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Wait, Charlie signaled. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a smoke grenade. When he nodded at me, I rapidly kicked the door open.
As we suspected, there were a couple of men waiting for us, shooting directly at the door. We were pressed up against the concrete walls, waiting and praying that none of the bullets made direct contact. They must have been scared out of their minds because they emptied their magazines and had to cease fire long enough to change cartridges.
That was when we made our move.
Charlie tossed the smoke grenade. It went off, providing us with a nice, thick cloud to hide within. Kris went first, followed by Adam, then me with Charlie at the rear. We took the men out in one go. One, two, three, they dropped like flies.
“Ceasefire!” a man yelled.
The smoke cleared with the passing wind, revealing Terrance with his arm locked around Sam’s neck. He had a gun pressed to her temple as he backed up slowly, stepping closer and closer toward the edge of the roof. His right cheek had been sliced, his nose appearing to be broken. He looked worse for wear, and I had a sneaking suspicion it was all Sam’s doing.
“Put your weapons down!” he demanded. “Or I’ll shoot her.”
None of us made a move. We were so close. If we put down our weapons, that would give Terrance the advantage. It could also increase Sam’s chances of survival.
“Don’t do it!” Sam yelled.
“Shut up, bitch.”
Charlie put his hands up in surrender. He carefully tossed his pistol to the side. “Just relax, Terrance. Let’s talk about this.”
Adam was the next to toss his rifle aside, hands raised in the air to show he was unarmed. “Step away from the ledge, Terrance. We can work this out.”
Kris and I were the next to disarm. It was probably a good thing because all I saw was red. I wasn’t thinking clearly. All I could focus on was the fear in Sam’s eyes and the way she clawed at my brother’s arm, struggling to breathe.
I took a step forward. “Let her go.”
“Ah, little brother… You look like shit.”
“Terrance, seriously. Let Sam go. She has nothing to do with this.”
“On the contrary,” he said, taking a glance at the lethal drop just behind him. “She’s my bargaining chip out of here.”
“What do you want?” Kris asked.
My brother gritted his teeth. “A clean passport, ten million dollars, and a ticket to anywhere in the world.”
“Fine,” Adam said. “Now let her go.”
Terrance pointed his gun at him and shook his head. “I’ll let her goafterI have everything I need.”
I took another step forward. All I needed was to get close enough to grab Sam. “Let me help you,” I said. “Let me bring you home. We can forget all about this. We can start over. Please. It doesn’t have to be like this.”
He pointed the gun at me next and I froze. “Don’t lie to me, Liam. That’ll only piss me off more.”
“Why did you do it? Tell me why you went rogue.”
“You’re so damn devoted, you know that? Too fucking trusting and loyal. It makes you blind to the truth. The people who made us who we are… The people who trained us into killing machines, they don’t actually care about us.”
“Terrance, calm down.”
“Do you know how many of my brothers have died in the name of their country? Do you know how many of my brothers were lost to the system, forgotten by a government that doesn’t care if they fall through the cracks? You were lucky, Liam. You and your team got out alive, but mine…” He gritted his teeth, his eyes bloodshot and glossed over with furious tears. “I learned too late that the only one you can trust is yourself. I make my own way in this world. Nobody else gets to tell me what to do. Never again.”
I inhaled sharply. This was deteriorating too fast. “Terrance, look at me. Step away from the ledge. Let Sam go. We’ll all walk away from this. Nobody has to get hurt.”
“Nobody tells me what to do!” he screamed.
My heart ached. I didn’t recognize him anymore. My brother was too far gone.
