Her eyes are narrowed when she turns back to look at me. “Father Gabriel always said she was a gift from God. Her mother couldn’t conceive for many years.” Langley shakes her head, clucks like a mother hen. “But then Keith and Monica found God, and He blessed them with a child.”
Seems everyone knows everyone in this place. Hell on earth.
I don’t know how to react to what she said, so I don’t. Instead I finally take a small sip of lemonade and try not to think about how much sugar it has in it.
“Such a wonderful family,” Langley says. She stares out the window again, a fond look on her face. “That child was always so sweet. A true blessing. Never once when I looked after her did she as much as make a fuss.”
Looked after?
“Now I remember,” I say, nodding and toying with another piece of cookie. “I was wondering where I’d heard your name. Trinity mentioned you.”
“Oh, she did?” The old lady blinks rapidly. Dear God, is she fogging up? “How kind of her.”
“Said you were her favorite babysitter.”
Langley’s eyes start brimming. She hurriedly looks away, and then seems to come to. “Oh, uh, you’ll be needing that donation.” She stands before I have a chance to ask her what the hell she’s on about.
She disappears down the hall, and I take my drink and pour it down the sink. When she comes back in, I’m in my seat again, just putting the glass back on the table. Her already wide smile grows when she spots my empty glass. “Would you like another?”
“Oh no,” I tell her, patting my stomach like we’ve just finished Thanksgiving dinner together. “Folks around here are too kind.”
She giggles a little at this and starts writing out a check.
Like taking donations from the congregation.
She hands it to me, but doesn’t let go. “Where is your little…the clipboard? With the—” she gestures vaguely “—with the place for me to sign?”
I pat my pockets theatrically. “You know, Miss Langley, I think I left it next door.”
Her eyes almost goggle out of their sockets. With surprising speed for such an aging gal, she’s on her feet, her head whipping to that same kitchen window as before. “Father Gabriel is back?”
And then it’s as if her lemonade was spiked with fucking amphetamines. I’m standing a second later, ruthlessly suppressing the urge to run.
“What do you mean?” My voice comes from far away.
“Gabriel!” She turns to me, clasps her hands again. This time like she’s begging. “Oh, I thought… I thought you just came from him. I was hoping he’d come back.”
I want to shake her until her teeth rattle. “Back where? I don’t—”
“Didn’t Trinity tell you?”
My heart bangs into my breastbone as if to try and get me moving. “Tell me what?” I’m grimacing at her through my teeth, but she doesn’t seem to notice.
“Father Gabriel. He moved into their old house. I guess the estate put it up for sale, but I never saw a board outside. And I’d have noticed—they’re going up all over the place! Why, we had a young couple move in right across the road. Big house for just the two of them. You’d think they’re planning to fill it, but I don’t know. The woman looks closer to forty than thirty.” Langley shrugs, as if the fact that she’s rambling isn’t having any effect on me.
It is.
I’m about to have a heart attack if she doesn’t tell me what I need to know. “Gabriel is living next door?”
“Yes, yes he is. But he’s hardly ever here. Still, so much better than living next door to a stranger, wouldn’t you say?”
I don’t say anything.
I turn and I run the fuck out of that house like the devil himself is breathing down my fucking neck.
They’re here for Trinity, not Gabriel. Somehow, they got the address for her old house. That’s why they parked down the street.
But if Gabriel bought the property, who the fuck knows what kind of traps he laid out for unwanted guests?
I run, and I don’t stop.
I plow right through Langley’s roses, ignoring the thorns that prick at my skin, and I race across the next-door neighbor’s lawn.
But I’m too late.
Cass is up front, about to try and open the door. Fuck, maybe he’s even going to try knocking first.
Reuben and Apollo? They’re straggling behind, fuck knows why.
I’m closer to Cass than they are, but I’m still too far away.
All I can say is, thank God for Miss Langley’s lemonade.
When I grit my teeth and push, I go a little faster. I clear the hedge separating me from Cass like an Olympic hurdler.
I crash into him just as the door opens.
Just in time to see Trinity’s shocked face.
Just in time to see the shadow deeper in the house.
A man, lifting a gun.
Because of course he has a fucking gun. Why wouldn’t he?
Cass and I go over another rose bush. He’s yelling. I scramble up, dart back to the door.
Trinity is still standing there, blocking me. She doesn’t seem to realize she’s about to die.
It’s better, not knowing.
As soon as I shove her out of the way, that gun is on me. Pointing at me. I know I’m already dead.
And the knowledge sits there like heartburn in my brain. It tries to overwhelm me, to render me useless through fear, but I shove it away even harder than I shoved her away.
I sprint down the passage. Three steps, and I’m there. Staring into a pair of brown eyes that should recognize me, but don’t.
When I slam into Gabriel, the gun goes off.
But it’s fine, because it doesn’t hurt. I’m still moving, still fighting.
I herd him backward through momentum and rage. Pushing, pushing.
We end up in the living room a second later. His teeth are bared like a wild animal’s. I’m snarling like a beast. We tackle each other, end up on the carpet. I get a blow to his head. He gets a knee to my groin.
And then the gun goes off again.
And this time…
This time there is pain.
It’s vast and it’s endless and fucking magnificent in its abundance.
But that’s not fine, because now I can’t fight anymore. And Gabriel…he’s on his feet. He’s running.
Thank you Jesus.
He’s not running toward the front door. Toward Trinity or my brothers.
The cowardly fuck is running away.
Thank Christ.
I try to cross myself, but my body just lies there.
Body and mind. Two different things entirely.
I’m still here. I’m still conscious. But all I can do is watch and observe—paralyzed as, all around me, the world dissolves into chaos.
Chapter Twenty
Rube
I’ve never felt so torn in my life. My body is being sent in two different directions by a mind suddenly unable to prioritize. But I’m rooted to the spot because this is where Zachary is lying.
We’re in Trinity’s living room, judging from the couches and the dusty television set. But Trinity’s not here. She’s still in the passage by the front door.