Page 199 of Into These Eyes
Oh, fuck.
I turn on my heel, snatch my phone off the bedside table, and race into the ensuite. Shutting the door silently behind me, I turn on the light, flinching at the sudden brightness.
I can still hear Gavin telling me to get Benny, but he sounds so far away now, and I don’t know if it’s because I’ve shut the bathroom door, or if he’s fading.
With no time to think, I call Pete instead of triple zero. He answers almost immediately.
“Jarrod’s here,” I whisper. “I think he shot Gavin. He’s coming for me, Pete.” I hang up immediately, change the phone to airplane mode, find the voice recorder, press record and shove it in the vanity drawer. I trust Pete will get the police and ambulance here faster than emergency services can.
Tears threaten and my throat closes. I want to curl into a ball, put my arms over my head and pretend none of this is happening. Except the man I love is out there, and after all the practice I’ve had at acting strong, now’s the time to draw it to the surface.
Legs shaking violently, I lower myself to the tiles and reach for the edge of the vanity’s loose kickboard. Pulling it aside, I flatten my body to the floor, my cheek to the cold tile, and stare into the dark space where I hid the gun.
I’m sure I hear Gavin’s faint voice, but I don’t want to think about why it sounds so weak.
I grab the gun and bullet, and sit up. Fumbling, I take my mind back to my second date with Jarrod. At the pistol club. He let me shoot a few different types of guns, the last being a six-shooter. Except the one I shot that day had a much longer barrel.
Remembering how to push the lever forward to free the cylinder, I shove the bullet in place and snap the barrel closed.
Silence. No more thuds or grunts. No more pleas to get Benny. I want to scream out to Gavin, but I keep quiet, listening.
My heart pounds in my ears as I rise to my feet. I only have one bullet, literally one shot to survive this and try to save Gavin’s life. And I’m up against a cop who knows exactly how to use a gun, how to bring a suspect down.
Backing up to the toilet so I’m not reflected in the mirror, I grab a towel off the rail and wrap up my naked body, securing the soft fabric beneath my right armpit.
That’s when I hear his footsteps.
And now I’m not sure if I positioned that bullet correctly. What if I’m one cylinder left or right of the hammer? What if I pull the trigger and nothing happens?
I have to take him by surprise, but there’s nowhere to hide in here. If he comes through that door and Benny’s gun doesn’t fire, I’m dead. And so is Gavin.
I slide my right arm into the gap where the towel overlaps itself, concealing the gun within.
The door flies open. Jarrod points his long-barrelled gun straight at me before he cautiously steps into the room. I understand thepopsnow. He’s using a silencer.
I welcome the full body tremor that rattles through me. I want him to see how terrified I am, to believe he has a scared, harmless little mouse cornered.
For a split second I wonder if I can convince him I’m confused, that I still trust him, that I don’t understand what’s happening.
But he’s staring at me with that same look he had when I refused to let him kiss me. My skin crawls. There might be a vile reason he didn’t pull the trigger the moment he had me in his sights.
“Jarrod, what’s—”
“Shut up, Jamie. This’s fucking hard enough. You and your stupid convict’s plans to fuck me over end here.”
I don’t miss the irony of his words, but I’m not about to point it out.
“I don’t understa—”
“The only thing you needed to understand,” he interrupts, “was to back the fuck off. But you didn’t, did you? You kept digging. When you came up with the affidavit from that kid, well, that was easy enough to get rid of. But that fucking video of your father’s … It’s gone from your work’s server now, but I know you’re smart, Jamie. After the affidavit disappeared, you’d havemade sure you kept other copies. I’ll be needing those, and the original.”
My left hand trembles as I raise it to my throat. He watches every movement. The urge to tell him I’ve already sent it to the police bubbles behind my lips, but I hold back. If he thinks it’s too late to stop the evidence coming to light, he’ll end this right here and now.
“Did you kill him? Just tell me that.”
“He’s not doing so well, Jamie. He’s suffering. So hurry up and give me what I want, then this’ll all be over. No more fear, no more pain. Won’t that be nice?”
He’s still alive. Still alive, still alive,my mind beats in time with my heart. There’s hope. That’s all I need.
