Edge of Midnight (McClouds & Friends #4)(54)

She found a lucky angle. The thing snapped free. She dove back into the cabin without hesitating, scrambling for the guns.

Her head rang, she saw stars, and the silence in her gun blast-deafened ears felt blank, unnatural, as if she were underwater. She scrabbled over the dirty floor. The guns, the guns. She found Sean’s revolver beneath a fold of crumpled tarp. T-Rex’s gun she found under a pile of yellowed newspapers. She could only deal with one, so she shoved Sean’s into the back of her jeans, hoping she wouldn’t shoot herself in the butt, and clutched the other gun with shaking hands.

She might not even be able to use the thing, if it came down to it. She couldn’t seem to make her numb fingers contract.

“Hey there, babydoll.”

T-Rex’s oily croon sounded small and faraway, through the ringing in her ears. Liv brandished the gun, holding the sinking, fainting horror at bay with everything she had. Oh God. Sean.

T-Rex saw the wild shaking of the gun barrel. He licked heavy, shiny lips, and grinned. His face was a shining mask of blood, which made his eyes seem pale and wild, like a maddened animal.

He held a knife. It had to be Sean’s. Blood dripped from its tip.

He followed her horrified gaze, and started to laugh, waving it in the air. “Yeah, I had some fun with your boyfriend, before I slit his throat. Didn’t you hear him scream? Want to know what I did to him?”

“Get away from me.” Her own voice sounded farther away than his. A shaking wisp. “Don’t take one step closer. I’ll blow your head off.”

“Oh yeah? That’s a Beretta PX Storm, babydoll. That’s a man’s gun. It’ll break your little lily white fingers. It’s not for a pretty f*ckable doll like you. Game over.”

He stepped in the cabin door. She found herself backing up. Big mistake. She could tell from the way his gloating smirk widened.

“I’m serious,” she quavered. “I’ll shoot you dead.”

“No you won’t. You’re a good little girl. You won’t give me any trouble. I bet you’ve never given anybody any trouble in your life.”

“I will.” She swallowed over rock in her throat. “I’m big trouble.”

His big bloody hands reached for her. “You don’t want me mad at you,” he murmured. “You want me to love you tender. Come to papa. I’ll make you forget your pretty blond boy.”

Mentioning Sean was his mistake. It broke his spell, like a bubble popping. Her arms swung up. She squeezed the trigger. Bam. She heard the sound, as if from miles away. The recoil flung her arms up, and she almost knocked herself right between the eyes with the heavy gun.

A ragged hole appeared in the door.

T-Rex jumped. “Fuck!”

She took aim. “Wrong.” She pulled the trigger. A pane of glass in the door exploded. “I don’t want you to love me. Hate me. I hate you right back, you piece of shit.” She took a step towards him as she shot.

He backed up as the bullet smashed into the wall behind him. His eyes looked blank, startled, as he stumbled out the door. His retreat triggered a ferocious desire in her to give chase. She staggered after him, shooting wildly, screaming out her grief and fury. He limped away, in a lopsided jog-trot. Her shots were all over the place, she had no control, no technique. She was a mindless force of nature.

She would rip that * into bloody pieces for hurting Sean.

A Jeep was parked in the fir trees. He sprinted for it, leaped in. The engine roared to life. Liv shot at it, shrieking with triumph as the back window exploded. The Jeep roared into reverse, bounced backwards over the rough ground, right for her. She leaped to the side, rolling head over butt into a green hollow choked with a spiky tangle of bushes. The Jeep bounded over the primitive road. Liv gave chase.

The Jeep disappeared around a curve, the sound retreating. There was an empty click, click under her compulsively squeezing finger.

“Clip’s empty, Liv.”

She spun around with a gasping shriek.

Sean. He wasn’t dead. He was standing there, streaked with blood, hair caked with mud and leaves, but alive. Whole.

Icy doubt gripped her. Maybe she’d snapped under the strain, and he was just a wishful hallucination. She stared at him, eyes welling full.

“It’s you,” she whispered.

His eyes narrowed. “Uh, you were expecting someone else?”

She pressed her hand to her mouth, heart swelling with joy. A wishful hallucination wouldn’t mouth off at a time like this. He was the real deal. Her genuine, pain-in-the-ass Sean. “I thought you were dead,” she babbled. “He told me he tortured you. He told me he—”

“I thought he got you, too.” He sucked in gulps of air. “Jesus. My nerves are trashed.” He leaned over, panting and bracing his hands on his knees, and shot her a cautious glance. “Could you not point that gun at me, babe? I know it’s empty, but I could still use a break.”

She’d forgotten she was holding the thing. It slid from her fingers, thudded onto the springy mat of pine needles. She plucked his revolver out of the back of her jeans. Held it out to him.

Sean took it, and leaned down to scoop up T-Rex’s gun. That was when she saw the bloody scrapes on his shoulders, his arms, his back.

“My God,” she whispered. “You’re hurt.”

He waved his hand. “I’ve gotten worse playing contact sports.”