Page 110 of Audiophile

Please, God, please don’t let him die. You didn’t listen to me with Natalia, but please listen now. I’ll go to church. I’ll be a better person.

“I…” She pauses, as if God answered my prayer and let her sanity leak in. But then she smashes my hope with a sledgehammer. “You’re lying. I listened to some of the recording you made with her. It took me out of it each time you said her name, but you’re still that guy. I want what she has! I’ll make you love me. Even if I have to break you to do it.”

“You didn’t want it to go like this. Let’s make a different plan,” Reed offers.

I carefully put my phone on silent and set breakfast down by the door. I breathe through my panic and send a group text to Tommy and Darin with shaky fingers.

Kinley is here and has a gun. Tommy has the address. Call 911.

Tommy responds in seconds.

What? Where are you? Is anyone hurt?

Not yet. She’s in the kitchen. Front door open. Hurry.

“I have a great plan,” Kinley growls. “That’s why I got my new ID and passport.”

“What good will that do you?” Reed asks, as my phone buzzes with more texts from Tommy.

Stay hidden if you can, keep her calm if you can’t.

Love you Troni

“Because, Daddy, after Petra is dead, you and I are crossing to Canada as man and wife. From there, we’re getting on a plane to Ecuador. Tropical life, it’ll be great.”

Something slams inside the house. “Touch Petra and I’ll—”

“Don’t test me!” Her shrill scream echoes through the house. “Take another step and I’ll shoot.”

It’s escalating too fast to wait for the cops. I search for a makeshift weapon, scrambling like an idiot.Jesus Christ, who am I kidding, trying to take on a woman with a gun?I choke back a laugh, because I shouldn’t swear only minutes after bargaining with God to save Reed’s life.

But then Mama’s words come back to me from Natalia’s burial.“Faith isn’t about what you offer in return. Faith is believing with your whole heart, and trusting that God has a plan you will never understand. You can’t pray for your plan. You must pray for His.”

As much as I hated the advice back then, it rings truer now. What would my life be like if I still had Natalia? Would I have gone back to writing? Would I be this close to my siblings, to my parents? Would I have met Reed, or spent the rest of my life unhappily tied to Nate? I’ll never stop missing her, but I will also never understand why it happened the way it did.

I trust in your plan.I grab a foot-tall garden statue that the previous owners must’ve left behind.I have faith in my blindness, for I cannot understand.My hands steady, my heart rate slows, and I creep through the front door. They’re around the corner, in the kitchen, and a quick peek confirms that Kinley has her back to me.

“I’m trying to play nice,” Kinley says frostily. The sound of a gun cocking echoes through the room. “But now you’re just insulting. If I can’t have you, Daddy, no one can.”

With a deep breath and a chest full of faith, I dart forward, raising the statue to hit Kinley with it. She’s faster, though, and spins around once she hears my footsteps.

I freeze. I’vemether. She’s the cute, bubbly blonde from the grocery store. The one I’d wished could be a friend.

She smiles like a shark as she raises the gun, and Reed launches at her from behind, sending them both across the room. They fall to the floor with a thud. She tries to get away, but Reed yanks her back.

The crack of a gunshot rings in the empty kitchen. It’s deafening. Reed groans, hand gripping his leg, and I scream.

“No, Daddy! I’m sorry, I…” Kinley gets to her feet, pale faced and wide eyed. She turns to me and lifts the gun in my face, merely a foot away. “You did this!”

My heart pounds, adrenaline pushing me to make the stupidest decision possible. I bring the statue down on her forearm, forcing the gun down and away from us while another shot goes off. Heat blazes through my arm.

I let go of the statue and twist the gun up and to the side. The sharp snap of her trigger finger shattering is nearly as loud as the gunshot, or the concrete statue that slams down on her foot. She screams and curls forward, dropping the gun.

I lunge for it, but Kinley grabs me. Her nails rake across my cheek and catch the corner of my mouth. My vision goes red, and I’m suddenly blind to the pain.

She hunted us down. She hurt Reed. She’ll do it again and again.

I pummel her in all the places Silla ingrained into my memory, but Kinley is scrappy. She punches back equally fast. There’s an unhinged rage fueling her, but I’m getting tired. When she gets to her knees to run, I make a desperate call.

---