Her Glock now trained on Sean Wescott, Ashley Gilmore walked backward up the aisle toward Gloria.
“You bitch,” he said.
Ashley shrugged. “Sorry, babe, but I can’t be on the run for the rest of my life.”
“You’re giving up a lot of money.”
“No, I’m not. There’s a reward for you. It’s more than enough, and they’ll give me immunity.”
Daniel Marsh didn’t seem to know who to level his weapon on. He kept his pistol aimed at Thomas but he was watching Ashley now, his eyes wide, his jaw working.
Sean said, “Who gave you this deal? Agent Ramirez?” He shook his head. “You’re making a mistake.”
Gloria said, “She contacted me the day you escaped. Said she was supposed to meet up with you and offered you up for immunity and a reward. Truth was, I didn’t believe it because as far as I knew, you didn’t have a girlfriend, but my interest was piqued and I told her to keep in contact. She didn’t until a few hours ago when she texted me this location. We’d been waiting here in the dark for over an hour before you showed up.”
Sean shook his head again in disgust. “You fucking bitch.”
Ashley didn’t say anything. She kept moving backward up the aisle until she had almost reached Gloria.
“That’s far enough,” Gloria said.
Ashley whipped her face back, frowning. “But—”
“Put the gun down.”
Ashley gave Sean one last look before she bent and placed the Glock on the carpet and stood back up and slowly made her way back toward Gloria.
“Stop right there,” Gloria said. Keeping her own weapon leveled on Sean, she used her free hand to give Ashley a quick pat down to ensure she wasn’t carrying any further weapons. “Now go outside with your hands up.”
“But you said—”
“You’ll still get your deal. There are two agents outside. They’ll keep you safe until we get this all sorted out.”
Sean Wescott shouted, “You’re making a mistake.”
As Ashley moved past her, Gloria said, “No, she’s not.”
Sean smiled. There was something cold in his smile, something calculating. His gaze steady with Gloria’s, he said, “I wasn’t talking to her.”
By that point Ashley had grabbed the switchblade she had hidden in her boot, released the blade, and plunged it straight into Gloria's back.
The sudden strike was enough for Gloria’s body to tense and her finger to tighten around the trigger. Her pistol discharged a round that hit Sean Wescott in the chest.
At the same instant, Daniel fired at Thomas who fired a half second later at Daniel. Daniel’s bullet took off the side of Thomas’s face while Thomas’s bullet went straight into Daniel’s neck.
Despite the knife still in her back, Gloria wasn’t down yet. She’d fallen to one knee but managed to keep her balance, enough so that she fired off two more rounds up at the podium.
Sean Wescott had dropped to a knee due to the first shot. He struggled to return several more rounds at Gloria. None of his bullets hit Gloria, though. One of them did hit Ashley in the shoulder. She fell back, then quickly scrambled to her feet, grabbed the knife still in Gloria’s back, yanked it out and went to strike again.
Logan was already advancing up the aisle, his weapon aimed. The moment Ashley went to plunge the knife a second time, he fired two rounds into her chest. But it was too late. The knife drove deep into the top of Gloria’s spinal column.
Janine and Samuel hurried into the chapel, their weapons raised, to find Logan standing in the middle of the aisle, moving in a circle.
The two agents stopped short to take in the carnage.
“What happened?” Janine said.
Logan shook his head. It was clear both Gloria and Ashley were dead, as were Thomas and Daniel. The only one still alive was Sean Wescott, up on the podium, lying half on the cross, wheezing. The Colt had fallen from his hand when he fell and lay several feet away.
When Logan stepped up onto the podium, Sean smiled at him, blood in his mouth. He kept wheezing. His right hand, the one holding the key, lifted slowly, shaking, as if a peace offering to Logan.
Logan took the key.
Sean only nodded. His wheezing grew shallower. He lay there half on the cross, blood oozing from his chest, and stared up at Logan until his eyes lost focus and he stopped breathing completely.