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Henry doesn’t like that.
“No,” I cry out when he puts the gun back to Lindy’s head.
“What’s he doing here, Ashlyn? He shouldn’t be here.”
Jesus, take the wheel.
How do you talk to someone who’s criminally insane?
How do I do this?
“He lives here, Henry,” I whisper as calmly as I can, while inside, I’m raging with fear. Desperate to get my daughter out of here. Praying we all walk out of here alive. And petrified we won’t. “He’s supposed to be here.”
“I’msupposed to live here. Not him,” Henry yells at me. “You saw me. You finally saw me. After all these years. Do you have any idea how long I waited for you? Any idea the lengths I’ve gone to so we could be a family?”
Tears leak down my cheeks as I shake my head no.
“I’ve loved you for so long, Ashlyn. Since your very first Nationals when you were fifteen. And you never saw me. Do you remember the way the seats would fill when you practiced during public hours? Do you know how many hours I sat in those stands, waiting for you to notice me? All those hours on the top bleacher, watching your every move. Every routine. Always hoping that would be the day you’d see me. You were so pretty. So graceful. I was there when you won your very first Nationals. I was there at the Olympics when you were robbed of the gold and that spoiled little bitch, Nina, threw a temper tantrum on the ice.”
He waves his gun around the room, his calm cracking. “She ruined your chances, Ashlyn. She tainted you. It was all her fault that you were robbed of the gold. There was no way they were going to give it to you after the stunt she pulled. You’d worked so hard for the medal. It wasn’t fair. So she had to go.”
The room becomes eerily quiet until he pulls back on Lindy’s hair, and she cries out.
Easton looks past me at Brandon, and I’m scared to see what he sees.
But his eyes are calm.
Easton doesn’t look scared.
No, this boy I’ve watched grow into a man looks completely in control.
Like he’s communicating with Brandon behind me.
My heart beats faster, harder, like its clawing its way out of my chest while I try to figure out what to do. Keep him talking is all I can think of. “What do you mean, she had to go, Henry?” I force the words past my lips, terrified of the answer. “What... what did you do?”
My knees threaten to buckle from under me when he smiles.
It’s slow and sick and reminds me he’s already killed one person tonight.
“She was leaving anyway. She was running away and leaving you with that piece of shit coach. I just made sure when she left, it was permanent.”
“Permanent?” I question. “You killed Nina?” I claw at Brandon’s arm as it holds me back but don’t miss the way he inches us forward.
“She was in the way. Once she was gone, I just had to get you away from your coach. He wasn’t a good man. If I saved you from him, you’d have to see me. It was perfect. And it would have worked too. But then John Kingston came and ruined everything,” he says, yanking on Lindy’s hair. Her tears come harder as the gun presses tight to the back of her head, and a little piece of me dies inside.
This can’t be happening.
“He swept you away and locked you in that damn fortress. Then you had this one, and I thought I lost you forever. After all, no one wants spoiled goods. But old John was good for one thing. Do you know he made sure Coach Ron never coached again? I don’t know what strings that old fuck pulled, but he made sure that man never stepped foot on the ice. Guess the old bastard decided life without skating wasn’t worth living. I heard he killed himself a few years after the Olympics.”
Okay. I’ve got to think.
How are we getting out of this?
What does he want to hear?
“Why didn’t you ever say anything? I never knew you felt that way, Henry. I wish you’d have told me.” I force my way around Brandon and feel his hand go to the back of my pants, holding me there.
“Like you didn’t know,” he says caustically. He lowers his gun, then points it at Brandon and me. “Youknew. You hugged me . The very first time we met. You told me it was wonderful tofinally meetme and that you’d been looking forward to it. You didn’t even remember me from the ice rink. But you hugged me. You felt what was between us. I know you did.”
