“I am the voice of justice for those who cannot speak. I will bring them oceans of suffering and rivers of pain.”
“A little thing like you killed Henry. I wouldn’t have believed it…except I saw you.”
“You were in the Maserati.” I remember another day. “You almost ran me over.” I think through every time I thought I saw him. “And you shot Frank Pearl. Why?”
“Frank was mine. Owed a great deal of money to my employers. It was my shot to take. Not yours.”
“You were the guy in the gray hoodie.”
He nods. “I was curious.”
“Why didn’t you kill me before? You’ve had plenty of chances.” I stop looking out the window. It’s too dark to see, and the storm has passed. I look at him, taking in every inch, looking for any sign of weakness, but I find none.
There’s no way I can save myself. It’s a while before he answers, and when he does his voice is rough and quiet.
“I’ve asked myself many times. Following you, seeing what you were doing, I tried to make sense of it. It’s not that I don’t appreciate what you’ve been up to. I do. But not when you play in my sandbox.”
He watches me and says, “You had no connection to the people you killed. You know the police are looking for drug dealers and cartel hit men? You should have picked up a couple of ghost guns. Could have had a rainbow of firearms with your nail polish markings.”
He nods and shifts in the chair. It creaks with the weight of him, and I hope it will collapse beneath him. It would be the distraction I need. I only took my wallet when I went to the store. How could I have been so stupid? I should know by now. Always have a gun on my person. Even when I sleep.
“You really believe you’re making any kind of a difference?”
“I am in North Carolina. And what the hell is a ghost gun?” And the weight of all those out there who need my help settles on my shoulders like a sack of grain. I meet his eyes and don’t look away.
“A ghost gun is a gun with no serial number. Untraceable. Most make their way into the country via the Philippines.”
“There is so much evil in the world. I could kill forever. Piling up corpses thirty feet high all the way around the world and it wouldn’t make enough of a difference.” I reach for my glass to find it empty, and set it back on the table. “I serve justice for those I can.”
He gives me a brief nod. “The senator wants your head for interfering with a very lucrative business of his. But he made a mistake. Hired a second man to take you out.”
I gasp. “The blond man?”
“You knew?”
“He was asking about me at Walmart.”
He nods. “I don’t work with others. The senator broke our agreement. I owe him nothing.”
Now the picture in Henry’s house makes sense. They were partners. The hypocritical scumbag.
The man stands and I go still. “You have a choice. Stop what you’ve been doing for the past year and I’ll let you live. The murders will stop. Life will go on. I’ll make everyone believe you’re dead.”
Hazel eyes stare through me. “Kill one more person and I will track you down. But I won’t just shoot you. I’ll take you apart, piece by piece. Have I made myself clear?”
I have to swallow twice before I can answer. “Crystal.”
“I’ll bring you a new identity in a few days. You can go anywhere. North Carolina is no longer an option. You’ll be safe here until I return. Cross me and I'll feed you to the gators while you're still alive.”
My mouth falls open.
“What? You didn't think I knew about your past?
He shuts the door behind him, and it’s a few more minutes before my body unfreezes and I can move. I run to the door and look out, but he’s gone. Vanished.
CHAPTER 64
HE DIDN’T KILL ME. NOT only did he let me live, he’s helping me. I pace around the house after he leaves, trying to make sense of what he said. Knowing I’m only alive because the senator injured the hitman’s pride. Guess sending someone else to do your job is a slap in the face.
I put my charm bracelet on. The last two charms go in my pocket. The moon shines down on the water as I walk. To help calm my nerves I’ve made another drink and brought it with me. For a long time, I stand, facing the water, watching the moonlight dance. In the distance I see two red eyes looking back at me, then clouds blow across the sky, blotting out the moon and they’re gone. I stare at the water and swear I see something black undulating across the water. When I blink it’s gone. Deep inside I know it was an alligator.
Reaching in my pocket, I pull out the green and purple charms. Roll them around in my palm. Finally I throw them both into the moonlight, watching as they hit the water. As I walk back to the cottage, I hear a soft cry. It’s coming from one of the dunes. Getting closer, I see a cardboard box, still taped shut. It’s half crushed and waterlogged as the water laps at the sides.
The meow comes again. Dropping to the sand, I rip open the box, the soggy cardboard coming apart in pieces.
There’s a tiny black kitten. Shivering. He looks even smaller in the palm of my hand. I cradle him to my chest, tracking sand across the floor as I step into the light.
At the grocery, I bought milk for my cereal. I pour a little in a saucer and set it down. The kitten laps it up, purring.
When he’s done, I pick him up and clean him off. “We’ll get you some food in the morning.”
The man with the scar never waited to hear my choice. He thought I had none. Would choose life over death. But I wasn’t sure. Not until I opened the box.
I choose exile. It’s time to let go of the past. I can’t bring Mama or Max back. It’s time to face the future. Change and become something else.
The kitten follows me to the bedroom. I take the quilt off, run my hands across the faded fabric, and put him on the bed. He curls up and falls asleep.
I place both guns in the center of the quilt and fold it up. Take off my bracelet. As I touch each charm, one by one, I repeat all thirteen names. The bracelet goes on top of the gun. After folding the ends of the quilt, I place the bundle in the hope chest and close the lid. My hands rest on the top. A single tear falls onto the lid.
Books by Cynthia Luhrs
Listed in the correct reading order
THRILLERS
There Was A Little Girl
When She Was Good - January 10th, 2017
TIME TRAVEL SERIES
A Knight to Remember
Knight Moves
Lonely is the Knight
Merriweather Sisters Medieval Time Travel Romance Boxed Set Books 1-3
Darkest Knight
Forever Knight
First Knight
Thornton Brothers Medieval Time Travel Romance Boxed Set Books 1-3
Last Knight
COMING 2017 - 2018
Beyond Time
Falling Through Time
Lost in Time
My One and Only Knight
A Moonlit Knight
A Knight in Tarnished Armor
THE SHADOW WALKER GHOST SERIES
Lost in Shadow
Desired by Shadow
Iced in Shadow
Reborn in Shadow
Born in Shadow
Embraced by Shadow
The Shadow Walkers Books 1-3
The Shadow Walkers Books 4-6
Entire Shadow Walkers Boxed Set Books 1-6
A JIG THE PIG ADVENTURE
(Children’s Picture Books)
Beware the Woods
I am NOT a Chicken!
August 2016 – December 2017 My Favorite Things Journal & Coloring Book for Book Lovers
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About the Author
Cynthia Luhrs writes time travel because she hasn’t found a way (yet) to transport herself to medieval England where she’s certain a knight in slightly tarnished armor is waiting for her arrival. She traveled a great deal and now resides in the colonies with three tiger cats who like to disrupt her writing by sitting on the keyboard. She is overly fond of shoes, sloths, and tea.
Also by Cynthia: There Was a Little Girl and the Shadow Walker Ghost Series.
There Was a Little Girl Page 28
