Page 58 of One Kill

But then the cherry wood coffin is lowered into the ground, thoughts of everything just evaporate from my mind and all I see is the only man I’ve ever loved disappearing from sight forever.

The sorrow that envelops my entire torso is almost debilitating but I have to be here for Hallie, because whatever pain I’m feeling, hers is exponentially greater.

So, I do my job. The only job that really matters.

In that split moment in time, I become a mom. Not just a biological transformation from giving birth, but a transcendental change in the very fiber of my soul as my greatest focus becomes Hallie Gallagher. Until my dying breath.

We sit in the unforgiving cold for over thirty minutes after everyone has left, just staring at the bump in the ground that has covered up Murphy’s soulless body, each of us holding a long-stemmed white rose. Everyone there dropped theirs in his grave but we just sit here, staring.

“He has a computer with everything in it. All his work, all the names and dates and whatever else on spreadsheets.” Hallie’s words shock me out of my own head, memories of Murph and I growing up together, falling in love, making love for the first time. Him kissing my belly when I told him I was pregnant, telling me it was a gift from God, and me scoffing, saying something about God not having to raise it and go to school at the same time.

“How do you know this?” My question is low, our conversation only for us.

“He told me all about it a few days before it all went down. I think he had a feeling.” She looks at me, her pretty hazel eyes swimming in her never-ending streams of tears.

“I promise you, Hallie, if it’s the last thing I do…” Placing my palms on either one of her wet cheeks, I make sure she sees the truth and the promise in my eyes. “I will take them all down. One kill at a time for the one kill they never should have taken.”

Hallie nods, satisfied with my promise, and as if we’ve both had the same thought, we turn to Murphy and rise to our feet. As I hold out the rose in my hand to drop on top of freshly turned dirt, I flinch at the tiny stab in my finger.

“You okay?” Hallie looks at my hand as I throw the rose down and bring my finger to my mouth, sucking away the drop of blood.

“Yeah, just pricked my finger.”

Hallie smiles at me then looks to the ground, a grin lifting the corners of her mouth, changing her features back to the little girl I met just a month ago.

“Any time I pricked my finger, Dad used to say it was the rose wanting to become my best friend. It was stupid but it made me feel better.” I smile at her, hoping to see her happy again one day. But then she breaks down once more and I know it’ll be a long time before we’re okay.

As we walk away, arm in arm, I feel a vibration in my back pocket. Everyone I know was at the funeral but they left before me. My hope is that Glitch found something, anything, to feed my hunger for blood.

Taking out my phone as I open the truck door, I frown at the screen.

Unknown: I’m sorry for your loss.

Fucking hell, I need to know who this fucker is and I need to know now. Except I don’t have time to waste on this anonymous Robin to my shadowy Batman because Hallie’s voice has every hair on my back standing on end.

“Mom?” My glare shifts from the screen on my phone to her line of sight, my body instantly on high alert as I watch four brutish assholes approach us.

“Stay behind me.” As I growl out my words, I’m already pushing her behind me, my free hand on the knife secured at my hip.

“What do they want?”

I don’t answer Hallie since I have no idea who these fuckers are but I know an ambush when I see one. They’re walking in a half moon, their stares on me like I’m a flight risk and their only job is to take me in.

Well, I hope they’ve brought reinforcements because I won’t be taken down so easily.

“Mom, there’s two more behind us.” Hallie’s trembling voice is no longer filled with grief but with unmasked fear.

Fuck, I guess they did the math and figured six against one seemed fair.

“You boys come for the funeral? I’m sorry to say, it’s over now.” I angle our bodies so that I can see all six men at once, a huge oak tree at our backs. “But feel free to pay your respects.” One of them sneers, the corner of his mouth ticking up and showing a missing incisor. All of them have shaved heads and half have already broken their noses once or ten times.

“Give us the girl.” So convinced they were here to kill me, it takes me a second to realize they’re after Hallie. Yeah, I don’t fucking think so.

“Hey, Hallie? You feel like going with these assholes?” Hallie just burrows deeper behind me, making herself as small as possible between me and the tree trunk. “Sorry, guys. No can do.” I’m kicking myself for not bringing my gun to the funeral; figured I didn’t need to have that on me for this but, clearly, I was wrong.

“Wasn’t a question, bitch.” Missing tooth guy must be the ringleader of this low-IQ circus since he’s the only one capable of stringing two words together.

“Ah, see… I have a rule about leaving my daughter with misogynist pricks, so that’s hard no from me.” As discreetly as I can, I hand my phone back to Hallie, whispering, “Marco,” and hoping she understands.

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