Page 47 of Faded Rhythm

She shakes her head. “I can’t think of anything.”

And there it is again. Something in her body language that makes me doubt her. But I don’t say a word, I just wait for her to give me something I can use.

“What if…what if we get him before he gets me?”

My eyes narrow. “When you say get him…”

“Kill him,” she says matter-of-factly. “End this whole thing.”

The laugh comes bellowing out of me before I can stop it. It comes from somewhere way down deep, so loud and heavy it surprises both of us.

She blinks, then a slow smile tugs at her lips. “Wow, R2D2. I wanna be mad that you laughed at me, but I’m kinda happy to see you do it. I didn’t know youcould.”

“It’s rare,” I admit. “But when something’s really funny, I laugh.”

“Why is it funny that I want him gone?”

“The funny part is that you used the word ‘we.’ Like you’d ever have any part of a murder.”

“Wouldn’t it be self-defense?”

“I’m not about to split hairs with you, Sable. You don’t know shit about killing.”

“Then tell me.”

I shake my head. “It’s not just pulling a trigger and walking away. There’s a weight to that shit. A cost. It’s as much a responsibility to take a life as it is to create one.”

That seems to sink in. Her eyes lock on mine. She’s studying me. Measuring the weight of my words. Then, softly, she speaks to me again.

“How many people have you killed?”

I sit on the edge of the bed. Staring down into her curious eyes, I tell her the truth. “I’ve lost count.”

She sucks in a breath.

“But I remember all of their faces,” I add. “Every single one.”

Faces. Places. Screams. They’re all imprinted on me. Sometimes I don’t notice them at all. Other times, they sting. Often, they sit on top of my chest, making it hard for me to get a breath.

But right now, with her, they don’t feel so heavy. For the first time in a long time, I don’t feel like I’m being crushed.

Knock, knock, knock!

I freeze.

Sable freezes.

Another knock. Much harder this time.

Except that wasn’t a knock. That was the heel of a shoe.

I jump to my feet, grab my gun, and stalk to the door.

I look through the peephole.

Nobody.

Shit.

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