Page 181 of Meet Me at the Metro

“You’re sick, Kimberley! Connor will hate you for this!”

That earns me another suffocating squeeze against my neck. I gasp for air as the alarms continue blaring around us, fighting for breath as we desperately wait for help to come.

“So that's what you wanted Dad's piano for, then? For the fucking money?” Theo interjects. There’s worry written in his eyes, but he maintains an unperturbed composure and fights to mask the pain I'm sure he's experiencing. “Thought you could get your greedy hands on it to sell it?”

“Why wouldn't I?!” I hear her molars grind together. “I hate that fucking piano.”

The mention of Theo’s dad hit a nerve. It’s enough of a distraction to grant us more time.

“Why?” Theo prods.

“Because it’s a reminder of him! It’s a reminder of everything I’ve lost!”

“You think getting rid of it would make anything better? That it’d do anything to erase his memory? No amount of money can make any of what’s happened better. He’s fucking stained on us!”

“He’s stained on you!”She goes utterly silent as she fixes her gaze on Theo, assessing him meticulously. Her eyes linger on his face for an unsettling amount of time. “Andyou know what makes me sick? How much you’ve grown to lookjustlike him.”

My breathing is rapid as she slowly lowers the gun from my head, but I don’t dare move—not yet.

“Maybe you’re right, Theo. Maybe none of this will change a damn thing. Maybe there’s nothing I can do to erase his memory and stop all this pain. Maybe all the renovations, clothes, and money won’t help numb any of it. Maybe getting rid of you won't help either...”

“It won’t,” Theo growls.

She shrugs. “But maybe it will.”

I ram into Kimberley the second she starts to move to aim the pistol at Theo, knocking her down.

The fourth shot slices through the air as I fall on top of her, wrestling her writhing body as I fight to get the weapon out of her hands. Kimberley thrashes and kicks at me, but I don’t yield, even as we taketurns pulling and tugging at the gun. Even as it twists between our hands and the barrel aligns on me. Even as she shoves me off of her and rolls over the top of me, regaining power as she pins me to the floor.

“Tell me,” she snarls, the veins in her forehead protruding as she strains against me. “Was he really worth it, Ellie?Your life?”

I grunt as she presses the tip beneath my chin, driving it into my skin. I wince at the pain that stems from the forceful impact but don’t stop fighting. I refused to relent to her. I refused to allow her to aim that gun at Theo one more time.

I push her body away from mine as far as my fatigued arms will allow me to, granting myself inches of space from the weapon.

“He’s worth every fucking breath.”

My elbow connects with her face a second before the doors to the theater burst open and flood with flashing blue and white lights. Kimberley’s head whips toward them as hordes of firefighters and police officers rush into the auditorium.

I use the abrupt interruption to my advantage and rear my leg up and back, kicking Kimberley off me.

“ARMED POLICE! DROP THE GUN NOW!”

The authorities stream down the crimson-carpeted floors of the audience, bracketing the rows on each side to block every exit Kimberley might have had of escaping.

“DROP THE GUN NOW, OR I WILL FIRE!”

The blunt threat has Kim obeying. She drops the gun, and it clatters loudly against the floor as another wave of officers storms into the auditorium.

“ON YOUR KNEES! HANDS ABOVE YOUR HEAD!”

I scramble to my feet at the peak of their warnings and rush to where I last saw Theo.

I find him immediately, sprawled out along the floor—chest barely rising.

I fall to my knees beside his limp body and scoop him into my arms, every one of my limbs trembling.

“No. No, no, no, no, no, no...”

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