Brook didn’t wait for Sheriff Donovan to respond. Kyle had already pushed open the door, the frigid air rushing in through the opening, carrying swirling snowflakes that melted immediately on the warm floor. She drew her weapon as she moved toward Theo, who had immediately made his way to the exit.
“Ready?” Theo rested his hand on the silver bar.
“Go.”
The blast of cold air slammed into her as she stepped outside. Without her jacket, the winter chill cut through her blazer instantly, numbing her exposed skin. Heavy snow blanketed the parking lot in white, the flakes continuing to fall in thick, silent sheets that reduced visibility to twenty yards at best. The darkness beyond the building's exterior lights seemed absolute, the night swallowing everything beyond their immediate surroundings.
Kyle was dragging Faith across the icy surface, his pace hampered by her panicked struggle to get away. Her bootsslipped repeatedly on the slick surface, causing her to stumble. Each time she fell behind, Kyle yanked her forward with enough force to nearly topple her completely.
“Kyle!” Theo called out, his voice carrying clearly in the winter stillness. “Think about what you're doing to Faith right now!”
Kyle didn't turn or slow his stride, but Faith's head snapped toward them, her face streaked with tears that had already begun to freeze on her cheeks.
“Kyle, stop. Please. Tell me this isn't happening! Tell me they're wrong about you!”
“They don't understand,” Kyle replied, his voice almost lost in the soft hiss of falling snow. “No one understands.”
Brook continued to advance forward, maintaining her aim while watching for patches of ice. Her fingers had already grown stiff with cold, making her hyperaware of her trigger discipline. Theo mirrored her movements on the opposite side, creating a flanking position that gave them both clear lines of sight.
“There's nowhere to go, Kyle,” Brook stated, the fog of her breath punctuating each word. “It’s over. Think of Faith.”
Something in her words caused Kyle to stop abruptly. For a moment, he remained motionless, snow gathering on his shoulders and in his hair. Then, with a deliberate slowness that sent unease through Brook's bloodstream, he turned to face them.
Faith cried out as he released her wrist, only to wrap his arm around her neck, pulling her back against his chest. The deputy's gun pressed against her temple as he stared at Brook and Theo over Faith's shoulder.
“You ruined it. You ruined her. She won’t look at me like I’m everything now.”
Brook maintained her stance, weapon trained on Kyle's head, searching for an angle that wouldn't endanger Faith. The snowbetween them continued to fall, creating a shifting curtain that complicated her sight picture.
“All I wanted was for everyone else to see Loretta the way I did. She saved me. She paid attention to me.”
Faith's sobbing intensified, her body trembling against Kyle's chest.
“Loretta saw me in a way no one else did,” Kyle continued, his words taking on a rhythmic, almost rehearsed quality. “She taught me the meaning of beauty. Life's beauty, and she was taken too soon.”
Brook recognized the deteriorating pattern in Kyle's speech. His fractured logic, the emotional spiraling that preceded either surrender or a final, desperate act. She maintained her aim, hoping for an opening that might not come.
“I wasn't ready to lose her,” Kyle admitted, his voice dropping to an intimate tone that seemed directed at Faith rather than his pursuers. “Or you. I was only trying to recreate her in death. To preserve what made her special. You showed me another way, though. Don’t you see that, Faith?”
Faith's gaze met Brook's across the distance, her eyes filled with horror as the reality of what her husband had done finally penetrated her denial. Kyle pressed his lips against the side of her head in a gesture of remorse that caused Brook's muscles to tense with anticipation. The tenderness of the action contrasted sharply with the weapon still pressed against Faith's temple.
“I'm sorry. So sorry,” Kyle murmured into Faith's hair. He was completely fixated on her, not noticing a pair of headlights slicing through the swirling snow or the sound of an engine cutting through the cold air. “I never wanted you to know. You’re everything to me, just like Loretta. I am so sorry, Faith. So, so sorry.”
Kyle’s apology wasn't a prelude to surrender.
It was a goodbye.
They had seconds, perhaps less, before Kyle squeezed the trigger. Fortunately, Sylvie and Bit realized they needed to approach with caution. They had left the van on the other side of the row of parked vehicles. They quickly emerged from opposite sides, keeping at least five vehicles in between them.
“Loretta meant a lot to you, Kyle,” Brook called out, needing to buy them a little more time. “As does Faith, because you didn’t have to kill anymore. You had a living, breathing reminder of the woman whom you admired most in this world. Isn’t that right?”
Sylvie had her weapon drawn, resting her arms on the hood of an SUV. She had found her window of opportunity, so Brook took another step to her left, widening the distance between herself and Theo.Kyle adjusted his stance to keep them both in his line of sight, inadvertently presenting his profile to Sylvie's position.
Her breath created small clouds in the frigid air, but they evened out as she prepared to take the shot. The narrow angle would allow a shot at Kyle with minimal risk to Faith.
“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see,” Kyle whispered, as if he were quoting someone. “I hope you see me the way you have our entire marriage, Faith.”
The pressure of the gun against his wife’s temple increased, causing her to whimper. Kyle's finger tensed on the trigger. Before he applied pressure, the crack of Sylvie's shot split the night air.
