“And now, dearest Young, I leave you. I’m going to take Jessica’s inheritance. Don’t think she’ll be needing it anymore… Goodbye.” Kevin’s finger began to tighten around the trigger…

Mess moved almost imperceptibly, wincing with the effort, and scooped up Kevin’s discarded revolver. He lifted it, hand shaking. “Fuck you, Kevin. Nobody’s getting that money.”

They both fired at the same time. The concussion nearly ruptured my ears, but that didn’t matter now. My chest was on fire. My heart was struggling to beat, but the blood just flowed down my shirt.

Kevin hit the floor with a sick thud, landing next to Marli.

Mess and I locked eyes, knowing our end was near. “I’m sorry,” he said. “It was nothing personal.”

“I understand,” I managed to choke. “For a dame like that, I’d have done the same thing.”

Mess smiled, coughed, then breathed his last.

What a dame, I thought, as my vision blurred. Funny, I swear I heard a doorbell.

The entire world went black as my body’s organs ground to a halt.