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I don't know if I can take this. I'm about ready to say to hell with it and pull her into my arms right here and now in front of this mall full of people when there's a loud bang and people start screaming and scattering.
It takes me less than a second to realize what's going down, and I'm on Jenny in a flash, crashing her body down onto the ground and covering it with my own to protect her.
As I cover her with my body, my eyes scan the madness until I see someone who causes my blood to run cold in my veins.
My brother.
And he's the fucker holding the gun.
"Jenny, stay right here and don't fucking move. Do you understand me?" My voice is harsh, but I can't help it. I'm strangled by fear. Not for me, but for her. My brother has seen me trying to protect her, so he knows she's important to me, and if the fucker is crazy enough to shoot up a mall to try to take me out, then he's definitely crazy enough to try to use my weakness against me.
"Do you have your phone, baby?" I ask her more gently.
She shakes her head, and I reach into my pocket and then press mine into her hand. "Stay here on the ground and call your father. Tell him where you're at, and ask him to come get you."
She whimpers as I begin to lift myself off her. I instinctively soothe her. "I want you to get up and run when I tell you to. You got that, baby?"
"Yes," she says, her body still trembling on the ground.
I stand slowly and hold my hands up in surrender as I begin walking over to my brother.
He's got the gun trained right on me. People are still scattering, though some have stopped in shock and have their phones out to record the scene playing before them. Idiots! They need to just get out of here.
I don't say anything to them, though. My sole focus is on my brother and keeping his attention on me so he doesn't harm Jenny.
"Long time, no see, brother," I greet him sardonically.
His eyes are wild-looking, and he runs a shaky hand through his hair.
"Put the gun down, Chris," I urge him evenly. "We can talk about all this like brothers."
"No, you'll kill me," he says, his voice shaking as much as the gun in his hands.
My eyes widen. Does he really think that? Is that what this is? He's trying to take me out before I take him out?
Sure, I owe him an ass-beating, but kill him? He's my brother. My stomach drops when I realize just how far down my brother has gone. He's really become unhinged.
"Why would I do that, Chris?" I ask him calmly.
"You know why!" he shouts at me. "You took the fall for me. You had all those years in prison to plot your revenge. I'm not stupid, Nick!"
"I took the fall for you," I emphasize to him, taking another slow step toward him. "I let them take me when you were the one who was guilty. Why would I do that if I was going to kill you? I was protecting you, you bonehead, like I've always done ever since we were kids. That's what big brothers do, right?"
He looks so much like the little brother I used to know when his bottom lip trembles and tears glisten in his eyes. "I've really fucked up this time, Nick," he says, as if it's finally hitting him just what he's done.
Yeah, he has. He's just shot up a mall, and I pray to God no one was injured or killed. "We'll fix it," I try to soothe him. "Just put the gun down, Chris."
He hesitates. He's considering doing it. I've almost got him. I'm just one step away from getting the gun from his grasp.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see police officers with their guns drawn creeping up on either side of my brother.
No!My mind screams. I want to yell at them to stop, to tell them that I've got this. He's my brother, and I can talk him down.
I never get that chance, though, because Chris moves his arm just the slightest bit, and a blast sounds.
I watch as the life drains instantly from my brother's eyes and he falls to the floor in a deadening heap.
