Page 9 of It Starts With A No

“You killed her.” The assailant pressed the gun harder against Seth, forcing his head to tip to the side. “And you’re going to tell me what happened.”

Seth studied the assailant’s face, which was pointless. It had been over a decade since he last saw his lost adopted brother, Jimmy. He couldn’t even remember what Jimmy looked like.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The man’s thumb moved. “Stop lying.”

Seth rolled his eyes. Why did he even bother to explain? No one ever believed him or his brothers anyway.

The man’s lips twisted. “You don’t even remember me, do you?” A maniacal rage burned in his eyes. “We’re so insignificant in your eyes,” he hissed.

Seth realized then that there would be no good resolution to this. He took a step forward with a small nod. “Keep her out of this.”

“If you kill him, you will never find out what happened,” Clary said, the words tumbling out of her mouth in a rising tone. It seemed she’d finally sensed the danger. “You want to know what happened to your sister, right?”

“I want him to admit to the murder so I can send him to God.”

“What’s your name?” she asked gently, without a hint of panic in her voice.

The man ran his hand through his hair as sirens rose in the distance. “You’re just wasting my time!” He shoved at Clary, pushing her to the tarmac.

Seizing the moment, Seth grabbed the gun and pushed it up toward the sky before kicking out at the attacker’s leg.

Their assailant fell to the ground.

Seth pried the gun out of the man’s hand and threw it over the cliff. He sighed and took a step toward Clary.

A huge mistake.

The weapon isn’t the danger. The human holding it is.

* * *

Clary had been relieved when she heard the sirens, and she’d thought the worst was over when Seth Anderson threw the gun over the cliff.

But the unease within her didn’t go away.

She was getting to her feet when Mr. Anderson strode toward her.

Behind him, their assailant moved.

The man reached back, and she knew in her gut that it was bad before she actually saw what it was.

A knife.

Clary jumped forward and grabbed the man’s hand. She refused to let go even as the man kicked out at her. She barely felt it anyway.

And thankfully, she wasn’t alone.

Seth looped his arm around the man’s neck, and the man loosened his grip on the knife.

Clary wrenched it away from their assailant and scrambled back.

The assailant struggled, then bit down on Seth’s arm when all else failed.

Seth flinched back, and their assailant scurried back to his car.

Seth’s gaze followed, but he didn’t bother to give chase. Instead, he ran over to her, skidding to a stop a few steps in front of her.

---