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.

In the front seat, Althea leaned farther toward LaFavre, her camisole pulled even lower than usual. "Do you carry a weapon?"

For crying out loud, he's flying the helicopter, Lucy thought, but LaFavre just grinned at her, his eyes hidden behind the night-vision goggles.

"I sure do, darlin'," he said. "Want to see it?"

Lucy nudged J.T. "Aren't you going to warn him?"

"Yeah," J.T. said. "I'm gonna tell him if he's not careful, she's going to show up naked in his bed and touch his gun."

Lucy started to laugh and felt the tears start instead. "Oh, God."

"Hey," J.T. said, his voice soft. He tugged gently on her braid and then kissed her cheek. "It's okay."

"I should get lots of Wonder Woman stuff for this," Pepper said from between them, her voice still a little quivery. "I was very brave."

"Yes, you were," Lucy said, forcing back the tears. "So was I. I should get lots of stuff, too."

"Plan on it," J.T. said.

She looked at him, so close in the dark, the same grim, monosyllabic guy who'd walked onto her bridge four days ago, and thought, Will Kane. And he loves me. Who knew? and began to smile.

"Hold on, my friends," LaFavre called out and banked the chopper toward the roadway of the Eugene Talmadge Memorial Bridge. They flew over all the flashing police and fire-truck lights and the still burning armored car, right between the lines of cables, underneath the two towers.

"Wow!" Pepper said, straightening, and J.T. grinned at her.

"Do you use hot loads?" Althea asked LaFavre.

"Me marrying a makeup girl," Bryce said. "It's like Pretty Woman. Without the hooker."

"I deserve a lot of Wonder Woman stuff," Pepper said.

"Me too," J.T. said.

Lucy started to laugh.

"Hey," J.T. said, trying to look wounded and grinning instead.

"Not you," Lucy said. "It's just that I can hear them playing my song." She leaned toward him and kissed him hard.

"Lots of good stuff," Pepper said, and snuggled down between them.

It was weird being shot. Tyler wasn't used to it. It slowed him down considerably, especially with the swamp full of people, probably looking for him. Maybe he shouldn't have shot at the Actor, but it had been instinct, just like he'd been trained.

He slogged on through the swamp, moving slower now, finally stopping to lean against a mudbank. He just couldn't figure how he'd missed. He'd never missed before. Ever. Put the crosshairs on them and they died, and he'd had the crosshairs on the Actor, the dumb shit who'd picked up that gun-

Then he remembered the Kid knocking over the rifle, the scope hitting the ground. The scope. Knocked out of alignment by that fucking Kid.

Luck's running out, he thought, and slumped against the dirt mound, watching his blood seep into the water. Lots of blood. He couldn't stop it anymore. And he was so cold. Cold as Moot. No, colder. Cold as Finnegan.

He heard a splash and saw the V in the water, one eye coming toward him.

Women, he thought as the swamp grew dark before his eyes.

Always wanting a piece of you.