Page 79 of Mine

“Must be some girl, that you can’t kill her. Show me.”

“She’s locked up in the library, okay? She doesn’t know anything.”

“Show me.”

Sara

I gasped as Rien burst into the room. There was another man holding a gun to his head.

“Well, great. Now she’s seen you too,” Rien said to the man. “Are you happy now?”

“This is the girl?”

“Rien?” I asked, the scalpel shaking in my hand.

“It’s alright,” Rien said. He turned to the man who still held the gun trained to his head. “This is the girl I was telling you about. Sara.”

“Doesn’t look like she doesn’t know anything,” the man called Vale said. “Looks like she knows a lot, actually. Looks like she’s standing over a dead body.”

Mr. Steadhill moaned and the man stared in awe at the operating table.

“Are you serious?” he asked. “That guy is stillalive?”

I couldn’t stop staring at the gun that was pointed directly at Rien’s head. I wanted to scream, to rush over and save him. He looked so calm, like he wasn’t worried at all about the muzzle of the gun against his skull. But I was terrified for him.

“Help me,” Mr. Steadhill rasped.

“They’re both alive?” Vale turned to Rien, shoving the gun harder against his temple. Rien’s head tilted to the side and my brain went blank. “Are you fucking kidding me? I’m going to kill you, I swear to Christ I will.Bothof them—”

“Mrs. Steadhill is dead,” I said quickly. My heart was thudding in my ears. He couldn’t kill Rien.No.

“Don’t tell them! Why would you tell him?” Mr. Steadhill said, his scream echoing in the operating room. I could feel the panic rising in my throat. “You bitch! You stupid—”

I shoved the gag in his mouth with my free hand. My hand holding the scalpel was still shaking, but I couldn’t put it down. I was scared to death that Vale would pull the trigger. I was scared I wouldn’t be able to defend myself.

“He killed her,” I said. “Not Rien. Mr. Steadhill. He killed his wife.”

“Oh, that’s just lovely,” Vale said. “Good thing I came here to get all the answers to my questions. I knew there was something going on with you, Rien.”

“Please,” I said, stepping forward. “Don’t shoot him.”

“What are you, the fucking police? No. I’m the fucking police.” Vale pulled a second gun from his jacket and leveled it at me. “And look at this. Now I’m going to have to kill both of you stupid fuckers.”

“Vale—”

Was that a flash of fear in Rien’s eyes? Panic choked me.

“Shut up, Rien,” Vale said, hitting him on the back of the head with the barrel of his gun. The crack of the barrel against his skull echoed across the room. Rien winced in pain and I shrieked.

“Don’t! Don’t kill him!”

“Shut up, both of you!” Vale screamed.

“Why?” I gasped.

“Why?”

“Why—why do you have to do this?” My throat was closing up, but I couldn’t just stand here and die.

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