“How did you get up here?” The gun was now jerking between being aimed at him and Elyxandre.
She was next to him now, her hands raised to their kidnapper. “This building is old. When they remodeled this portion of the school, they built over the original structure, and they left behind a staircase that was on the other side of the wall, between the stage and the old scene shop that went into the gridand the attic. It’s been sitting there, unused, since they put in wider, safer concrete stairs to this room on the other end of the new scene shop.”
“You shouldn’t be here,” Judah whimpered. “Now things are even worse. It was just supposed to be Ryker I had to deal with. Now I have to deal with both of you too.”
“Why do you have to deal with anyone, Judah? We’re so worried about you. Kennedy can’t stop crying. Even Ryker’s worried.”
The mention of his rival’s name turned his despair to anger. “Ryker knew she was my girl. He should have stayed away.”
Another two steps. “He probably tried, Judah.” He didn’t know if that was the truth or a lie, but he understood she was simply trying to talk him down. “Just because we know we should do something doesn’t mean that we can. Humans are irrational creatures. Our feelings often override what our brains tell us is for the best.”
“This is all his fault. I should have just killed him as soon as he started sniffing around her, and then he’d be out of the picture. Kennedy would never have known, and this would never have happened.”
“It’s not Ryker’s fault either. The heart wants what it wants, and he can’t force it to want something else.”
“It is his fault! It’s all his fault!”
Her tone was commiserating when she spoke. “I understand you’re upset with Ryker, but you’re hurting more people than just him. I’d be upset too. I might even want to hurt someone who stood between me and the person I loved. But you took it out on the wrong person. You kidnapped Kennedy. You kept her here without food and gave her barely any water. You don’t do that to people you love, Judah. She’s sick now because of it.”
It was a small lie, but he understood what she was doing. If she could get the boy to focus on Kennedy being hurt, maybe it would distract him.
“It wasn’t that long.” The gun pointed at Elyxandre’s chest and stayed there. Lucas desperately wanted to shove her out of harm’s way, but he was afraid that might prompt him into shooting her simply by a reflex action. “I would never hurt Kennedy. I was going to bring her more food and water, but then I ran into him.” The gun swung back to aim at Lucas’ chest.
This was the part he didn’t understand. He got, in a twisted sense, that Judah thought he was protecting Kennedy. He understood kidnapping Ryker because, in Judah’s mind, he was standing in the way of the romance. But why him?
“What did I do, Judah?” he asked.
The boy advanced two steps toward him. “I asked you to let me take Kennedy’s punishment, but you wouldn’t let me.”
“I couldn’t give you her punishment, but we did soften the penalty for Kennedy.”
Elyxandre added, “You told us her father was beating her, and we didn’t want her to be at home where he could hurt her further. But you lied to us, Judah. He wasn’t beating her. He loves Kennedy. Why would you lie?”
“He was keeping her from me! You all were.”
The gun flicked back and forth between him and Elyxandre, and the hand holding it was shaking. Whether it was from anger, fear, or exhaustion, he didn’t know. What he did know was that these next few moments were critical in getting both of them out of here alive. Because if Judah pulled the trigger on him, he had no doubt in his mind that the boy would then turn the gun on himself.
“You were all keeping her from me!” Tears were flowing freely now as Judah struggled through his answers. “Her father wouldn’t let me in the house. Said I was being toooverprotective. Too controlling. She tried talking to him, but he wouldn’t listen. Then she got it into her head that she should go away to college, make something of herself. She could do that here!” he screamed. “She could do that with me! But she told me you both started showing her options that would take her away from San Antonio. Away from Texas. Away from me!”
“None of what we showed her was meant to take her away from you, Judah. It was to keep her safe. Keep her from getting hurt. We just didn’t realize that she needed to be safe from you and not her father,” Lucas told him.
“Not helping,” Elyxandre warned from the corner of her mouth.
“I would never hurt Kennedy!” Judah screamed.
“I know you didn’t want to,” Lucas continued. “But you did, Judah.”
“No,” the boy insisted. “I loved her!”
“So then why take her prisoner?” Elyxandre asked.
“Because she hurt me! She kissed him! She let him touch her! She wouldn’t let me do those things, and it should have been me, not him!”
Lucas knew that this was officially the end. The tears Judah had been crying were gone now. In their place was only cold rage. Judah Lawson, as everyone had known him all his life, was gone. In his place was a broken young man with a mission he intended to see through. Kennedy and Ryker were out of his reach, but Elyxandre and Lucas were not. They would have to act as surrogates.
He pointed the gun at Elyxandre again, waving it back and forth. “Move to the back. Don’t turn around. Just keep stepping back slowly.”
She raised her hands and took two steps back.
