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It was as if hearing his friend’s name caused Jace to snap out of his delusion. He began to look over the gathering crowd in alarm, especially those who had professional news cameras aimed in his direction. No wonder so many years passed between victims. And it also wasn’t so difficult to understand why the man’s marriage had fallen apart in recent years.
Brook had done the math in her head and connected the exact moment that Jace had begun to experience delusions regarding his brother. Five years ago, two events had taken place—Jace’s father had passed away, and Tricia Zetter had left town. The two combined events must have triggered some type of psychological response where Jace believed that his brother was still alive, and the young woman who had been with Chris Mathers at the time of his death had all the answers.
All sense of reality must have been suspended when Jace had spotted Carissa Norman, Helen Beckham, and Luna Breen. Brook figured their deaths triggered him back to the present, and he was left with the fallout of his actions. He’d had no choice but to cover up his crimes.
“I didn’t mean to…” Jace’s voice trailed off as he began to shake his head. He was no longer confrontational. He was desperate. Unfortunately, the door swung open to reveal two women. It was too late to warn them. Jace had already pulled the knife out of the sheath attached to his belt, giving Brook no choice but draw her firearm from its holster. “I’ll slit her throat. I swear, I’ll kill her right now if you don’t let me walk out that door.”
Jace’s arm had tightened around the woman’s neck. She let out a whimper, which could be heard throughout the bar. Someone had cut the music. Regrettably, the gasps and low murmurs only seemed to agitate him even more.
“And go where, Jace?” Brook asked calmly as she kept her weapon trained on him. She took a step to the right. Her objective had changed, and she couldn’t allow Jace to leave with a hostage. “There’s nowhere for you to go.”
“My wife—” Jace’s voice cracked as he attempted to hold himself together. Brook took another step, forcing Jace to keep his back to the far wall while moving farther away from the door. “She didn’t deserve a husband like me. You need to tell her something for me. You need to tell her that I didn’t mean to hurt them. I couldn’t help myself.”
“I know, Jace,” Brook replied gently as she shifted some more. “Bit, please see to it that everyone leaves the bar.”
Brook was pleased to know that Bit had positioned himself directly across from Jace. She’d trusted that Bit would know exactly what she needed, as they had trained for situations like this many times over the past two years. Bit might not ever feel at ease in the field, but he could definitely handle his own.
There were some individuals in the bar who couldn’t get out of the place fast enough, and then were some who wanted to remain behind. Reporters, those working the cameras, and Jace’s close friends to name a few.
“Jace, you’ve already said that you didn’t mean to hurt those women.” Brook gradually relaxed her stance to show him that she wasn’t going to be an additional threat. She even raised her weapon before slowly lowering it down to her side. She directed her next question to the young woman. “What’s your name?”
“C-Cindy,” she managed to say as she gripped Jace’s forearm in desperation.
“Don’t talk,” Jace instructed as he tightened his grip around Cindy’s neck. “I know what you’re doing, and you need to stop. Just let me walk out that door.”
“I can’t do that, Jace. It’s my job to make sure that everyone in here is safe.” Brook loathed that some of this altercation would most likely be aired on the eleven o’clock news. She couldn’t turn around, so she had no idea who was left with them inside the bar other than Dominic. He was in her line of vision, although their other friend had quickly left the second that he’d been given a chance. There was a way to use those who were left to her advantage, though. “Jace, you really don’t want your wife or your brother-in-law to see the news tonight. They need to hear from you what happened and why. They deserve to hear it from you.”
Brook’s words seemed to cause Jace to pause, and he glanced toward Dominic.
“Isn’t that right, Dominic?” Brook asked, pushing the man to engage with his friend now that the situation had escalated to the point of no return.
“Yeah. I mean, yes.”
“Let Cindy go, Jace. Let her go, and I promise to get you the help that you need,” Brook said softly as she could hear Bit still attempting to clear the area. She lifted her weapon to slide it inside her holster, all the while keeping a firm grip on the butt. “I’ll holster my firearm, but in turn, I need you to release Cindy and slowly place the knife on the floor. You can do it, Jace.”
Jace began to shake his head, but Brook held up her left hand to stop him from disputing her claim. He was emotional, unstable, and there was no telling what he might do if given time to try and process that life as he knew it was over.
“Jace, I’ll have Bit call your wife. She’ll drive down here, and I will make sure that there is time for the two of you to talk. She’ll hear what you have to say, and she’ll understand.”
“My brother…”
“Is gone, and you know deep in heart that Chris died doing something that he loved,” Brook said as she motioned for Cindy to step forward. The young woman was too terrified to try, so Brook had no choice but to get Jace to loosen his grip. “I spoke to Ava myself, Jace. She shared with me that losing Chris that fateful day still haunts her. She never got over losing him. And I know that you sometimes get confused, but don’t you think that Chris would have figured out a way to come home if he’d somehow managed to survive that fall? There was no deception, Jace. Put down the knife, and I can get you the help that you need.”
Jace wiped the tears that had fallen with the back of his hand while slowly nodding his agreement. The moment his arm hung to his side, Cindy let out a cry and ran for the exit. Brook never once shifted her focus from Jace.
“I didn’t mean to hurt them,” Jace whispered as he followed the motions of her left hand. She was slowly gesturing for him to lower the knife, not wanting to step too close and get caught off guard. Maintaining the upper hand was critical. “I don’t know what happened. I can’t explain it. I blinked, and those women had turned into Ava. She was with Chris that day. She kept trying to say that he—”
“Jace, your wife should be here soon,” Brook said before he could convince himself all over again that Ava had done something terrible to his brother. “You don’t want your wife to see you holding a knife, so I’m going to need you to place it on the floor. Go ahead. I’ll sit with you until she joins us, okay?”
Jace nodded, though Brook could sense that he was overcome with extreme emotion. Such a mental break could go one of two ways, and she didn’t want there to be any more destruction. The moment the blade of the knife clanked against the hardwood floor, Brook kept a hand on her firearm as she stepped forward to collect his weapon.
“Boss, he’s going to—”
Gus Norman was a father who had nothing left to lose. Brook had hoped that he’d listened to Bit and vacated the area, but she couldn’t blame him for wanting to witness the downfall of the man who had killed his daughter.
Gus had stayed close enough to the wall that Brook couldn’t prevent him from reaching the knife first. She had no choice but to draw her weapon once more and call out a warning, but it was too late. Gus had already lunged forward with a force that was almost inhuman. His eyes were wide, his face had contorted in fury, and the momentum fueled by five years of grief-ridden rage helped drive the blade of the knife directly into the right side of Jace’s torso.
Brook didn’t hesitate, and she rushed forward before Gus had even taken a step back. She’d instinctively snatched a jacket that had been hanging from the back of a chair, ordering Dominic to call 911. Given that the media had almost certainly gone live on the air the second that Jace had taken a hostage, she figured the sheriff was already on his way to Moonshine Valley. Paramedics were needed, though she doubted they would arrive in time to save Jace’s life.
