The Tears of Odessa (An Atlas Hargrove Thriller Book 1) by Ryan Schow

Author:Ryan Schow [Schow, Ryan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: River City Publishing
Published: 2020-09-08T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-One

ATLAS HARGROVE

Everyone scrambled for cover, but more than a few of the girls were killed right away. All these dying children. Nadia. Even the little one sitting next to Kiera. Atlas was quick into action. Kiera was quicker. She shot to her feet and closed the distance on the shooter before he’d even completed his returning arc. Kiera could have killed the shooter, but instead, she clubbed him across the face with the butt end of her handgun.

The gunman absorbed the blow and blindly lashed out at her. Kiera ducked under a wild haymaker, shot him in the thigh, then threw an uppercut into his chin and fired three more rounds into the front of his shoulder.

Her left hand held a blade he never saw her unsheathe. As the shooter hobbled backwards, she thrust the four-inch knife into his side five times fast, then ripped it out sideways and drove it into his armpit. He gasped, his face full of fear, his entire body twisting in pain.

Glancing up at this beast, indifferent to the pain she was causing, Kiera slowly turned the blade. He winced, and groaned, the look of surprise in his eyes monumental. She pulled out the knife; he staggered backwards.

Kiera could have let the asshole fall down and die; instead, she shot his other arm, swapped the blade for the handgun in a coordinated toss, then plunged the knife into the man’s neck. His mouth fell open, a silent scream caught in the back of his throat. She worked the blade back and forth, and then she slashed it out sideways so hard that arterial blood geysered halfway across the room in violent, pumping spurts.

He crumpled in a heap, his body destroyed, all but dead. Kiera dropped down before him then drove the knife into his chest and leaned on it like a psycho. She then gave it a final, brutal twist before sitting back up and pulling it out.

For a long time, she just sat there, breathing hard and fast. Then slowly, painfully, she turned and looked at the dead girl she’d hugged, almost like she didn’t know how to process the little one’s sudden demise.

Kiera’s body began to tremble as she turned those big green eyes on him. For the first time since he’d met her, Atlas saw something curious. Tears and sorrow. An incredible amount of sadness. Standing up, she stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind her so hard the entire wall shook.

Atlas looked at Cira, who was every bit as stunned as he was.

“Holy shit,” he said, reverent.

“Yeah,” she said.

“Kofi?” Atlas called out.

“Right here,” the man said from behind the couch. To Cira, he said, “Atlas and I will attend to the kids if you want to check on Kiera.”

When Cira made no move to go after Kiera, Atlas went to check on her. Besides, he couldn’t be around any more dead kids. Not if he still wanted to function.

He found Kiera outside sobbing, her head bowed, her entire body trapped in fits and starts.

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