The air around her took on a blue quality, and her head began to throb.
Don’t fall asleep.She began to bargain with her mind and body.Don’t fall asleep.
Someone would come. Piper would come. She’d be suspicious when she saw the purse sitting on the passenger seat of the empty car that had never made it to Costco ... because Piper was suspicious of everything. And that was smart.
She still believed most people were good ... she’d just chosen to trust the bad ones ... and that was stupid.
And now she would die because of that stupidity.
She lay down on the cot and closed her eyes ... just for a minute ... as images floated through her mind. Garrett smiling ... the ripple of yellow wheat under a vast cerulean sky ... the face of each son ... smiling ... running into the light ...
Chapter One Hundred Three
Piper
Piper ran next door to her own house, where she tore through the many gun-safety measures they had in place to protect the girls. She retrieved her Glock from the gun safe and removed the trigger lock. Then she ran out to the garage and opened the second safe, where they stored the ammunition.
She needed a badge. She needed handcuffs. But she had neither.
She loaded her weapon, strapped on her holster, and approached Chip’s house from behind, cutting through her neighbors’ backyards.
When she reached his house, she crouched and approached the single door on the backside of the garage.
She turned the knob.
Locked.
Damn it.
She pulled the multi-tool out of her pocket, flipped open the screwdriver attachment, and removed the screws around the doorknob. The knob fell into her hand, and she quietly set it on the ground. Then she tripped the mechanism to unlock the door.
She entered the garage, climbed into the car, turned off the ignition, and put the keys in her pocket.
Then she smashed her hand against the garage door opener. It lifted, filling the garage with fresh air.
She moved to the backside of the car, where a black rubber tube protruded from the exhaust pipe. A sour taste coated the back of her throat as dread flooded her body.
No. No. No. No. No.
Hands trembling, she followed the length of hose to the hole in the corner of the garage and tugged it free.
“Kiersten. Kiersten, are you there?”
No answer.
She whimpered as fear, grief, and rage tore through her body. She staggered out of the garage and moved to Chip’s backyard. Then she slid the basement door open and entered his house.
Chapter One Hundred Four
Kiersten
Someone called her name. Over and over again.
But she was dead.
Wasn’t she?
A lifetime of Lutheran church and Sunday school had prepared her for the hereafter, the place where all tears would be wiped away, a paradise with many mansions, and a room prepared just for her.
