Chapter 176

“Shut the fuck up, pip-squeak,” Hector growled at him. “You don’t get a say in this.”

Aspen turned to Tessa then. “Drop the gun. Or the kid loses her head.”

She froze. If she let go of the weapon, she had no illusions. These people didn’t play by any rules, so Hallie would still die. So would she, Trees, and Zy. But how could she help this situation if she refused?

Tessa turned to Zy with a questioning stare.

“Don’t do it, baby.”

“You better fucking do it,” Aspen shouted. “Five seconds.”

The situation was escalating too quickly. Tessa didn’t know how to stop it and she couldn’t think. A thousand thoughts raced through her head. She swallowed. Shoot Johnson? But what if that startled Aspen and she pulled the trigger? She’d already been over the reasons she couldn’t shoot Aspen, and she didn’t see how shooting Cash did any good now except to make everything more tense. They talked to him like he was expendable.

“Now, bitch,” Aspen insisted. “F