Jaxx’s Point Of View

He laughed then… a raw, throttled thing that didn’t reach his eyes. “You won’t,” he said. “You won’t pull it.”

I let the silence sit heavy, like a curtain. He expected the dramatic halting moment, the moral hesitation. What he didn’t expect was that I’d already decided the play. His surprise would be a seasoning.

“You really think I need to prove it to you?” I murmured. Fingers steady, I raised the pistol with deliberate slowness so he could study ...