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Both patrol officers had their weapons drawn and aimed atJulianne, but Jane raised her hand in a command to hold their fire. There’d been enough bloodshed; let this end without more.
“Give me the gun,” Jane said.
“I had to do it, don’t you see? I had no choice.”
“You have a choice now.”
“It would have torn apart my family. After all I did to protect her—”
“You’re a good mother. No one doubts that.”
“A good mother,” Julianne whispered. She stared down at the gun in her hands, its barrel still pointed toward Jane. “A good mother does what has to be done.”
No, thought Jane.
But Julianne was already raising the gun to her own head. Finger on the trigger, she pressed the barrel to her temple.
“Mom, don’t!” cried Amy. “Please, Mommy.”
Julianne went utterly still.
“I love you,” Amy sobbed. “I need you.” Slowly she moved toward her mother.
As much as Jane wanted to lunge between them and push Amy out of harm’s way, she knew that Amy was the only one who could reach Julianne. Who could end this.
“Mommy,” whimpered Amy. She wrapped her arms around Julianne and dropped her head on her mother’s shoulder. “Mommy, don’t leave me. Please.”
Slowly Julianne lowered the gun. She offered no resistance when Jane took it from her grasp. Nor did she resist when Frost pulled her wrists behind her and slipped on handcuffs. He grasped her arm, pulled her away from her daughter.
“No, don’t take her,” Amy said as Frost led Julianne toward the patrol car.
Jane snapped handcuffs over Amy’s wrists and led her towarda different vehicle. Only then, as the two women were pulled in different directions, did Julianne start struggling. She tried to twist away from Frost.
“Amy!” she screamed as Frost wrestled her into the cruiser. Her unearthly wail rose to a shriek as the car door slammed shut, locking her inside, separating her from her daughter.
“Amy!”
Even as the cruiser drove away, Jane could still hear that shriek, an echo of despair that lingered in the air long after Julianne was gone.
