Page 126 of Lethal Weakness

I reach for Avery’s favorite sequined purse, and dump it onto the floor. Nothing stands out, but when I squeeze it between my hands, I feel the hard plastic of a tracking device slipped between the inner fabric.

“Leave us alone, Turner. You can have a clean break now. Just go.”

“My parents will never let me be. Not until they get their precious daughter back.”

“Who cares about their daughter! This is your daughter, and you’re scaring her.”

He laughs maniacally and stands, making us all shift closer to the kitchen. “You’re the one who said I wasn’t deserving to be her father. So what is it, Linden? Am I her daddy or not? Just when it’s convenient for you, huh?”

“You know that isn’t fair.”

He takes slow, lobbing steps down to the main level, and I put myself between Avery and Kay.

“None of this is fucking fair!” He yells, clawing at his hair.

“So what’s your plan? What? Take us back to your parents? I don’t understand what you want.” I take another step back.

“No… You’re no use to us anymore, Linden. We just need the girl.”

“The girl? Listen to yourself. She’s a child. Your child. She loves you.”

“No.” He shakes his head. “She loves you. So we might as well cut the cord now while she’s young.” He lifts his arm, pointing his gun in my direction, and my entire body goes still. Kay gasps behind me, and I pray that Avery isn’t looking.

“Please, not in front of her,” I beg.

His chest rises sharply as he contemplates my request, and I see a peek of humanity still buried deep inside of him.

Until he suddenly shifts his shoulder to aim his gun directly at Kay.

“No!” I gasp, jumping in front of his gun’s path.

Turner tilts his head in annoyance. “What are you going to do, Linden? Take a bullet for an old lady?”

“She doesn’t deserve any of this. I brought this mess here!”

“You’re right. You did. If you would have just stayed where you were meant to, all of this would be over. No one would have died. My parents’ patients would still be alive. And I wouldn’t be here cleaning this up!” He yells.

“I’m sorry,” I cry. “I’m so sorry, Turner.”

My apology makes him hesitate.

“If I had been a better wife, you wouldn’t be dealing with this. If I was a better daughter-in-law to your parents, we could have avoided this.”

“What are you doing? Don’t try to trick me.”

“I’m not. I wanted us to be a family. Remember? We wanted to be happy.” I take a step towards him, and he falters slightly, but doesn’t lower the gun.

“All I’ve ever wanted is for Avery to be happy. That’s all I want. Don’t you want that too?” I plead softly, standing right in front of him and his raised arm.

“My parents don’t want to hurt her. My mom only wants her to compare to their research. She wants Avery to be the blueprint.”

“Do you really believe that? After all that they’ve done… All the people they’ve hurt…”

His gun dips mere inches, and I take another step, wrapping my arms around his shoulders in a hug. “We can still do this together. We can be a family.”

“Really?”

“Of course. We said vows, remember?” I utter softly.