Page 2 of Sinners Reunion

I pat his arm and nod, my lips tight. Nothing more need be said.

He turns to leave, but then he returns to the bed. “Wait . . . let me tell her goodbye.”

I go to leave the room, but he starts talking before I can get to the door, locking me inside this very uncomfortable situation. When I said I’d kill Bennett’s mother, I didn’t agree to listen to final goodbyes. Sentimentality isn’t a feeling I’m privy to, and it’s not something I wish to witness now.

“Hey, Ma,” he says, and I want to disappear.

At least I can turn around so that I don’t have to watch the way he holds her frail hand. I’m crawling out of my own skin.

“When you turn into a ghost, you might not want to hang around me and Cat too much. You might see some things that⁠—”

I literally feel his body turning to see if I’m bloody listening. As if I wanted to be trapped like this.

He drops his voice to a whisper, but it’s not low enough. “We do things with food, okay? It’s not anything I wanted you to know about, but I don’t know what ghosts can see. So just be mindful . . .” His voice cracks. “Okay, Ma?”

Oh, fuck. He’s crying.

“This guy will make it quick,” he says through sniffles. “You won’t be trapped in there anymore. You’ll be free again. Just remember that if you see us grabbing the rubber sheet . . .”

His sniffles slow, and he quiets. I continue my awkward vigil by the door.

“I think I might marry her, Ma. I wish you could have met her. She doesn’t seem like it, but she’s really smart. She’s going to nursing school.” He clears his throat, and when he speaks again, he’s fully regained his composure. “I brought her to see you a few times, but you weren’t home.”

The room falls silent for a beat. Bennett shuffles his feet a few times, trying to figure out how to let go of his mother’s hand. Ezra, Frankie, and Aven have already experienced this moment to varying degrees. Now it’s his turn to learn what it feels like to be parentless in this cruel world.

Bennett draws a deep breath and prepares his final goodbye. “I’m gonna go now, but I know you’ll be with me again soon. Always. Right, Ma?”

The sound of a chaste kiss against a cold cheek shatters what’s left of my heart.

“Okay,” Bennett says. “You can do it now.”

We cross paths, stopping briefly as we meet in the center of the room. We consider what needs to be said, then decide to say nothing is best. He leaves the room, and I continue forward.

The door clicks shut behind me, and I’m alone with her once more.

“What a bad lot you’ve been given,” I whisper as I pull the syringe from my pocket. “I’m sorry for that.” I lower the syringe and look at the ceiling. “Maybe for more than that.”

With a sigh, I raise the IV line and insert the needle into the port.

“You’ll be the first kill of the trip.” I shake my head with a soft laugh as I depress the plunger. “Why can I find no joy in this task?”

My phone vibrates in my pocket. If it’s Bennett asking me to stay my hand, it’s far too late. She was sedated hours ago. This was the kill shot.

Her breathing slows. The death rattle begins. I check my watch.

“He wasn’t kidding about the food,” I whisper down at her as I count the seconds between each intake of air. “Must be another of those genes from his father. He certainly passed on a lot of his worst traits, didn’t he?”

A sad smile slides onto my face when she doesn’t draw the next breath.

“Goodbye.” I glance around the room, remembering Bennett’s ghost wishes. “Goodbye, wherever you are now.”

I pull the sheet over her face and leave the room.

My phone vibrates against my thigh as I’m boarding the elevator. I pull it from my pocket and consider sending Jim to voicemail, but I roll my eyes and answer.

“Yes?”

“Sorry, were you busy?”