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“I know. Stop hitting me.” I slam on the breaks before the turn, not eager to roll my truck in my hurry. “Did he say if Tucker followed her there?”
“He didn’t. Wait hold on, he’s calling. I’ll put it on speaker.” He must click the call through because he doesn’t have time to say hello before Nick’s voice fills the cab.
“Rhett! Get over here now! There’s some guy with a gun and he’s headed for my shop. I think I saw Sunny go in there. I don’t do guns, you know that. I’m a lover, not a fighter.”
So much for all those Asian stereotypes. I’ve got the Asian friend without a martial arts background.
“We’re about a minute from your place. The guy, he’s got dark hair? Drives a black sedan?”
“No, silver SUV, and a killer jab. I swear he busted my nose.” He groans like he’s still in pain. “I’m going around the back. Maybe I can distract him or something. Buy her a little time to escape. Be careful, Rhett, this guy is bad news.”
We’re close enough that I can make out the outline of the shop close to the road. If it’s not Tucker following her, I worry it might be Monroe. It doesn’t matter, anyone who wants to hurt her will have to go through me.
I plan to protect her with my life.
Sunny
I stay low, but the second I hear his feet outside, I start controlling my breath. Ironic that he taught me all of this. Ironic to have to use it to survive my own stepbrother’s attack.
“Eliza.” His patience has faded to zero. “I’m done playing around. You need to come out and face what you’ve done. No more games. No more running.”
He thinks I did it, or he’s planning to gaslight me into believing I did it. I don’t know anymore. I feel lost and alone. Terrified. My feet slip in dust on the floor, releasing a sound into the air.
He doesn’t hesitate.
He doesn’t waste a second.
I find my feet as he comes around the corner. Anderson grabs my arm. I try the wrist break he taught me, but he uses my inertia to throw me forward. I slam against the car, bouncing back, neck whiplashing. I collapse to the floor, but I scramble for my feet again. Anderson’s hands grab and claw, trying to contain me, but I don’t plan to go without a fight. I draw my foot in and kick as hard as I can. I connect with his shoulder, propelling him away from me long enough to fumble to my feet. I tear around the back of the shop, running for the back exit.
“Eliza!” The new voice stops me dead in my tracks. Tucker stands ready, gun raised and level again. “Freeze or I’ll shoot!”
I stand steady, eyes clenched shut, bracing myself for the end.
“Tucker! Put down the weapon!” Anderson raises his own gun to point at his younger brother.
I open my eyes enough to see the shock on Tucker’s face that Anderson found me as well. Tucker’s weapon shifts to his brother, but the second I take a step, it comes back at me. My heart can’t possibly go any faster without triggering a heart attack. It echoes in my head, beats against my ribcage, reverberates through my hands like a dark omen of what’s to come. A bead of sweat runs between my shoulder blades. Their arguing turns fuzzy in my ears, like trying to hear someone from the other end of a long tunnel. I’m ready to surrender, ready to be done, just so I can stop running. If turning myself over to them means rest, I’d gladly give in. I’m too tired, too alone to see this through.
“Sunny.” The harsh whisper curls around me. I snap out of my haze, the noise and commotion rushing back at once. “Sunny.” It sounds again and I search out the source.
Peeking out from the side of his workbench, Nick motions for me to run for it. My darting eyes bounce between my two stepbrothers, still locked in their argument at gunpoint. Hoping they won’t miss me, I start running for the exit and Nick.
The shot explodes at once. Plaster flings from the wall where the bullet landed. I don’t even know whose gun fired, but my feet freeze as my scream shreds my vocal cords. When I face my stepbrothers, both guns have turned on me.
“Where’s the gun? Where are the pictures?” Anderson’s eyes hold rage like I’ve never seen from him. These weeks he’s spent searching have taken a toll. “I’m done playing around.”
“We’re bringing you in, Eliza.” Tucker’s voice holds steady. “Anderson is right, you need to pay for your crimes.”
A soft sob overtakes me, crumbling me forward, but I keep my arms up. With Nick mere feet away and the exit calling me, it feels cruel to have to give up at this point, but there’s no escaping them.
“Her crimes?” His voice feels like thunder to a valley desperate for rain. Rhett shoves the door open. “What about you two? I’d hardly say you’re innocent in this whole thing.”
The guns shift to the new threat, but Rhett doesn’t look nervous. He stares them down with the same steady strength I’ve come to expect from him.
“I met someone today. He’s got evidence that points to one of you attempting murder against Dr. Walter Hutchings.”
Tucker shakes his head. “Not attempting, she did it. I was trying to bring her in without guns, but she forced my hand. Eliza killed him. The gun will prove that.”
My prints are on it, I’m sure of that. I’ve seen the memory of the gun resting in my hand more than I want to admit, but never once in those memories were my fingers curled around the grip. My mind tugs at me, urging me to let go. I never have. I’ve never been willing to relive that day in its fullness. I fight against the pull, too scared to know if I killed him. The sadness overtakes me, drowning me like a wave of grief at what I lost that day. Whether I pulled the trigger or not, I feel at fault. I killed my father.
