Chapter 25

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

RAFAEL

I laugh because it has to be a joke. How much I love my lady , but then Jacob moves so fast, and I realize my mistake. I should've tied him up. He moves like a wild animal, finally permitted to kill. Slinking down, he pushes the chair back against the man behind him, then drives up, grabs the gun, shoots, turns, and shoots again.

I raise my gun a bit too slowly.

No, God. No. This isn't how it was supposed to end. I went through all this effort. I won . I had him—three guns against none.

Then Jacob fires another shot. Time slows. I see all the things I'm going to leave behind. I see all the adventures I'm going to miss. I never should've left home.

Then darkness… I'm so scared. I collapse to the floor, struggling to breathe, struggling to…

From the dark, I hear a voice. If I were a religious man, I'd say it was the devil. "Nobody ever threatens my woman. Nobody ."