Wilder saw Bryce straighten up holding Althea's gun pointed at Nash, and yelled, "Get down. "

Althea hit the dirt and Bryce jerked in surprise and fell over backward as Wilder spun away from the clusterfuck by the boat to face the swamp and the ghost, snapping his sniper rifle up as he saw a muzzle flash in the blackness fifty yards away, past Lucy and Pepper. He fired on instinct, sending his own round directly into the flash. A second muzzle flash split the darkness, but this one was long and upright, firing into the air, and Wilder knew he'd hit the ghost, who'd tumbled backward as he'd fired a second time. Wilder fired two more quick rounds for insurance, then he spun about once more, going to one knee, in Nash's direction.

Lucy pushed herself off Pepper and pulled the little girl to her feet as she sprinted down the road, away from J.T., which was just so wrong, not knowing who had shot who, only knowing she had to get Pepper out of there. Then the helicopter was landing, LaFavre setting it down on firm ground, and she ran under the blades, not even thinking about it this time, desperate to get Pepper inside.

"What happened?" LaFavre yelled.

"Take her," Lucy said and shoved Pepper up into the copter.

"No, Aunt Lucy," Pepper sobbed, holding out her arms to her, and Lucy yelled, "Be brave, be Wonder Woman, I have to get J.T.," and ran back down the berm, hell-bent for leather with her submachine gun in her hand, heading for the lantern glow where J.T. was facing down the bad guys alone.

She ran straight into Althea, who was crouching while running along the berm. Althea grabbed her and said, "They kidnapped me, Lucy, it wasn't my fault," as Lucy asked, "Where's J.T.?"

"I don't know. I ran when everyone started shooting." Althea looked around. "I don't even know where we are."

"Road's right there." Lucy pointed up the berm. "Follow it back the way I came and you'll see a helicopter. You can hear it, right? Get in. The pilot likes big boobs." And you're one of the biggest boobs I know. She tried to get around Althea to get to J.T. but the actress held on.

"You know," Althea said. "I really think you're a great director, and I'd love to work with you again-"

Lucy shoved her in the direction of the helicopter and took off running, hoping that nobody was bleeding into the dirt up ahead since there hadn't been any more gunfire-

She ran full into Bryce, who wasn't even pretending to crouch.

"Lucy!" he said, grabbing on to her. "I almost got shot."

"Helicopter," she said, shoving him past her. "That way."

Then she ran on to the end of the road.

Wilder could feel insanity radiating off Nash, who was now alone on the gravel road, slowly walking toward him, closing the gap. Nash's gun was still in its holster, and Wilder realized Nash hadn't drawn while his back was turned because he wanted a goddamn showdown. Wilder let the sniper rifle drop in the dirt to gain Lucy and Pepper time to escape as he faced Nash.

High Noon, Wilder thought, feeling the weight of the Glock in his thigh holster.

The townsfolk had cleared out, the flunkies were done in, and it was man on man. I'm the good guy. Will Kane wins.

Except Nash believed in this shit and had prepared for it. Wilder knew there was no way he could get the Glock out of its thigh rig before Nash had his gun clear of the quick-draw rig.

Shouldn't have made fun of that. "You already shot me once," he called. "Wasn't that enough?"

"But you didn't die," Nash said. "The minute you stepped on that fucking bridge that first day, I should have shot you down. You ruined everything."

"You were never going to get the jade, Nash," Wilder said. "The CIA was watching from the beginning, trying to get Letsky. That's where those cucumbers came from. Cut your losses-"

"I don't lose," Nash said, his voice dead. He stopped fifteen feet away and lowered his head. "Draw, asshole."

Fuck, Wilder thought, I'm dead, and then Lucy stumbled onto the berm and brought up the submachine gun, and Nash turned just a fraction of a fraction toward her as she sprayed bullets into the dirt at his feet and Wilder went for his Glock.

Nash corrected, his hand a flash for the butt of his revolver, and Wilder squeezed off two shots as he brought the Glock up, the first too soon but hitting Nash in the leg as the stuntman fired, knocking his shot off by a fraction, the second right beside it, kicking Nash's entire body backward.

Wilder held the Glock level, staring at Nash's body, his finger tense on the trigger, waiting for any sign of life. Nothing.

fie removed his finger from the trigger and walked forward.

His hot load had gone right through Nash's vest and into his heart.

"Oh, God." Lucy dropped her gun, and then she was in his arms. "Are you all right?" she said, as he held on to her. "I couldn't leave you. Not alone, you said we were a team, I couldn't-"

He kissed her hard and she kissed him back and he thought, That was too damn close, and held her tight.

"I couldn't leave you," she said again into his neck. "Ever, I couldn't leave you."

He drew a deep breath. "I know."

She looked back at Nash's body. "So it's over, right?"

"It's over," Wilder said.

"I should feel sorry for him," she said. "I was married to him, but he took my Pepper and I can't. I'm just glad he's dead."

"I know."

She turned back to him. "What about the ghost? Is he-"

"I hit him," Wilder said. "He's either dead or gone. I'm betting dead." He pulled her along the road toward the helicopter. "Let's call Crawford in to clean up this mess and then go home."

"We don't have a home," Lucy said, sounding exhausted. "I gave my loft to Gloom. All we have is a helicopter and a camper."

"Well then, let's go make a home," Wilder said and pushed her ahead of him down the road, away from what was left of Nash.

LaFavre lifted the chopper off the ground, and Lucy held Pepper close, rocking her a little as they cleared the swamp. Pepper had stopped crying, LaFavre working his magic on her, and then Althea cuddling her until Lucy got back but then she'd climbed into Lucy's lap so fast she'd almost fallen off the other side. J.T. was next to them, and Pepper was holding on to his camouflage shirt with one hand even as she curled herself closer to Lucy. Bryce was seated cross-legged on the floor, somewhere between relieved and aggrieved, and Althea was in front, in the copilot's seat, leaning toward LaFavre.

"I was very scared," Pepper said, close to sobbing.

"I know," Lucy said, "but you were very brave."

"Yes, you were," J.T. said, and put his arms around them both. "You were like Wonder Woman."

"I even got tied up," Pepper said, straightening a little as her almost-sobs turned to sniffs.

"Just like Wonder Woman," Lucy said.

"Yeah," Pepper said, dragging a dirty hand across her dirtier cheek, keeping J.T.'s shirt clutched in the other. She sniffed again, but she seemed distracted, and when J.T. patted her back, she let her head rest on his arm, much calmer.

"You know," Bryce said, from his seat on the floor, with a glance up front, "I never told People who I was marrying. I just hinted."

Lucy took her eyes off Pepper long enough to feel sorry for him, dirty and mosquito-chewed while his ex-fiancee flirted with the guy in the great flight jacket. "Mary Vanity is saving up for new boobs just for you."

"Boobs?" Pepper said.

Bryce looked touched. "She's a great girl."

"Gonna be greater," J.T. said, and started to laugh.

Lucy put her cheek on Pepper's hair and hugged her closer. She was going to laugh again, too. As soon as she could do it without crying. There was no crying in Special Forces.