40. Chapter Forty

Chapter Forty

Hannah

My eyes sprung open, darting to the clock on my bedside table, 2:17 a.m. I’d only been asleep a little over an hour. What was I doing awake? My throat was sore, but the meds I’d taken before bed had dulled the pain enough to let me sleep.

My gaze shifted to the window across the room. At first, the otherworldly orange glow outside didn’t register. It was strange, but I didn’t understand what I was seeing. Not until I stared at the rippling air on the other side of the glass for a solid minute or two.

The fog of sleep finally lifted, and I shot upright, immediately wincing at the burst of pain in my limbs and throat.

Remi jerked away at my sudden movement, knifing into a sitting position. “What is it? Are you hurting?”

My arm felt like it weighed a thousand pounds as I lifted it to point at the window. “Rem…I think there’s a fire.”

He sprang to his feet, striding toward the window. When he turned back to me, his gaze was alert and panicked. “It’s the garage.”

I gasped. “No…Graham’s tools.”

He came back to me, handing me my phone, which had been charging next to my clock. “Stay here. Call the fire department. I’m going to see if there’s anything I can do.”

I shook my head, but I knew not to argue. There wasn’t time. If the fire spread beyond the garage to the house…no, I couldn’t even think it.

“Okay. Be careful, Rem.”

He yanked on a T-shirt and shoved his feet in the boots he’d left beside the bed. “I promise you I will, baby. I’ll be back soon. Don’t leave this room.”

He waited until I promised I would stay where I was then kissed my head and rushed out. I dialed 911 while standing at the window, watching the blaze overtake the garage in the near distance. My heart broke as the structure burned, the contents irreplaceable. Fear ratcheted up the beat of those crumbling pieces in my chest as I stood helpless while Remi raced into danger.

I couldn’t see him, but he was out there, probably hooking up the hose to fight the flames licking the smoky sky.

Knees wobbly and weak, I backed away from the window until I hit the mattress and let myself fall. My body was done. My mind was so very tired. How much more could I take? If I lost Graham’s house…no, that wasn’t an option.

Footsteps sounded on the stairs, and for a moment, my heart lifted. Was Remi coming back to tell me the fire was under control?

Those steps were much too light and far too timid to belong to Remi. Panicked, I scooted backward on the bed until I hit the headboard and there was nowhere else for me to go. On instinct, I reached beside me, grabbing the bat I’d kept next to my bed since I’d moved out on my own at my mother’s insistence. I’d never been so thankful for her paranoia as my bedroom door creaked open, revealing the hooded figure of a woman.

It’s not over .

Teller took a step into my room, the light from the blaze outside catching on her face and—oh god. No, no, no . It wasn’t Teller at all.

“Christine? What—what are you doing here?”

Pushing back her hood, her face became distorted by a heart-stopping, wicked smile. “Come on, girl. Thought you were smarter than that. Isn’t it obvious? I’m gonna finish the job that blonde bitch couldn’t.”

Terror held me in place, the baseball bat held limply across my lap. “What? I don’t—you don’t have to do this. Remi’s just outside. He’ll be back any second.”

“Nah, he’s busy fighting that fire.” She reached into her hoodie pocket, pulling out a handgun. “I don’t plan on sticking around too long, though. Can’t have anyone seeing me. That won’t work.”

Instinct told me to keep her talking. She obviously had something to say to me, a message she needed to get across. I’d let her pour out her vitriol until I could figure out how to get out of this.

“They’ll suspect it’s you. How do you think you’ll get away with this?”

Her smile lifted. “I was never here. Teller was. She came back to finish the job.” She waved the gun at me, her finger perched on the trigger. “Who do you think this belongs to? I should thank her for giving me this peach of a chance to finally get rid of you on a silver platter. Maybe now we can get ahead without the fuckin’ Kellys coming in and ruining everything.”

“How did you get Teller’s gun?”

She laughed. “Walked right into her house and took it. Dumb bitch keeps it unsecured in her nightstand. Can’t say I’m unhappy she’s a dumb bitch since it worked out for me so well.”

“There’s no way this is going to work. Brady’s with her. He’ll know she didn’t do this.”

“Pfft.” Christine rolled her eyes at me. “Like anyone will believe he’s not covering for his wife. He’s just as tangled up in this as she is.”

My body came back online, fingers curling around the bat. I just had to find the perfect moment to charge her.

I kept her talking.

“If this is about my clients, I’ll give them to Cleve. He can have them all. I won’t tell anyone you were here. Everyone can win and—”

Her crazed gaze crashed into me, narrow and vicious. “You’re not winning, Hannah Kelly. Your family thinks they rule this town, firing people without cause or warning, and I’m sick of it. It’s time they lose, and you are the perfect starting point. How’s Daddy Kelly going to feel when one of his precious princesses has a hole in her head?”

I moved, diving off the bed just in time. The next second, a shot rang out. With blood rushing in my ears, I charged Christine, slamming the bat into her. She grabbed on to me, bringing me down to the floor with her.

I landed on my back, my breath whooshing out of me, my head dazed. A strong sense of déjà vu struck me hard. I lashed my hands out at the ground beside me, scrabbling for something to hold. Unlike the night before, there was nothing but air, my bat lost in the scuffle.

With a wail of rage, Christine rolled away from me and started to climb to her feet, but I grabbed her ankle and yanked hard, bringing her back down. Dizziness kept me pinned where I was, but I refused to stop fighting. I had to survive this.

“You fuckin’ bitch!” Christine hollered, pushing up on her hands and knees. “You’re ruining everything. You Kellys always ruin everything!”

Swinging blindly, I managed to grab hold of her hair. If she succeeded in killing me, I’d make sure her DNA was all over the place so she’d spend the rest of her life in jail.

“Get off me.” She wrapped her fingers around my wrist, twisting it back until I had no choice but to let go. Once she was free, she crawled away from me and got herself upright.

Still dizzy but not done fighting, I pushed myself up, only making it to a sitting position before Christine found her gun and had it pointed at me.

This is it.

I’m not ready.

I’m so sorry, Remi.

“Enough of you,” she hissed. “Enough!”

Her finger moved to the trigger, and my heart thrashed, determined to beat as many times as it could before the end.

Before she could shoot, something moved in the hall behind her. White shirt, brown, wrinkled face, shotgun raised. Henry didn’t look at me, but his mouth formed words I read clear as a bell.

Close yer eyes, girl.

This was Henry, who’d once said those same words to me when I found an injured pronghorn at the edge of the property and the only thing that could be done was putting it out of its misery.

Henry, who’d given Graham baths in his final wretched days.

Henry, who’d stood beside me at Graham’s grave and had shed tears as his old friend was lowered into the ground.

My eyes snapped shut without a beat of hesitation.

Boom.

The shotgun blast deafened me, but I felt the fall of the body at my feet. Still, my eyes remained closed. I did not want to see. I’d already witnessed enough horror to bring me a lifetime of nightmares.

The scent of tobacco and dirt drew near before strong fingers dug into my arms. “Come on, girl. Yer safe now. Keep yer eyes shut. Let’s get you out of here.”

I let him lead me out of the bedroom, only opening my eyes once we made it to the stairs, and held Henry’s hand all the way down them.

That was when the front door burst open. Remi rushed inside, sheer panic in his wild eyes, streaks of soot painting his face.

“I heard a gunshot,” he panted. “Hannah, I—”

Walking straight up to him, he opened his arms and only then did I let myself fall apart. Without question, I knew this man would pick up my pieces and put me back together again, maybe even better than before.