Somewhere Between Water and Sky (Shattered Things #2) (36 page)

I hear my dad grunt and I sink slowly to the ground, too confused to even move. Jessa sniffs.

“
Stephanie said you were in jail. She said both of you were in jail. How
’
d you guys get out?
”

My mom laughs and my dad spits his chew on the ground nearby. I bite my lip when I realize he
’
s moved closer to where I am hiding.

“
Stephanie says a lot of things, Jessa girl. You
’
ll learn to only believe about half of what comes out of her mouth. Now turn toward the light. There you go. I want to get that beautiful chin in this next shot.
”

I hear my dad
’
s boots kick stuff around and he throws out a string of curse words.

“
Where
’
s that fucking girl? She
’
s late. She should be here by now.
”

“
She
’
ll be here, Sammie. You know she will. She
’
s always wanting to be the hero. She won
’
t be able to stand Jessa girl stuck between us.
”

“
That
’
s a stupid thing to say and you know it.
”
I hear a slap and wince. My mom cries out.

“
Well dammit, Sammie. How am I supposed to know? You never said nothing to me while you had this thing going. Made me guess it all by myself.
”

“
Just shut up, wouldja? I don
’
t want to hear anymore of it. Just be glad I got your sorry ass outta prison.
”

She snorts.
“
Oh you did nothing of the sort. You just made a big fuss with your boys at the station and they did the dirty work. They always do your dirty work.
”

Jessa coughs.
“
Is anyone else slightly uncomfortable with the conversation?
”

A glass crashes against the wall behind me and shatters. Mom gasps. Jessa jumps in.

“
You know what? I would have to agree, Mrs. Tiller. After all. If he didn
’
t get you out of prison you wouldn
’
t be able to practice those horrid photography skills right now. And this party! We wouldn
’
t have this amazing party.
”
Jessa
tsks
under her breath.
“
Pity, don
’
t you think?
”

My dad
’
s boots beat a path across the garage and another slap echoes across the vacant lot.

“
Shut that mouth, you hear? You have just as much sass as my daughter and it bugs the hell outta me. Thinking you can just come in here and do what you want.
”

I chance a look around the corner and catch him pressed up against Jessa, her chin in between his thumb and fore-finger. I grimace and slowly slide my way up the wall. I
’
m not sure how much time Jude and the men have given me to stall my father, but it seems as if I
’
ve waited long enough.

Everything pauses, and then moves forward at once.

I reach behind my back and grab hold of the gun.

At the exact moment I reach for the gun, Jessa starts screaming.

As soon as I register Jessa screaming, someone sets loose a string of firecrackers in the garage.

But of course, it isn
’
t firecrackers, it
’
s bullets.

As I
’
m diving for cover amidst the broken rainbow beneath me I hear gargled breathing and then nothing but silence and I bite my lip because
ohmigod if he just killed Jessa I will fucking cut him alive.

.::.

My dad
’
s voice is the first to shatter the emptiness.

“
Come out, come out, wherever you are
…
.
”

My shoulder is touching the corner of the wall. All I need to do is pivot my left foot and I will be able to see him. But I don
’
t want to do anything now. I don
’
t want to see what he just did.

He laughs.

“
I know you
’
re here, Stephanie. I can
feel
you. I can always feel you. I know you.
”

I strain to hear something
—
anything
—
from my mom or Jessa and it
’
s nothing but radio silence on either end. I close my eyes and remember.

The nights I spent running.

The mornings I spent hiding.

The bruises I covered up.

The men I pretended not to know.

Being pulled by the hair and being tied by the wrists and being made
something
out of someone who should have known everything.

I remember the heavy breathing. The weight of it all pressing on my chest because that
’
s where the weight of the men would often land.

I remember the bottle of pills. I remember the pictures of Marisa
’
s body and the way Chad
’
s face was broken on my behalf.

I remember nights spent in the parking lot of Dilsey
’
s Pub waiting for him to finish so I could drive him home.

I remember Valerie and the faces of the girls he
’
s found and made into his play-things.

I remember it all and every moment, every instant, pulses in my veins to one single rhythm of hate.

A cough settles on the breeze
—
soft but distinct. I raise my head and listen closer. It
’
s muffled, as if the mouth is covered by a cloth.

“
Ohmigod. You killed her.
”

A small smile rests on my lips. I don
’
t even have time to process the lack of grief I feel for my mother. In this moment, one thing matters: Jessa
’
s still alive.

It
’
s the permission I
’
ve been waiting for all along.

Slowly, I twist my foot and take the first step into the clearing, raising my arm with the gun. He
’
s standing right in front of me, cleaning his gun with the rag I assume was used to gag Jessa. Her eyes are wild, looking between me and my father.

He glances up and sees me standing there, the barrel of my gun pointed at his chest. His hands hold the slightest tremor and stop mid-swipe of the gun.

His pause is just enough for my confidence and anger to boost through the roof.

I smile.

“
Hi, daddy.
”

Chapter Twenty

”
Stephanie. Baby. Put the gun down.
”

I laugh.

“
Put the gun down? Not a chance.
”

“
What are you gonna do? Shoot me?
”

I look him in the eye and then focus on his chest. Right there
—
the money spot. Right where the ribcage meets the lungs.

“
If I
’
m lucky.
”

Aiming for his heart wouldn
’
t do any good
—
he doesn
’
t have one.

I want his lungs. I want him to know what it feels like when your breath is taken from you.

He focuses on me as if trying to figure out whether or not he can call my bluff. Lifting the gun, he points it at Jessa. My heart stutters and stops before racing to life.

“
Don
’
t be stupid, sweetheart. You may have that gun pointed at me but it only takes a second for me to pull this trigger.
”
He glances at my mom
’
s body.

“
I would hate for you to be the reason for two deaths today.
”

I narrow my eyes.

“
You
’
re seriously pinning that on me? You pulled the trigger. You
’
ve been wanting to do it for a while.
”

“
But
you
were late. Cons-u-quences, darlin.
”

His speech turns to a staggered lilt and weariness settles in my bones. My dad under normal circumstances is a loose cannon. With alcohol, he
’
s a monster waking up hungry.

“
How much have you had to drink.
”

He reaches for a flask in his jacket and tips it over. A solitary drop falls on the cement beneath him.

“
I
’
d say about this much.
”

Shots are fired in the distance and I jerk my head toward the ledge opening to the street below. My dad smirks and rocks back on his heels.

He
’
s calm. Too calm.

“
Looks like you brought company, even though I told you not to
…
.what are we gonna do about that, now?
”

He takes a step toward me and I stumble backward, just enough to lose my sight with the gun. My feet get tangled and I feel myself falling and I hit the ground with a thud, my hands landing hard on the shards of candy and the gun bouncing out of my grasp.

Shit.

A slow smile spreads across his face and Jessa
’
s face is full of horror. I can
’
t think straight because the only thing I
’
m thinking is fear. Fear and anger. My blood is vibrating and my legs and arms are shaking and I
’
m ignoring the pain shooting up my arms and pushing myself away from him.

There
’
s nowhere else for me to go.

I
’
m pressed up against the wall and all I see are his boots coming closer and closer and closer.

They say at the end of your life, you become hyper-aware of everything. I
’
ve had enough experiences to know this just isn
’
t true. All I know in those moments comes to me in flashes of understanding.

The look on Jessa
’
s face as she
’
s screaming for help.

The way my mother
’
s blood glistening in the shadows isn
’
t red but black.

The evil taking over my dad
’
s eyes as he lifts and points the gun at me.

The way he whispers
“
Lollipop I will not stop.
”

And then
…
.

explosions.

I see Jude and his men burst through the door on the opposite side of the garage and they storm the level toward Jessa. My dad, gun already primed and ready, turns quick and shoots off three shots toward the men running. Within the blink of an eye, Jessa
’
s untied and picked up and taken out another door. I hear her screaming my name the entire way.

I blink again and see Jude reach for something in his jacket.

But then he stumbles and his arm drops and there
’
s something red on his hand and it
’
s on his shirt but it
’
s spreading and
ohmigod Jude no not Jude no - no - no
and I can
’
t tell if I
’
m screaming or if I
’
ve been shot or if it
’
s just the way your heart feels when it cracks in two.

He slides against the cement wall, leaving a stain behind that won
’
t ever go away. Half of his men surround him and call for backup, the others cover the perimeter and point their guns at my father, hollering at him to surrender.