Page 234 of Show Me

“He almost caught me.” She waves the gun in another slow arc. “I knew your schedule better than you did. I watched everything.”

He’s okay. Relief hits me hard in the chest. Or at least it sounds like he is.

The knife handle is right there, pressing against my back. All I need is one opening. One second when the gun isn’t pointed at me.

Then I’m using it.

Arm. Shoulder. Chest. I don’t fucking care. I’m getting that gun away from her.

“You know what the funniest part was?” When I don’t answer, she does it for me. “You kept thinking it was some creepy guy.”

My fingers remain wrapped around the pill as the one in my mouth continues dissolving. Bitter. Chalky. “What if someone saw you?”

“No one pays attention to women.” She starts pacing again, restless and agitated, the gun moving with her. “You know how many times I stood in this house while you slept?”

A chill tears through me.

“How many times I watched him touch you? Fix things for you? Act as if you mattered more than anyone else?”

Another squeal erupts outside. Samson. Loud. Agitated.

Lindsey’s head swings toward the back door. “I’m going to put a bullet in that pig’s head.”

I’m not sure whether she’s angry that Samson might draw someone’s attention or because he keeps interrupting her chance to explain how much smarter she is than everyone else.

My fingers close around the hidden knife handle as I spit the dissolving pill into my palm and let it join the other one in the sink.

Careful. Steady. She doesn’t notice. She’s unraveling too fast now.

“You ruined everything.” The gun swings toward me again.

My pulse roars in my ears. Then a vehicle door slams outside. Harder this time. Closer. Lindsey freezes. So do I.

Silence crashes through the kitchen. Then all the pigs start squealing. Xavier. They think he came home to feed them. Lindsey turns toward the sound.

And I move.

I kick the chair toward her. Lindsey spins, eyes widening as one of the legs catches her in the shin. She stumbles with a scream, the gun jerking toward me.

Too late. I yank the knife from behind my back and swing.

The kitchen explodes with sound.

Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Five

Ruby

The gun goes off. The blast detonates through the kitchen so loudly that my ears ring. Wood explodes behind me. Splinters spray across the room as the bullet tears into the cabinet beside the refrigerator.

Lindsey screams, but not as loud as I do as I slam into her before she can steady the gun again. We crash hard into the kitchen island. Pain explodes through my shoulder.

The knife nearly slips from my hand. Lindsey grabs my wrist. She’s stronger than I expected. Than I’d hoped.

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

I don’t bother answering her. She’s the one with a screw loose. And I’m not about to lose focus.

The gun jerks between us. I grab her forearm with my free hand and shove upward. The barrel points toward the ceiling. Another deafening shot erupts. Sheetrock rains down from above.