slides in front of me and opens the door just enough to throw down a live grenade. The floor under us shakes while River signals for Shane to deal with Violet.
Once the girl leaves the kitchen, River opens the basement door wider. Smoke billows from the cracked door. Then he disappears down the barely lit stairwell. Maverick follows, gun at the ready, moving as if he’s barely touching the steps. Whatever he sees in the basement, he turns and heads back upstairs. I keep moving down to where River kicks away Barry O’Meara’s AR-15.
I stand over the dying man. He mumbles to himself while River clears the romper room turned torture chamber.
Barry’s gaze sharpens as he notices me.
“Where’d your legs go?” I ask him, smirking at how the grenade blew off everything below his knees.
The serial killer sneers at me. He tries to speak, but only drool and blood leaves his lips. I bet he wishes his body would go into shock to keep him from feeling so much pain. Instead, he shakes with rage, terror, and suffering. It’s a good look on him.
“Here,” River says, handing me an ax. “Take off his head and get upstairs so we can burn this fucking place to the ground.”
I look over the weapon, liking the feel of it in my hand. Barry watches me, more afraid now.
“A bullet is too good for you,” I say and circle him. Leaning over, I look him in his blue eyes and smile. “Shelby Campbell caught you, motherfucker.”
The ax comes down on his tender throat. The first strike kills him. The second one fully separates his head from the rest of him. I throw the ax in the corner and look at the mess I made. Thinking of Shelby waiting for me, I kick the fucker’s head into the corner and return upstairs to a morning with one less piece of shit in the world.
THE WEIRDO
Taylor talks baby names while we wait in the car. I sit in the back seat for “safety reasons.” She sits in the driver’s seat, holding a gun in her lap and telling me how she wants a really butch name for a girl and a super feminine name for a boy.
“I’m leaning toward Cronk and Sweetpea.”
Despite smiling at her attempt to keep me calm, I’m so agitated that I nearly vomit. The morning is quiet, the neighbors up the road are still in bed, the world exists in a haze. I feel like an exposed nerve, though.
Over the comm, we hear the men breach the house. I’m shaking when Taylor reaches over the seat to take my hand.
“Breathe deep for Kirby,” she says, and I settle myself down.
I hear Maverick barking questions at someone. Are they in trouble? He rarely speaks. The other men are silent. Then I hear an explosion.
Rubbing my bump as if it’s a magic lamp and I’m looking to make a wish, I feel the baby move around inside me.
“Shane is coming out,” Taylor says and climbs out of the SUV.
I watch my brother walking briskly from the front door. I’m exhausted from a lack of sleep and too much worry. Why else does it take me so long to realize he’s walking with someone covered in a blanket? Taylor opens the back door, and the person slides in next to me.
With shaking hands, I lift the blanket to find Violet Navarro staring back at me. She’s wearing red lipstick. Her entire face is overly made up, and I notice her blue-and-white polka-dotted dress. She looks like a woman out of the original “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” from 1956.
“Are you Violet?” I ask because I can’t think of anything else to say.
“Are you Shelby Campbell?”
Nodding, I don’t think to ask how she knows me. Sliding the blanket off her head, I promise, “We’re going to help you.”
Violet looks back at the house. Her face remains passive as she whispers, “I stayed above the water.”
Shane climbs into the driver’s spot while Taylor takes the passenger seat. My brother glances back at me. “They’re on their way to the other vehicle.”
Nodding, I look back at Violet, who sits next to me like a ghost. She’s both here and somewhere else. I expected tears. Instead, she remains very still and calm.
“Violet, we’re not with the police. The law wouldn’t help. If we go to them now, they’ll want to know what we did to O’Meara.”
After taking a minute to put together what I’m saying, she asks, “What will