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How the hell didn’t we see that?
Pearl backs away calmly with Maggie, and I raise my gun, as Anya runs toward the Mercedes and jumps in, getting the door closed just before Cindy and Barbie reach the car. They jump up at the side, barking, snarling, as Anya starts the engine. I begin to move again. Running. No. She does not get away after trying to take my baby. I yell for the dogs, and they dart back, coming to me.
“Rose!” Beau yells. “Oh, God, Rose, please don’t!”
I pick up my pace, my feet pounding the concrete to make it to her, Cindy and Barbie now flanking me.
Anya pulls off, heading for the closed gates. “No, Len,” I whisper, seeing daylight break through the middle of the two wooden panels. They’re opening. “God damn it,” I yell, slowing, knowing I’ll never make it to her. I look back, seeing Pearl handing Maggie over to Beau. I come to a stop. She’s safe.
I send the dogs back to guard Maggie as Fury and Tank barrel out of the doors, taking in the scene, both of their huge, muscled bodies pulsing. Apprehension. Anger. Disbelief.
“Stay where the fuck you are, Rose,” Tank warns.
I slowly turn my gaze back to the fleeing car, making a mental vow to find Anya. Find her and make her regret she ever stepped foot in my house. But I frown when the car starts to slow until it finally come to a standstill just short of the open gates. Why has she stopped? Has she seen sense? Has she surrendered? I start to walk toward her, looking back when I hear Tank calling me.
“Stay where you are!” He pulls his gun, taking the steps faster than his body should allow, his brother by his side. “God help me, Rose.”
I hold up a hand, telling him I’m fine, and return my attention forward.
“No, Rose!”
The reverse lights come on. The wheels screech, and the car comes speeding toward me.
“Move, Rose!”
I freeze, my brain not working fast enough to tell me what to do.
“Rose!” Tank bellows.
I blink, smoke from the tires bursting up into the air.
“Rose, move!”
What is she doing? Why is she doing it?
“Rose!”
Air gushes into my lungs, waking me up from my trance. The car’s too close. I’m frozen by shock. And suddenly flying through the air like a ragdoll, landing in a heap on the grass to the side of the driveway.
I cry out, dazed, disorientated, struggling to sit up.
And my heart jumps into my throat when I realize it wasn’t the car that hit me.
It was Pearl.
“Pearl!” Beau screams, as I take in her lifeless body on the ground, her eyes closed, blood seeping into the hairline cracks in the concrete, her arms and legs splayed unnaturally.
“No,” I choke, scrambling up to my feet, dizziness capturing me, making my path to Pearl’s lifeless body a clumsy zigzag. I drop to my knees next to her, my hands patting hesitantly at her body. “Get Doc!” I yell, looking at Beau, seeing Esther taking Maggie. “Get Doc now!”
I stare down at Pearl, stunned, and at the back of the Mercedes when it pulls away again. I stand up, watching her drive off. And on autopilot again, I pick up my gun and start walking down the drive after her as she drives toward the closing gates.
“Rose,” Tank yells. “For fuck’s sake, Rose, what the hell are you doing?”
I don’t stop.
She will pay.
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