You think this ends with you? Victor rasped, voice small now. There are others, my partners. They’ll come for you. Let them, I said. I’ll be waiting. He reached for his pocket again. Maybe for a hidden weapon, maybe a phone. I didn’t wait to find out. I swung the hammer once, low, controlled, straight into his gun hand. The bones shattered like glass under steel.
He screamed, falling sideways. The fight in him finally died. I turned off my night visor. The darkness became real again. Not tactical darkness, but final. Overhead, I heard footsteps. Grant and Ian returning from outside. They burst through the front door, yelling for their father. Victor. Grant shouted. Dad, where? They froze when they saw me standing in the faint fire light.
Their father writhing on the floor. Felix unconscious. Kyle unmoving. Run. Victor whispered to them, blood bubbling on his lip. Run. They didn’t move. They were staring at the hammer in my hand, at the quiet man who looked more ghost than flesh. Ian stumbled backward, tugging Grant by the arm. But Grant stood rooted. “You burned it all,” Grant said.
