in the gravel driveway.
My eyes flashed to the front door. The lopsided screen pushed open and the barrel of a shotgun emerged pointed directly at Remy’s forehead.
His hands flew up.
Motherfucker.
A guy peered around the gun, searching behind Remy. I dropped in my seat, hoping like hell the downpour obscured his view. I was no coward, but I couldn’t help Remy if the guy knew I lurked in the darkness.
I slid over to the passenger side and slipped out the door. My adrenaline spiked and shivers overtook my body as the rain saturated my clothes. Luckily, my truck concealed me from the house and its whacked-out owner. It gave me a second to plot out my route. I needed to be cautious not to reveal my presence too soon or move my almost-healed ribs too quickly.
I took a deep breath, then ducked behind tree trunks and crept to the side of the house. Once I made it to the driveway, I crouched between the cars. It sucked knowing nights like these were what my life had come to.
The side door to the house sat ajar. I hurried to it, slipping inside unnoticed. I glided along the empty kitchen wall in my squishy sneakers, pausing to listen for anything indicating there were others in the house.
Except for the rain pinging off the remaining shingles in droning successions, it was unnervingly silent.
I stepped through the kitchen doorway and into the living room. Luckily, it was a hoarder’s dream. The junk piled everywhere concealed me from the guy at the front door with his back to me and his gun still on Remy.
Soaked to the bone, Remy babbled from his spot on the front steps saying whatever it took to get the guy to lower the gun. “I’m serious, man. Let’s make a deal. I’ll make it worth your while. No one ever has to know.”
I slid my gun from my belt and stalked over to the owner with the gun extended in front of me. I lifted it to the back of his head, releasing the safety to announce my arrival.
Click.
I closed my eyes with my arms still wrapped around my mom, braced for the impact of the bullet.
“This is all your fault.”
He fired.
I shuddered at the memory, needing to pull my shit together. Needing to get Remy out of there unharmed.
Everything happened in slow motion. The guy lowered his shotgun. Remy grabbed for it. The guy wouldn’t relinquish it. He slammed the butt of the gun into Remy’s stomach, sending him folding at the waist.
Click.
My body stilled.
The sound hadn’t come from my gun.
A gun jammed into the back of my head, snapping my neck forward.
“Say a prayer, motherfucker,” a gruff voice declared. A large hand grasped my shoulder and shoved me to my knees. I had no time to react. He ripped the gun from my hands.
My eyes squeezed shut. Visions of my mother at the moment my father shot her flooded my mind. Her fear. Her gasp. Her blood. God, there was so much blood. The gruesome images remained engrained in every blink of my eyes. Every breath. Every nightmare. Even at the hour of my death.
The gun’s trigger popped behind my head. I flinched. Shivers rocked through me, sending my body into a fit of tremors.
A bellowing laugh rumbled in my ear. “Well how about that. A game of Russian roulette. Someone up there must be looking out for you.” Without hesitation, he slammed the butt of the gun into the back of my head. Pain exploded as my body folded, my face hitting the hardwood floor. “Too bad your luck’s run out.”
A gunshot crackled the air, thundering throughout the room. I shielded my head, tucking my body into a ball.
Had I been shot? Had Remy?
I waited for the darkness to engulf me. To take me to my mother. To absolve me of my sins. To rid me of the guilt and pain I’d carried for far too long.
But the darkness never came.
Neither did the pain of a bullet tearing through my body.
I kept my head tucked down, praying to be put out of my misery quickly. I couldn’t bleed out on the floor of this hell hole. This wasn’t how my life was supposed to end.
A heavy thud dropped to my right. My body instinctively jumped to the left. My eyes cracked open. The guy from the front door lay sprawled in an unnatural position on the floor beside me. Face down, blood pooling around his body.
My body stayed