Matthew looked down at where his hands were gripping his knees. He didn’t want to agree with his father, but as usual, David did have a point. While the idea of reaching out to others and asking for help made him uneasy, they would need to make connections to at least set up trades or find supplies. Feeling so wary of others felt unnatural to him. Usually, he wouldn’t have a problem asking for help. But this time was different because seeking out help would determine whether his family would survive or not. What if he reached out to these future strangers, only to have those people turn on him, like Jade had? What if other people realized how valuable the hotel was and tried to take it from them like Samuel had?
“It’s the people we need to protect ourselves from,” Kathleen said, as if echoing his thoughts. “We can’t trust that people will help us out of the goodness of their hearts. I can tell you that firsthand. They’ll see what we have and try to take it from us.”
“Samuel did try to take the hotel,” Ruth murmured. “I might have trusted him, too, since he was born and raised in Galena. A local. That would have been a mistake.”
David covered her other hand with his. “I know, but we might have to take that chance. We’re smarter now. Much more careful. We can take measures to protect ourselves and still make contact with others.”
“How are we supposed to do that when everyone we’ve met who isn’t family has betrayed us?” Kathleen asked hotly.
Jade made a soft wounded sound. Kathleen looked triumphant as if she’d scored a point. Patton and Allison exchanged confused looks, but both remained silent and let the adults hash out the issue.
Matthew took a deep, calming breath. “I understand, Dad. Maybe though, we can talk about that at a later point. Right now, we should focus on keeping this place safe. Fixing everything that’s wrong will take a while as it is. We can’t have people sneaking up on us, but at the same time we are ignorant about how to survive. We’re blind on both sides.”
“Maybe,” Jade began, before pausing as if uncertain. She cleared her throat and found her voice again. “Maybe it might help everyone feel more secure if they knew how to protect themselves. Walls and fences will only go so far. Sure, you can build a fence, but maybe you can then assess outsiders on a case-by-case basis. Then you aren’t isolating, but if trouble does show up, at least everyone will know how to physically protect themselves. You can rely on your skills instead of relying on the hotel. That would bridge the gap, I think.” Her fingers went to the fringe on her jacket again and began to worry at the leather.
Kathleen made a sound of disapproval. “That’s a good suggestion, Jade, but honestly if we were evaluating people, you wouldn’t make the cut.” She suddenly looked down, as if ashamed at how she sounded, but then she continued to speak. “I know you helped David, but this hotel is for family only. You’ll need to find someplace else to stay long-term. I know David trusts you, but I can’t take the chance that you’ll hurt someone else. While we appreciate you being here, it is only for now. I don’t understand why you’re sticking around to begin with.”
Jade looked at Matthew helplessly, as if pleading.
“I don’t understand why you’re here at all,” Kathleen said, with a note of finality.
5
“Matt, please,” Jade said, “I don’t have anywhere else to go. I would never hurt anyone again, I swear to you. I did a terrible thing that I’ll regret for the rest of my life, but I’m trying to make it up to you. Please don’t send me away.”
Matthew pursed his lips. She looked so helpless. Her petite stature made her appear breakable. He remembered thinking something similar when they’d first met behind a gas station. Back then, he’d promised to help her. He’d promised that she could have a place at the hotel if she helped them get home. She’d won his father over with her charm. The same charm she was relying on now.
David had always told Matthew he had a heart of gold. That he trusted too easily and had too much faith in humanity. Yet somehow, David was the one advocating for Jade. For some reason, he was willing to give her a second chance. Matthew knew his father would never do that for anyone else. So, if David was going to see Jade through rose-tinted glasses, Matthew would be forced to be the one on alert, wary of anyone who might threaten his family. He couldn’t be swayed by her.
“I’m sorry, Jade,” Matthew said, “but we can’t take that risk.”
Kathleen looked relieved, as if having Matthew take her side had eased the panic within her. Matthew caught Allison exchanging another worried look with Patton. Matthew swore he would keep them safe and try to maintain their innocence in all of this. If Jade could charm his father, he could only imagine what kind of influence she would wield over Patton and Allison.
If Jade stayed, Matthew knew he’d never feel safe. He’d always be worried about his children.
Matthew stood and picked up the shotgun. He kept the barrel aimed toward the ceiling and the stock cupped in one of his hands. “C’mon, Jade. I’ll walk you out,” he said.
“Dad,” Allison said quietly, “what did she do, exactly?”
“Yeah,” Patton chimed in, “what did she do that was so bad?”
Matthew shook his head, refusing to talk about it, and motioned Jade toward the door with the shotgun barrel.
“Matthew,” David hissed, “you can’t just throw her off the property.”
Tears began to fall down Jade’s cheeks. Her chin wobbled. She stood up, though, as if accepting Matthew’s verdict. With slow steps, she followed him outside.
“Matthew!” David called out, louder this time, and he scrambled to his feet to follow. Kathleen, Allison, and Patton joined him until the whole Riley clan was back outside in the dimming afternoon light. A breeze blew by, rustling the leaves and the grass. White clouds floated past the sun, giving some reprieve from the bright light.
“Do I have any say in this?” David demanded. He grabbed Matthew’s arm to make him stop walking.
Matthew glared down at his father and said, “If you were in my position, you’d do the same thing.”
Jade hung back. Her shoulders shook with sobs.
“We need people with skills that we don’t possess,” David said, his blue eyes flashing. “Jade would be a useful member of the group. We’ll need her. If you tell her to go, you’ll be making her your enemy.”
“Isn’t she already our enemy?” Matthew said, shaking David’s hand off of him. He couldn’t believe how hard his father was fighting to keep Jade around. “After everything we’ve been through, you don’t see how dangerous she can be?”
David’s face hardened. “I know I sound ridiculous, but when I was in the Army, I had a sense about recruits who were trustworthy. Jade is one of those people. You have to stick up for people who are willing to admit to their wrongs and try to make those wrongs right.”
“That’s rich coming from you,” Matthew said. His control over his anger started to unravel. “After everything you spouted at me about being careful of who to trust, you’re going to throw that in my face?”
“What could Jade possibly do that would make her so valuable?” Kathleen demanded and pushed her way over to stand next to Matthew. Kathleen looked as if she’d been backed into a corner. Her shoulders hunched as if she were braced for an attack, and her dark eyes glittered.
“I’m standing right here,” Jade said.
David turned to Jade. “Jade, how long have you been living on your own?”
Jade glowered, as if considering not answering, when she finally said, “Three years. Ever since I left home, I’ve been on my own. I had a terrible relationship with my mother, and it was better for us both if I wasn’t in the way anymore. It was always better that way.”
“But you must’ve been really young to have survived on your own all this time,” David said.
Matthew rolled his eyes. He hated it when his father was trying to make a point.
Jade nodded. “Yeah, I’ve had to deal with a lot of ugly people and been in a lot of
nasty situations. I’m not proud of a lot of the things I’ve done, but some of it was done in self-defense.”
“Which included hurting us, Dad. You don’t think she’ll hurt the kids? Or Mom?” Matthew demanded. “Kathleen is right. We can’t trust her. I’m sorry, Jade, but you’re too much of a risk.”
David looked exasperated. “You’re missing the entire point.”
“I’ll prove that I’m useful,” Jade said and jutted her chin up, as if accepting a challenge. “I’ll show you how useful I can be.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Kathleen scoffed.
Matthew rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache beginning to build. “How are you going to prove yourself?” he asked. If he didn’t give her a chance, it might cause a rift between him and David, but if he didn’t stick to his guns, it would cause a fight between him and Kathleen. If David wanted Jade to stay so badly, then she’d better be able to wow them.
Jade paused for a moment and then puffed up her chest. She looked to the shotgun in Matthew’s hand. “With my marksmanship,” she said.
A cold rush of fear filled Matthew. For a moment, he was back on the highway and fighting tooth and nail to wrench the handgun away from Jade. Her fingernail gouges on his wrists seemed to sting as if they too remembered how hard he’d fought her. Back then, he knew without a sliver of a doubt that if he gave Jade an inch, she wouldn’t hesitate to shoot him dead. That same knowledge applied here. “Out of the question,” Matthew said.
“Hell no,” Kathleen said at the same time. “You think we’d willingly give you a gun? You could turn on us and shoot all of us!”
“You’re being ridiculous,” David said. “She’s outnumbered. Unless she’s extraordinarily fast, she wouldn’t be able to hurt any of us before we stopped her.”
Jade looked almost offended. “I’m not a china doll. I am fast. I’m a good shot—”
“There’s no way in this world or the next that you’ll get that gun away from Matthew,” Kathleen said with finality.
Jade’s mouth turned into a mulish line. Her expression hardened. “I’ll just have to show you, then,” she said and darted forward toward Matthew. Matthew barely had a moment to think before he was swinging the barrel of the gun down from where it was pointed toward the sky. Jade dodged to the side and with one hand pushed the shotgun barrel down and away from her. Her other hand gripped Matthew’s injured wrist and twisted it. With the angle she had on the shotgun paired with the twisting pressure on his wrist, Matthew couldn’t help but cry out in sharp, sudden pain. His grip on the gun began to loosen against his will. Jade thrust the barrel down and out of his hand and then reached for the stock, effectively yanking the gun from his faltering hands into her own. She pressed the polished stock against her armpit and pointed the barrel at the dirt.
Without thinking, Matthew’s hands came up, palms out. He’d been easily and effectively disarmed. Terror filled him as he remembered her pointing a gun at him before. How he’d stared down a handgun barrel and wondered when she was going to pull the trigger. He had the same sensation now. Time seemed to slow for him.
He heard Kathleen scream. Her hands flew toward her waist and scrambled for the handgun in the holster against her back. Matthew knew she’d never be fast enough. Her face transformed with fear.
He watched as Jade took three swift steps back and swung the gun up. For a moment, he wondered which one of them Jade would kill first. She pivoted, braced the stock against her shoulder and pointed away from them.
The sudden gunfire exploded in the air. Matthew jerked back as though he had actually been shot. Instead, he saw a low-hanging branch on a tree some fifty yards away explode into splinters and the rest of it crack off the main trunk and land on the ground.
Jade flipped the safety back on and shot Matthew a smug smile. She focused on David, whose mouth hung open in shock. “Now imagine if I actually had something to properly aim at,” she said.
Matthew realized he was shaking. Ruth uttered a soft, “Wow.”
“Let me get you some real targets,” David said, looking as though he was trying to hide his shock. With careful steps, he made his way back into the hotel and returned moments later with a set of tin cans strung together with twine.
“Hey, that’s our security system,” Patton said.
“Well, now it’s going to be used for Jade to show off how good she is with a gun,” David said. He walked out a ways and began to set the cans in staggered places at different distances. Once he made his way back and behind Jade, she promptly took aim and fired at the closest target.
Ping! The first can exploded up into the air.
Matthew’s jaw dropped. He felt Patton grab his sleeve and tug. “Dad, I want to be able to do that,” he said.
Ping! The second can further away danced up and into the air.
“Me too,” Allison said, sounding breathless and yet at the same time strangely determined.
Ping! The third can flew off its target and bounced on the ground.
“Wow,” Matthew uttered, echoing Ruth. Jade was a much better shot than he’d given her credit for. He couldn’t help but say, “That is impressive.”
Ping! The fourth can shot off its perch and landed in the dirt.
“I could teach you,” Jade said. She flipped the safety back on and held the gun out to Matthew. He stared at it a moment, as if he couldn’t trust that she was offering it back to him. He took it tentatively from her.
“Absolutely not,” Kathleen said. When Matthew looked at her, he saw that her sickly pallor was back. Sweat beaded on her brow even though it was starting to get chilly.
Kathleen swallowed hard. “After that display, I’m even more convinced she can’t stay. If she can shoot that well, who’s to say she won’t attack us when we least expect it?”
“Kathleen, you’re being unreasonable,” David said. “I don’t know how to explain it any better to you, but I’ll be plain. Jade could teach us how to shoot. She could teach us how to disarm others if we are threatened. Don’t you see the value in that?”
Kathleen turned flashing eyes to David. “I’m being unreasonable? Explain to me, David, how looking out for my family is unreasonable. Explain to me why it’s reasonable to have my children around a woman who could disarm and shoot us at any moment? Or does that make me not useful? Would you throw me out of here because I don’t have the same skills?”
David glanced at Matthew and suddenly looked sheepish. “I didn’t mean it like that. I would never put my grandchildren in harm’s way. I’m just saying that if she can teach us and is willing to teach us, it would be foolish to miss that opportunity.”
Jade crossed her arms and held her head up high.
Matthew knew the argument wouldn’t be won by persuasion. His wife and father both had stubborn personalities. There was only one way to settle this. “No one is going to change their minds,” he said. “We need to put this to a vote.”
6
“Do you really think a vote is the best way to settle this?” Kathleen asked and glared at David.
“Yes.” Matthew hoped he sounded convincing. “Majority rules. You’re not going to budge on your view of the situation and neither is Dad. This is the best way to settle the argument before we end up holding grudges against each other. We need to stick together and this will be the most appropriate way for us to make decisions as a family.”
Kathleen gnawed on her lip and glanced from David to Jade. Her hands came to rest on her hips. “Fine,” she said.
“Fine,” David echoed her. “Agreed.”
“Why are you so against Jade staying here?” Ruth said softly to Kathleen.
Matthew glanced up. In all the chaos and fighting between his wife and father, he’d almost forgotten about his mother. She stood close to Patton and Allison as though to watch over them. He suddenly felt ashamed of himself. He hated that his children had to watch their role models fall into petty arguments.
Kathleen looked equally stunn
ed as if coming to the same conclusion, and turned to her mother-in-law. “Matthew told me about Jade as we walked up here. Jade shot David in the arm.”
Ruth nodded slowly and glanced at David’s bandaged arm. “Yes, Matthew told me.”
Patton and Allison exchanged worried looks. Patton stood a bit closer to Allison and peered at David’s arm. “Grandpa, does it hurt?”
“It did,” David said, “but I’m much better now.”
“Matt, what’s making you hesitate about accepting her into our group?” Ruth asked.
Matthew sighed and looked off into the distance. A million reasons filled his mind. While Kathleen and Allison knew part of the story, they didn’t know everything. Even though a vote was the best option to settle the disagreement, it should at least be an informed vote. Matthew cleared his throat. He knew he’d be airing Jade’s dirty laundry and painting her in an even worse light by telling his family the truth.
Kathleen and Ruth didn’t know that Jade had murdered a man right in front of Matthew and David. They didn’t know that she had kidnapped them and held them both at gunpoint. They didn’t know that David had almost been pushed into a second heart attack because Jade demanded a grueling pace of them as they walked down the highway. Matthew knew his decision to make Jade leave was influenced by these actions, just as much as it was by the fact that she’d shot his father.
If Kathleen knew everything about Jade, she would be even more convinced that Jade was their enemy. Perhaps David might be swayed if Matthew reminded him about what had happened on their journey home. It wasn’t fair for him to hold back when the situation was so much more nuanced than it originally appeared.
Could he bring himself to live with Jade under the same roof? Sleep in a bed knowing she was down the hallway? Would he always be looking over his shoulder, waiting for her to turn on them? He wasn’t sure.
At the same time, while his gut told him to toss Jade out, her skillset would be useful to them. She could even teach him how to properly shoot and disarm someone. If he’d known how to do that, he might have been able to save his mother better from Samuel.
EMP Catastrophe | Book 2 | Erupting Danger Page 4
