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My stomach clenches and panic streaks through me.
“Mom,” I say, grabbing anything to try and stop the bleeding. “You—”
Zane pulls me away from the body, a growl in his tone. “You don’t want your hands on this. We have to go, now.”
I look back at my mother, my head spinning. “I can’t leave her. She’s—”
My mother looks toward me, her gaze soft like it had been that day in the field in the photo I keep tucked away. “I love you, Sara,” she says, her tone calm and soft as though she hasn’t just killed someone. “No one threatens my daughter. Let this be my apology for all my mistakes. Get your fresh start and don’t look back. Promise me!” she pleads. “Never look back.”
Zane has hold of my arm as we hear sirens start to roll in from the distance. “We have to go, Sara. Say goodbye.”
My mother drops the gun down beside the congresswoman and kneels next to her as though she’s ready to take punishment for what she’s done.
“We have to go!” Zane growls, lifting me up in his arms as we head back toward the pier.
This will be seen as an assassination. My mother will be in jail the rest of her life. There’s no doubt about it. She gave up her life for me and the baby. My heart swells with gratitude, but my stomach clenches with pain. I didn’t want to see the congresswoman die and my mother in jail. All I ever wanted was for everyone to be happy.
As Zane carries me toward the SUV they rented, I can’t help but think back over my childhood. Visions flood to all the nights I spent alone, to the revolving door of strange men, to my mother right now in a puddle of blood, telling me to run.
What just happened?My head is still spinning.
Zane slides me into the back seat of the truck and Colin hops in next to me. There’s so much commotion in the streets as police move it’s difficult to get back out onto the main street, but we manage despite all that’s just happened.
Colin pulls me into his chest and runs his hand down over my shoulder. “We’re going to be okay. You’re going to be okay,” his tone is deep and soothing, but it’s not sinking in. Nothing is.
My muscles won’t stop twitching and my eyes won’t open.
Brad reaches his hand back toward me, holding it in mine as I lay against Colin’s chest. I know it’s his because of the direction it comes from.
“Go to sleep, princess,” Zane says, from the driver seat. “We have a long ride ahead of us, and you’re going to need some time to heal.”
Heal?I’m not even sure what that means. What I’ve just seen is going to sit with me forever. I can’t imagine the vision ever going away. Yet, it’s funny the way my brain is processing it. For the first time in my life, I think my mother taught me a lesson worth learning. That motherhood is a force stronger than any other, and I know without a shadow of a doubt, I’d have done the same exact thing.
Chapter Twenty
Zane
We’ve been driving for the past two days, switching off drivers every few hours. I don’t dare stop. The congresswoman’s death has been all over the radio news and though we’re now well into Canada, just an hour from Alaska, it’s still smart that we play it safe.
“You think she’s okay? She’s been sleeping a lot the past couple of days,” Brad says from the back seat. Sara is laid out with her head resting on his lap. She’s woken up to eat and drink and use the restroom, but for the most part she’s been pretty solidly passed out.
“The girl has been through a lot this week. I’m sure she needs the sleep. Besides, if I could’ve slept through this whole ride, I would’ve too.”
Colin twists down the radio and looks toward me. I know what’s coming before he even opens his mouth. I’m actually surprised it didn’t come sooner.
“What was Kemp talking about back at the beach? He mentioned something about Mari and… did I miss something?”
I suck in a deep breath, my heart slamming hard against my chest as I glance toward him, then back at the road. Brad stills as well, the door handle he’d been tapping on now silent as they wait for my answer. This should’ve been handled years ago. I should’ve told them what I did and cleared the air, but I didn’t think they’d understand. To be honest, I’m still not sure.
“You don’t need to say it,” Brad says. “I already know.”
Colin twists his head toward the backseat. “You already know what? Why am I the only one in the dark here?”
“Mari was done fighting,” I say. “She pulled me into her room one night… and she told me that she’d lived her life, that we’d made her happy and that she felt like a queen, but she didn’t want to suffer anymore.” I suck in a deep breath and try to steady my voice. “She didn’t want to be strung up to tubes and wires for another six months or year while they—”
“What did you do, Zane?” Colin growls. He’s usually not so aggressive.
I take another lungful of air, trying to calm myself enough to talk. “I didn’t do anything! That’s the point. I should’ve stopped her. She talked to me the night before she told me she was tired of fighting. She told me she was…” I bite my lip to stop it from quivering and roll down the window to suck in some fresh air. It’s crisper up here, cleaner, cooler. “That was the same night she told me to move on. The same night she told me that life was short, that we should live it to its fullest. I knew something was off, but it didn’t hit me until I got home.”
