Page 107 of See It Through
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.