dark, troubled gaze.
“Because I don’t want to be alone, Bethie baby. And if your mama ain’t here, then Lizbeth will have to do.”
Revulsion crawled through me like a nest of spiders. I stepped back, ready to vomit.
“No!”
The shout came from just behind me. Ellie and Devin skidded into the shop from the hallway. Ellie growled, wide eyes tapering the moment she saw him. Jim’s expression darkened immediately, clearing any flash of lucidity.
“The whore-child!” he screamed. His fist banged the door again. “There she is for everyone to see! Your mama was a cheater, and you won’t be any better than her.”
Ellie’s hands tightened into fists at her side.
“Ellie,” Devin said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Let’s get out of here.”
“You hated me!” she cried. “I didn’t do anything wrong, but you hated me.”
“Paying for the sins of your mama.” Jim stumbled to the side, leaning against the door to regain his balance. “You always will.”
Ellie’s nostrils flared. “I know you’re not my father.”
“Damn right I’m not!”
“You tried to kill me. To hurt me. To blame me for Mama’s death, but it was your fault. You killed her! You chased her from the house. You told her you’d make sure she paid for her mistake. I heard you. Then she died, and it’s your fault.”
Jim paled. “I didn’t kill her.”
Ellie hissed through her teeth. “Murderer.”
He slammed a fist into the glass, nearly cracking it. “Bastard child!”
“Hit me again,” she called, “and I’ll kill you. You’ll never walk free again.”
Jim reached into his baggy pants and yanked something out with a bellow. A gun appeared in his trembling right hand, pointed straight at Ellie’s heart. “Not if you’re dead.”
“Jim,” I cried. “No!”
Devin yanked Ellie back, throwing her behind him. I shoved them both into the hallway just as the percussive sound of a gunshot at close range blasted through my ears. An explosion of shattering glass accompanied it. I looked up to find Ellie and Devin on the ground in the hallway, eyes wide.
“Run!” I yelled.
Ellie and Devin tripped over each other until Devin shoved off the ground, grabbed Ellie’s shirt, and hauled her to her feet. They disappeared out the back door and slammed it shut. I scrambled up as Jim advanced into the shop through the broken glass, gun trained on me.
“Don’t move!” he screamed.
I froze. My heart pounded in my throat. Slowly, I held up both hands.
“All right,” I whispered. “I won’t move.”
At my acquiescence, he stopped. He stood there, panting. His thin chest heaved up and down. A strangled sound escaped the back of his throat. A cry. Like a little sob. The gun wove back and forth in an erratic dance as he struggled to stay upright.
Finally, he leaned against a table.
“All right,” I said soothingly. My voice and hands shook, but everything else seemed oddly clear. My thoughts were calm. My mind focused. My vision crisp and bright. “Calm down. We’ll work this out, Jim.”
“She lied,” he whispered. Anguish filled his voice. “Kat lied to me. She used me. She gave me a daughter, and then someone else a daughter. Then she left. I loved her. I really loved her. She was the . . . only thing I ever cared about.”
I stared at him, disarmed. A sniveling sound came from his throat as he lowered the gun.
His head bowed. “She’s right. I’m the reason Kat is dead. She left . . . because of me. I . . . my fault.”
“Jim . . . Mama wasn’t perfect. You didn’t deserve what she did to you.”
“No.”
“She got in that car. She chose to drive away.”
A low, keening sound filled the air. A flash of black appeared just behind him, followed by a war cry. A thin cord wrapped around his neck, yanking him to the ground. The gun went off again. The floor splintered. Chunks of wood flew into the air.
Jim screamed, and blood sprayed from the top of his right shoe.
Ellie shouted as Jim fell back on her, struggling to pull her arm away from his neck. A string she’d kept in her emergency weapons stash tightened around his throat. Devin appeared through the front door, a thicker rope in his hands. I shot to my feet, kicking the gun away from Jim as Ellie pulled harder on his throat, feral determination in her gaze. He clawed at her hands with his freakish nails, drawing blood. But his alcohol-laced attempts were too weak to dislodge her.
Seconds later, Devin tried to hog-tie Jim’s hands. Police