Page 65 of Whispers Left Behind

“Gage, it’s over. There is nowhere to go. Think about what it is you are doing right now.”

“Do you know what it is like to be ignored your entire life?”

Kinsley could hear Alex calling her name, but she didn’t dare move from her position. Gage’s question indicated a deep hatred directed at everyone in his life, including his mother.

“Gage, I know you can hear my partner. You also heard the alarm. The hospital is on lockdown. You’re bleeding, and the only thing holding you upright is that wall.” Kinsley figured it was only a matter of time before Alex materialized in the doorway. There was a possibility he could have a clear shot through the shelving unit, which meant she had to buy him enough time to get into position. “Let your mother go. I’ll stay, and you can talk to me.”

“Pops paid for Rachel’s college. Bought my sister her first car. Paid for her damned wedding,” Gage said with a painful laugh. Kinsley didn’t doubt it was a mixture of emotional and physical pain. “I worked the farm. I kept his dream alive. What the hell did I get in return?”

Gage slipped a little, one of his knees giving out right before he caught himself. Louise cried out when the scalpel cut her neck, and Kinsley tensed in fear that the woman would begin to struggle.

“They all took advantage of me. I worked that farm for years while my mother and sister lived out their lives without a care in the world.” Gage pulled his mother closer, causing her eyes to widen with terror. He whispered in her ear with such severity that droplets of spit landed on her cheek. “I told you over and over and over that I wanted out. You didn’t care.”

“I did c—”

“You didn’t love me like her,” Gage screamed as he shook his mother in anger. The outburst caused Kinsley to rest her finger on the trigger. Louise began to cry harder. “I asked Rachel for money, you know. My own sister would have rather seen me beaten to death than help me pay off my debts.”

“Gage, I need you to put down the scalpel,” Kinsley instructed quietly while noticing movement in her peripheral vision. She didn’t want to remove her focus from Gage to identify if the individual was Alex or one of the security guards. “I know you love your mother. I’ve heard you talk about her when I was at the farm. She loves you, too. But your mother is very frightened right now, and she is bleeding. You both are. Release her so that I can get the two of you medical attention.”

“Do you still love me? Do you? Will you treat me now like you didhernow that she’s gone?”

“Hasn’t she proven her love to you already, Gage?” Kinsley stepped to her left in hopes that his attention would follow her. She had been able to detect Alex as being the individual near the exit from the way he moved, and she wanted to give him the ability to obtain a line of sight on his target. “If I’m not mistaken, your mother was the one who told you we were entering the hospital. She was willing to risk jail to help you. Doesn’t that prove her love?”

Gage blinked rapidly as her words penetrated the fog that was no doubt blanketing his thoughts. His fight or flight response was gradually fading as his façade began to crack.

“Louise, tell your son how much you love him.”

Kinsley no longer had a line of sight on Alex. He had disappeared behind the shelving unit. Her position didn’t afford her a view beyond the items stored on the shelves. It wasn’t often that they were put into a situation where their weapons needed to be drawn, but she had every confidence Alex would give her the opportunity to talk their suspect down without further bloodshed.

“Louise?” Kinsley prodded, noticing Gage’s knuckles turning white.

“Gage, I h-have always loved you. Always.”

Kinsley wasn’t certain if it was Louise’s words or the crack in her voice that had Gage shoving her away from him. The scalpel dropped to the floor with a clatter, and Kinsley immediately lowered her weapon and all but shoved Louise toward the door. Alex was there instantly to guide her the rest of the way while Kinsley moved swiftly toward Gage.

His legs had finally given out and the wall helped guide him to the floor. His breaths came in short, heavy bursts, and his eyes glazed over as if he were staring into some unseen distance. The frenetic energy that had propelled him to desperation had evaporated into the sterile air, leaving behind nothing more than a shell.

“I’m so tired,” Gage whispered as his head rolled to the side.

It was difficult to believe she was witnessing vulnerability in a man who could slit his sister’s throat and stand there while she bled out, her life slowly leaving her body with each pump of her heart. He had gone through his days without anyone knowing he was capable of killing someone. Not even his family.

“So tired…”

As the adrenaline left Kinsley’s body, it was as if the man’s exhaustion bled into her. She called out for medical assistance, kneeling to remove the scalpel from his reach. Until he wasrestrained to a bed, she would remain by his side. The hypocrisy of the situation didn’t slip by her unnoticed. After all, how could she condemn Gage Baird for his hatred of others when she herself had taken a life in a fit of fear and rage?

The burden of their lies was soul-crushing.

But the repercussions?

Their own personalized burning hell.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Kinsley Aspen

October

Monday — 9:12 am

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