She was tense, her weight shifted slightly to her right foot.

Her grip on the gun was firm, but her knuckle was white on the trigger.

She was operating on pure adrenaline.

“I didn’t forget, Vanessa,” I said.

“I knew you were dirty the moment you took the handler job.”

“I just had to wait for you to make a mistake.”

“And this is your last one.”

Vanessa took a step down the stairs, dragging Lily with her.

“We’re walking out to that plane,” Vanessa said.

“You’re going to stand right there and watch us take off.”

“If you move so much as a finger, she dies.”

Grant watched us both, his chest heaving as he slowly backed toward the laptop again.

“Grant, don’t,” I warned without shifting my gaze from Vanessa.

He froze, his hand hovering over the keyboard.

“She’s going to kill us all, Evelyn!” Grant cried out.

“Just let her go!”

“Shut up, you idiot,” Vanessa snapped at him.

She reached the bottom of the stairs, still holding Lily tightly.

The physical distance between us was fifteen yards.