Her eyes, his lies

Final Chapter

Yet another gunshot filled the basement as Jackson lurched sideways, his hand still gripping the pistol. Victoria cried out, collapsing onto her stomach. All the while, Jane's hand repeated its motion over and over, like a broken locomotive. Again and again, she stabbed, a wet squelch with every jerk of the blade into Jackson's throat.

Joss was shouting wordlessly, rifle raised in his shaky hands, eyes darting around the room.

There was nothing within Jane's mind. Only a singular command, repeating ad nauseam inside her cranium. Stop Jackson. Protect her loved ones.

Jackson had dropped the pistol in panic, instead shielding himself with both arms, just barely able to fend off Jane's swings. Red lines crisscrossed his forearms as they deflected each blow.

Jane realized she was screaming, a breathless roar that embodied a hatred she didn't even know she had been feeling. Jackson was bucking beneath her, struggling to escape, but found it impossible under her onslaught.

And once again, Watson's arms were around her, pulling her off, shouting her name.

The knife, she realized, had broken at some point. The thin metal had splintered apart as it hit bone, and she had been stabbing with what was left. No wonder Jackson was still alive.

"Jane!" Ryder's voice cut through the red in her mind, like lightning through water. Dazed, she turned to him, eyes wide, hands shaking. She could not see herself, but a familiar stickiness in her hands was telling. She was covered in blood.

"Jane, it's okay." Ryder didn't seem to care about the blood as he enveloped her in his arms, squeezing tightly. The shattered knife fell from her hands, clanging against the stone beneath.

It was surreal, Ryder's comforting embrace around her as Jackson's every breath gurgled from the floor. A slowly spreading pool was surrounding the crime lord, both of his hands pressed against a multitude of shallow wounds on his neck. Clearly, Jane had missed anything vital.

Around Ryder's shoulders, Jane could see that Watson had Joss at gunpoint against the wall, the teenager's arms raised above his head.

"You guys know we got an army up in here, right?" Joss said, snidely.

Jane could not see his face, but the smugness was evident in Watson's voice. "I was counting on it."

As if on cue, the alarms went off once more in the compound, the basement sinking into the red-hued emergency lighting of the security systems. Ryder let go of Jane, startled.

A wet laughter was coming from between them. Jackson was pulling himself into a sitting position, both hands still stemming the blood flow from his neck. "Let me guess, Allyson, federal law enforcement?"

A smile crept over Watson's face as he turned. "You're god damn right. With the info on that watch, we've got all we need to take you down."

Jackson returned the smile, his teeth specked with blood. A ball of ice rolled through Jane's stomach as she glanced lower, at his hands, both of which were clasped around his wounds.

"No. The watch. There's no watch. Where's your watch?!" Jane shouted.

Watson's face fell as he stooped and pressed Jackson against the wall, hands rifling through his pockets with urgency. "No..."

A multitude of gunshots erupted from the floor above them, the sounds of shattered glass and flash-bang grenades erupting through the basement ceiling. The sounds of battle. Jackson's men were clearly putting up a fight.

More squelching laughter from Jackson. "You see, you four attacked me in my own home. You have nothing to charge me with. No evidence. I'm just an innocent politician. My men will deny any connection with me. In the eyes of the law, you're the criminals here."