A tall, shadowed form appeared. When he joined me, I recognized him from earlier in the day.

“Tell me, Shelby. Who told you about me?”

“I have my ways. You followed me this morning, and I want to know why and who you are.”

“There’s a BOLO out on you. I’m FBI.”

Clarity hit me. “Get out of here,” I whispered. “You’ve walked into a trap.”

He jerked and blood spurted from his chest before I heard a faint sound. I grabbed his shoulders and helped him stagger backward to the ground. Another bullet whizzed past my head.

My end had come.

“I’m sorry.” I pressed my hand over his chest, liquid life oozing through my fingers. A lack of pulse repeated my fear of his death. Where was my final bullet?

“Sis, you did good.” Marissa’s voice brought anger and terror to the surface. She stood about ten feet from the bench.

I’d vowed to bring my sister and her operation to justice, but I drew the line at murder. “Really? Was this necessary?”

“Do you have blood on your party shirt?”

I shivered in the warm night and walked her way. Grief shoved me into a fury difficult to hide. Marissa had killed before. Many times. I followed her into a darker portion of the park.

“Clean off your face and hands.” She tossed me a package of wipes from a plastic bag. “Hurry. I have a clean T-shirt.”

I obeyed, swallowing the urge to vomit. She handed me a T-shirt from the same bag. I shoved my emotions into removing the bloody shirt and wiggling into the clean one. She held out the plastic bag, and I jammed both inside.

“Why shoot at me?” I whispered through clenched teeth.

“To show you who’s the boss. He followed you today, and you neglected to tell me.”

“What clued you in to his identity?”

“After you left this morning, Eli and I followed. We saw him tailing you and put together a plan. Eli asked him if he’d take our pic because selfies were always horrible. I protested, stating I didn’t want anyone touching our phones. Eli played the irritated boyfriend and asked the man if he’d use his phone to take the pic and text Eli with it. He agreed. Once done and we had his phone info, I requested him to delete the pic from his phone. He signed his own death warrant.”

“Thank you. He’d have arrested me and ruined everything.” I despised myself for the insensitive words, the lack of compassion for a dead man.

“Mistakes are a countdown to a bullet. Understand?”

“Yes. Nothing stands in your way.”

She pulled the gun from her back waistband. “I need you to take this.”

I shook my head. “The last time I took a gun from you, I served fifteen years.”

“So you do learn from your mistakes.” She replaced her weapon. “No fingerprints. Having you with me in the business gives me a sense of family. Don’t spoil it.” She pointed to a park light, and we ventured closer. After having me turn around twice, she declared me free of blood. “Eli will clean up the mess back there and dispose of the matter.”