73

Although Liana had only known Frank for a matter of hours, she felt strangely at home by his side. During their time together, Frank had been shot at, cut, burned, and nearly bled to death. Through it all, Liana never witnessed him show even a hint of concern. But now, as he sat on the plank flooring, slumped against a wall, he looked deeply troubled. The thought of something that could bother Frank even a little filled her with panic.

Liana knelt down in front of him and asked, “What does that signal really mean?”

He looked up at her, and she saw that his cheeks were soaked with tears. “It means that my little sister is dead. And John Canyon is the man behind it. It means that Marcus and I will now initiate Plan C.”

“What’s Plan C?”

“The whole point of this standoff was to distract Canyon while my brother searched the ranch and wherever else he needed to. My job here was to keep all the little bees busy while Marcus snuck into the hive to see if they had stolen our queen.”

Liana wondered why Frank always seemed to talk in riddles and analogies, and she wasn’t sure what it said about her that she was starting to understand them.

He continued, “The red flare indicates that my brother either found her body for some other evidence that tells him that Canyon is responsible for her disappearance.”

“I’m sorry about your friend.”

“So am I.”

“What now?”

Frank said, “As I already indicated, we move forward with Plan C.”

“But what is Plan C?”

“The one that comes after Plan B.”

She growled in frustration and said, “Can you give me the details?”

“I’ll get close to Canyon and his men using one of the hostages. While I will distract them with a little talk, my brother will attack from the other side.”

“Won’t they be expecting that with the flare going up?”

Ackerman smiled. “Don’t worry. My brother and I are pretty good in a fight, and although every situation is fluid, we have several tricks up our sleeves.”

“What about me? What do I do?”

“You lay low and hope that my brother and I don’t get ourselves killed. If we do, you’ll have the other four hostages for leverage, but after I take Tobias out with me, I’m not sure how much leverage they’ll be.”

“I’m not going to do nothing while the two of you take on a whole platoon. What about the .50 cal rifle? How much ammo do we have for that?”

Frank shook his head. “I won’t allow it.”

“I can make my own decisions, thank you.”

Looking deep into her eyes, his still glistening with the tears of a lost loved one, he asked, “Have you ever killed anyone, Liana?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“How many times have you drawn your weapon?”

“Only a few. But I think I’ve proven that I can handle myself tonight.”

“It’s not about handling yourself. I’m telling you this to protect you. If you’ve never taken a life, there’s no reason to start now.”

“What about you? I don’t think they’re going to roll over and play dead for you.”

“I’m going to do what I have to do because my brother will also be down there and the same men that will be shooting at me will also be shooting at him. I’ll do my best only to maim them, but I have a feeling that there may be some casualties this evening. However, that’s beside the point. This isn’t my first rodeo. With the number of people that I’ve killed, a couple more ghosts on my conscience isn’t going to make a difference one way or another. But it would start you on a road that you don’t want to go down.”

“Those men out there are killers, every one of them. Some of them might be young, but trust me, I’ve seen the things that those boys will do to women. I’ve seen the hatred in their eyes. Right now, they’re camped out there with illegal weapons threatening to kill an officer of the law and federal agents, and as far as I’m concerned, that justifies anything that we have to do in order to protect ourselves and any innocents that might get in the way.”

“Have you seen what a .50 BMG caliber bullet will do to a human being, Liana? It shreds them. It doesn’t put a hole in them; it blows them apart. As if you walked up and stuffed a grenade down someone’s throat. And don’t be so quick to dismiss those boys out there. There is no one, and I mean no one, who is beyond redemption. By taking their lives, we are interfering with a beautiful story that has yet to be told.”

Standing firm, she said, “I know what I’m doing. I don’t want to take a life or hurt anyone, but I also won’t stand by and let men like John Canyon take away the things I care about and believe in. I’m going to fight, whether you like it or not, so you might as well tell me how I can help. As far as I’m concerned, by going up against the law in the first place and threatening our lives, every one of those men out there is trying to commit suicide by cop.”

He laughed. “I’m the furthest thing from a cop, but Suicide by Ackerman does have a certain ring to it.”

Liana’s eyes went wide as her brain caught on that name. Ackerman. The name of one of the most notorious murderers in American history. She looked down where his scars were now covered, and everything made sense. There was a sort of awe in her voice when she proclaimed, “You’re Francis Ackerman Jr.”

With a wink, he said, “Pleasure to meet you, Officer Liana Nakai. But don’t go spreading that around, it’s classified information. And this only serves to reiterate my point. Remember, when you’re sighting in with that life-ending rifle, that there was no one in history whoever deserved redemption less than me. Yet, here I stand.”