Just a breath.
“Jesus Christ,” I whisper, my stomach feeling like it’s dropped through the floor. “This is enough. This needs to stop here, and we need to find Grizz.”
I continue to back toward the door, needing to make it a few more steps before I can reach for the handle and throw it open.
Victoria jumps up off the barstool, raising her gun again. “Don’t move!”
I take another step back despite the warning. “This needs to end, Victoria!”
“You’re right,” she answers, her voice cracking as tears fill her eyes. “That’s exactly why we’re here. To end this and make everything go back to the way it was.”
Realization hits, and it feels like a bucket of ice has been tossed over my head.
She didn’t bring me here to try and protect me.
This isn’t another attempt at convincing me to leave town.
To walk away.
To end this and make everything go back to the way it was.
“You want to erase me and Jovie.” Pins and needles. That’s the only thing I can feel, my skin alive with electric energy. “Youmight be able to get rid of me, but Grizz will never let you touch Jovie. You know that. I know that.”
There’s a creak behind me and I spin around, praying that the mention of his name had just manifested the man into thin air.
But it’s not Grizz.
Sarah stands in the double doorway, illuminated by the red glow from the lanterns hanging in the street. She steps forward, letting the doors close behind her with an empty expression, her eyes blank.
My first instinct is to put space between us, but I fight it, refusing to retreat, my feet stay cemented in place.
I can’t let her see that I’m scared.
“Sarah,” Victoria says cautiously as she approaches, stepping around me to stand beside her daughter. “Look, it’s under control. Let’s just?—”
“Give me the gun, Mom.” Sarah holds my gaze as she makes the demand, holding her hand out for the weapon.
It’s bizarre, staring at the woman in front of me.
I know it’s Sarah—the girl I work with, who I’ve built a relationship with, and who I’ve trusted with my child—but I swear this person is a stranger. The way she speaks and moves is all different, like someone else is controlling her body. The thought makes my skin crawl.
Victoria hesitates, her hand gripping the revolver tighter. “Sarah, just listen?—”
“Now,” Sarah says sternly, gritting her teeth. “I promise I understand what’s going on. I’m not going to make any rash decisions. I just need the gun so that Brynn will focus on me and not you.”
It takes a breath, but Victoria soon passes the revolver to her daughter. Her hand shakes slightly as she turns it, holding the handle out first for Sarah to take hold of.
“Thank you,” Sarah murmurs, wrapping her hand around the cool steel, and for the first time, she takes her eyes off me. Turning toward Victoria. “We’ve always done things your way, but it’s obvious now that girls will keep coming, and we can’t keep trying to drive them out of town and away from my man.”
Victoria nods. “There has to be a better way, I’m really proud of you for understand?—”
There’s a flash, and a deafening crack in the air that has me stumbling backward.
My ears ring, and I press my hands against them, finding my footing just in time to see Victoria’s body hit the floor, the vibrations rolling across the room like a shockwave.
Sarah lowers the gun with a heavy sigh, letting it fall to her side casually, as if its just a prop and weighs nothing. “It’s getting a little hot in here, don’t you think?” she says, nodding toward the back door. “Let’s get some fresh air.”
“Sarah…”
