues make no sense in my mind. I secure my pistol in my left hand and hold it at the base of Wolfe’s neck, my finger on the trigger. I’m ready to put a bullet into the place where his spine meets the back of his head.

“Drop your weapons! Everybody put your hands where I can see them!” The order is barked out behind me. I don’t need to turn to know it’s one of our boys in blue.

Relief washes over me as I drop my gun and slump off of Wolfe. I lift my left hand high, and my right as much as my bleeding injury will allow. Peering over my shoulder I see two cops in the room with us and a couple more outside, all of them with guns drawn.

It’s over.

Emotion washes through me, leaving me limp but free. Like laundry being hung out on a line.

Wolfe scrambles to his knees, but I can see the metal gleam in his hands.

“Gun!” It’s all the warning I can give before Wolfe turns around and fires off two rounds toward the officers. Both slugs end up in the wall and I scramble under the desk as they open fire on him. Blood explodes from his chest in little bursts as bullets rain into him. He convulses as he falls backward onto the floor and a river of red spurts through his clothes and runs into the carpet.

“On your feet,” one of the officers yells and I readily comply. Over his shoulder I can see another cop peel the tape free from Red’s lips. I know how this looks. Like I was part of whatever sick plan he had for her. But I know it will all get sorted out. I know it’s over now and Red is safe.

“Ryan.” She sobs and runs over to me before they even have a chance to release her from her ties.

I look at the officers and slowly raise my good hand, holding her tight against me. “It’s okay, Red. You’re safe now. It’s all over now.” The red and blue lights outside streak her tear-stained face as she looks up at me, somehow making her green eyes even brighter.

“I love you,” she whispers hoarsely.

How could I not kiss her? My lips meet hers in a soft, sweet kiss until the police tell us to split it up. But I know there are a lifetime of kisses where that one came from. And I can’t wait to give her each and every one.