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On paper, those were the facts.
It was his job. I understood his sense of duty and the fact that he was saving lives, but Liam was our son… If I was in his shoes, I’m not sure I would’ve made the right call. And I’m not sure I can love him knowing he did.
We’ll never understand Liam’s actions that day, but we have had to live with the consequences. His choices ripped our city apart. Ripped our family apart. They devastated me in a way I never knew possible. He took two lives. Stole two lives. And no matter how much I love my son, his memory will always be tainted by the atrocity he committed that day.
We thought we’d done things right. We taught him about guns because of Declan’s work. We taught him how to be safe. That guns weren’t toys. But in the end, we didn’t do enough.
Didn’t teach him enough.
Didn’t love him enough.
And that destroyed everything.
I watch my husband now, the man I haven’t seen in over a year, as he points a gun at the man who tried to kill me. He’s been on desk duty since the shooting, with no end in sight. He could go back if he wanted to, but I know he doesn’t. I don’t think he’ll ever go back out on the streets.
Perhaps after tonight, none of us will do anything.
Kassara holds me, brushing hair from my face, a phone pressed to her ear. I don’t recall seeing her pick it up. “The police are on their way. Just hold on, Mari. Please, just hold on. They’re so close.”
“How…” I croak.How did you find me?is what I want to ask.
“The bracelet,” she whispers, her hand gently stroking my arm. “I made Declan find his and turn it on the second you didn’t come home. We’ve had the police searching for you… I’m so sorry. We did everything we could, but it wasn’t enough.”
“Don’t move,” Declan commands. When I look up, I watch as Chris takes a cautious step toward the house. I see the pain on my husband’s face and know he’s reliving his worst moment. This is probably the first time he’s held a gun since. I can see how deep inside his head he is. He wouldn’t do this for anyone but me. The pain, the utter heartbreak on his face, devastates me. His hands tremble just enough for me to register it. “Don’t make me do this.” To Chris, and perhaps to everyone else, he seems sure of himself, but I know him better than I know myself. I can see the pure terror in his eyes.
I hate Chris more than ever for this moment. Of everything he’s done, forcing Declan to go through this feels the most unforgivable. The most heinous.
“What is happening?” Chris’s sister begs through her sobs. “Can someone please talk to me? Who is that woman, Chris? Why was she in your trunk? What is going on?”
“Go back inside, Jenn,” Chris commands.
“If she moves, I’ll shoot her,” Declan shouts, lifting the gun to point it at Jenn. “Your brother kidnapped my wife. He took her and held her hostage. And, by the looks of it, he had an accident with her in the trunk and left her to die.”
“No. He wouldn’t. You wouldn’t, right? Tell him, Chris. Tell him it’s not true,” she begs.
“I thought she was already dead,” Chris says. “I thought… I mean, I-I thought th-there was no way she could’ve survived… You have to understand, I never meant to hurt her. I was trying to help her. Jenn, come on. You know I wouldn’t hurt anyone.”
I squeeze my eyes shut, reliving the horror in that lie. Kassara rubs my cheek, dusting away a tear I didn’t know had fallen.
“The police are at your house now,” Declan says. “Gathering evidence to prove otherwise.”
“And why are you here?” Jenn asks. “If the police are there?”
“Because I couldn’t leave it to chance. They went to Chris’s house, but I found out you were his closest relative. After the 9-1-1 call we received and the message with his name, I knew he’d be on the run. I disobeyed orders, refused to wait for the other officers to find her. I couldn’t lose her.” His voice cracks, and I hear the word he’s not saying. “I couldn’t lose her,too.”
It was a gut instinct, and he’d made the right one.
Any longer, and I might not have made it.
“I also…” Declan starts, his voice catching. “I also found out you used to work at our son’s school.”
Kassara rubs her hands over my face again, and I get the feeling she’s trying to cover my ears. “The ambulance will be here soon. Just hold on.”
“You were there when the shooting happened,” Declan says.
“When he killed two of my students, you mean,” Chris says, venom dripping from his words.
“You were fired for leaving the door open.”
