Page 68 of Big Island Horizons
There was an angry red mark on the side of Tenn’s face – the start of a black eye.
“The police have already been called,” Tenn said. “You should go.”
“That’s what you want, isn’t it? You want me gone. You want her all to yourself!” He flung the bottle in his hand at Tenn’s head. Tenn ducked, and the glass bottle exploded against the concrete wall.
‘Olena saw red.
“You think you bad?” she shouted, advancing on Zeke. “You wanna come here and start somethin?”
Zeke’s eyes widened, and he stumbled backwards. Suddenly outnumbered, he was exposed for the coward that he was. She expected him to run.
Instead, he reached into his pocket. Smiled. And pulled out a gun.
‘Olena took a hasty step backwards.
“Not so brave now, are you?” he taunted, pointing the gun at her.
It was a tiny pistol, the kind of handgun a woman might keep in her purse. It was almost comical, the small gun in his meaty hand… or it would have been, if the barrel hadn’t been pointed at her face.
A sudden, desperate fear took her breath away.
Please, God, don’t take me away from my babies. Not now. Not like this. Please.
“Put the gun down,” Tenn said, his voice coaxing. “You don’t want to do this.”
“You don’t know what I want!” Zeke shouted, swinging the gun towards Tenn. Then he started to cry. “But you do. You know exactly what I want. You knew, and you took her.”
“Put the gun down,” he said again, his voice remarkably steady, “and we can talk about this.”
Zeke cocked the pistol, and ‘Olena’s mouth went dry with fear. She wanted to do something – run, knock the gun out of his hands, anything – but she was terrified that any move from her would cause him to fire on Tenn.
“If I can’t have her,” Zeke grated, “you sure as hell can’t.”
The gun sounded, and her mind went blank. Everything that came next happened in a blur. When ‘Olena thought back on it later, it was fuzzy, a half-remembered nightmare.
She ducked and charged like a football player, knocking Zeke to the ground.
They slammed into the pavement, her landing on top of him, but somehow he kept a tight hold on his gun.
The pistol came up towards her face and she grabbed the offending arm with both hands, pinning it to the ground. His free hand found her neck.
Then Nate was there. He hit Zeke once, and the hand around ‘Olena’s neck loosened. Nate pried the gun from Zeke’s hand, tossed it aside, and pinned him easily to the ground.
‘Olena stumbled backwards, gasping.
Then she saw Tenn. Less than a minute had passed, and there was already a terrifying amount of blood soaking through his white chef’s coat.
She stared down at him for a moment, petrified that she might do more damage by trying to staunch the blood.
But there was so much already.
Quickly, she knelt beside him and pressed the heel of her hand into the hole in his coat.
He stared up at her, mouth open, his eyes blank with shock.
She pressed harder, and he cried out in pain.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
