Page 101 of Lilly

I sigh. "Fine."

As we turn to go back, we hear a voice behind us.

"Rachel." It's a man's voice, and it's loud.

Rachel doesn't turn around. She looks at me and whispers, "Run!"

But instead, I turn and look at the man. My heart takes off, panic alarms going off in my head.

The man has a gun. And it's pointed right at us.

"He has a gun," I say to Rachel, my body shaking.

"Go!" she says, clutching her purse and still not turning around. "He doesn't want you. He wants me."

"I'm not leaving you," I say, grabbing her arm.

"You'd be wise to listen to her, little girl," the man says. He's older, maybe mid-fifties, with brown hair and a thick beard. His eyes are dark, almost black, and he has a scar running down his left cheek. I try to memorize his features to tell the police later because I know we're getting out of this alive. We have to. I'm not dying here, and neither is my mom.

"Leave us alone!" I scream, hoping someone will hear me, but a wave crashes, drowning out my voice.

The man laughs. "You're quite a screamer. Why don't you run along, little girl, before you get hurt?"

Rachel whips around, dropping her purse in the sand. "Don't you dare even think about hurting her!"

The man smiles at Rachel. "Look just like your picture." He raises his gun, aiming it at Rachel's chest.

"No!" I scream, but again my voice is lost in the sound of the ocean.

"Don't move," Rachel says quietly to me as she shoves herself in front of me.

I glance down and see her hand behind her back. Holding a gun. What the hell? Where did she get the gun?

"Let her go," Rachel says to the man. "You want me, not her."

"I told her to leave," he says casually. "The little brat wouldn't listen. So I guess it's the two for one special today." He cocks his gun.

Rachel's arms fly out in front of her, her hands locking on the gun, and then she shoots. It's loud, but the waves drown out most of the sound. The man falls to the ground, blood leaking from his chest, but he's still moving, the gun still in his hand.

Rachel reaches down to her purse and takes something out and quickly attaches it to her gun. Then she walks over to the man, stands over him, and shoots him again, right over his heart. I didn't even hear the gun that time, and then realize she attached a silencer.

I fall to my knees, not believing what I just saw. Did it really happen? Did some guy try to kill Rachel? And she shot him? Killed him?

Rachel's voice wakes me from my shock. "Lilly, you need to help me."

I look up and see her behind the man, lifting up his shoulders.

"Grab his feet," she tells me. "We need to hide him behind the grass."

"Is he...is he dead?" I ask as I approach him, my body still shaking.

"Yes." She cringes as she struggles to lift him.

"Let me help." I pick up his feet and we set him down behind the tall grass.

Rachel takes his gun and her own and stuffs them both in her purse, then yanks me into her arms, hugging me so tight I can't move. "I'm so sorry. I should've been more careful."

"It's not your fault. We didn't see him. He came out of nowhere."

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