He’s covering her mouth, dragging her back into the kitchen, and she’s kicking and wriggling in his grip. I blink, watching as she twists out of his hold and punches him in the nose before running full speed for the living room. Gable holds his bleeding nose and chases her.
“What was his name, Dad?” Ella asks, and I drag myattention from the house and back to her. “Your friend who was in financial law.”
“Oh. I don’t … I don’t remember …” They keep talking, and I look back at the house.
Lina is running toward the patio doors, and Gable appears out of nowhere, tackling her to the ground. They disappear from view, and a hand appears at the window as if Gable is trying to claw himself to his feet, but then it disappears again.
What the fuck is going on?
Then Lina is back at the door, panting, her lip bleeding.
Holding a fucking crossbow.
“Shit!” I stand, and Lina strides over, pointing the weapon at Kate.
Kate gasps. “Oh my God!”
Ella slaps her hand over her mouth. “Monty, what are you doing!”
Lina fires.
And the arrow pierces Kate straight through the eye.
Chapter 17
Guy
Kate’s head thuds against the table, her cheek on the tablecloth, the arrow protruding from her face. Silence falls, until the sound of Lina reloading the crossbow.
That didn’t just happen. It didn’t. I’ve fallen asleep and this is a goddamn nightmare—that’s the only explanation. I blink fast, trying to wake up, but all I’m doing is staring at Kate’s lifeless body.
Gable appears, his nose still bleeding. He puts his hands on his knees as he tries to catch his breath. “Shit, I was too late.”
Ella picks up a napkin and starts whacking Lina with it. “What the fuck is wrong with you!”
“I got bad vibes,” Lina says, resting the crossbow on her shoulder and popping her hip. “Now I don’t.”
Bad vibes. She killed a woman over bad fuckingvibes. How did I ever get involved with her? Why did I ever think this could fucking work?
“Wait!” Ella suddenly says, breaking through my spiral. “Maybe she’s not dead.”
Gable arches a brow. “She looks pretty dead to me.”
“No, I did some research for a book once! If the arrow hasn’t gone far enough back, she could just have serious eye trauma! We wake her up, explain everything, and we don’t go to jail!” Ella says, walking around the table and toward Kate. We all wait with bated breath as she grimaces and pokes Kate’s shoulder. “Kate?” Nothing. Ella shakes her a little. “Kate, are you?—”
Kate sits up.
She screams, her hands flying to the arrow, blood pouring down her cheek.
We all scream, too, because what thefuck?
Then, while still screaming, Lina raises the crossbow and fires again. This time, it goes straight through Kate’s skull, and she thumps back against the table.
Gable blinks. “Okay, now she’s definitely dead.”
I shake my head at Lina, unable to quite believe that tonight has unfolded the way it has. “What was the one thing I asked of you?”
She has the nerve to look hurt. “This was exceptional circumstances.”
