by Dori Lavelle
“If you don’t let me in, I’ll break down the door.”
“No, don’t do that. Don’t worry about me. I’m… I’m okay. I’m tired.”
He leaned his back against the door and shut his eyes. “Ma, did you hear about—”
“I did.” Her voice was closer now. “We’ll talk about it later. I promise.”
Alvin sighed and turned, rested his forehead against the wood. “We’ll be fine,” he said. “Together we’re strong, remember?”
“Yes,” her tear-smothered voice replied. “Yes, we are.”
Alvin took those words, and her promise to talk later to the beach, where he threw himself into the ocean, fully clothed. He swam until his body went numb from cold and exhaustion. He swam until he was sure he’d given his mother enough time to be alone. Then he climbed onto his bike—still dripping wet—and went home.
His mother had not left the room, and she no longer responded to his calls. Her purse was still on the kitchen table.
She left him with no choice but to throw himself at the door until he ripped it out of its frame.
He barged into the room, dread blocking his throat.
She lay sprawled on the bed in her nightdress, her eyes vacant, her blond hair spread out on the cream and white pillows, her body lifeless.
Kelly’s StudeX article and an empty bottle of pills lay next to her.
A silver spike of pain plunged deep into Alvin’s heart as he gripped her by the shoulders, screamed for her to wake up.
She remained silent…forever.
For the first time in Alvin Jones’s life, his mother had lied to him. She’d promised they’d talk later.
Later never came.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Kelly’s terrified eyes locked with Alvin’s through the windshield of the Ford Focus.
He’d loved her. But she’d burned his heart, leaving only ashes in the place it used to be. Now he was someone else.
He’d come prepared, ready to take her life, ready to give in to the monster that lived deep within his soul. Her crime could not go unpunished. The school had done nothing, but he could. Taking matters into his own hands was the only right choice.
For days he’d stalked her and her friends, found a way to listen in on their conversations. He’d known they’d drive to the cinema tonight.
Minutes before they’d shown up, he’d sat at the side of the isolated road, polishing the gun.
If it weren’t for the voice inside his head, the one belonging to his mother, the gun would be loaded.
“Don’t do it, Baby.” Her voice had been so clear. She could have been sitting next to him. “Two wrongs don’t make a right.”
The words repeated over and over inside his head as he prepared to load the gun. His mother won…for now.
He was about to walk away, to shrink back into the darkness, when the Ford Focus emerged from the night.
He had to leave with something, had to see the fear in her eyes when she saw the gun.
His groin twitched at the sound of their screams. For years they had overlooked him. Now they acknowledged his power. It turned him on.
“Don’t be stupid, Alvin. Go home. You’re not killing anyone tonight.” Stacy Prammer’s shrill voice cut through the night.
Just because her father owned half the businesses in Misty Cove, she thought she could order him around.
Now he was reconsidering his decision not to kill Kelly tonight. It wasn’t too late to change his mind again.
He no longer heard his mother’s voice inside his head.
“Wanna bet?” His fingers tightened on the gun. His eyes shifted back to Kelly. He took a step forward. “I’ll kill her…I’ll kill all of you.” He dropped one of his hands, pushed it into his pocket.
Then the tables turned. The next thing he knew, he lay broken on the road, life draining out of his body. The victim instead of the killer.
***
If it weren’t for the rain, he’d probably be dead. It was so much easier to just keep his eyes closed, to surrender to death. But the rain forced him to wake up. The persistent raindrops pummeled his eyelids, begging him to open his eyes.
He tried to, but each time he emerged from death’s dark hole, he was pulled right in again. But the rain nagged him until he could no longer stand it.
His mind came to life before his body did. And then a bolt of pain rocked him. Death had tried to get him to leave it behind. He’d been too stubborn. Now he had to deal with the consequences of his choice—the choice to live. He opened his eyes to the darkness on the other side.
Rain gushed from the sky, drowning his eyeballs. He closed his lids again, and opened his mouth instead. His nose seemed to have forgotten how to breathe.
He growled as mud and dirt rushed in. He spat some out, but enough had reached his throat, mixing with the blood that clogged it.
He needed to get out of the rain.
He raised his head a fraction. It screamed. He dropped it back down.
In his motionless state, he knew several things. Kelly had hit him with the car and buried him, but not deep enough. The pouring rain had managed to wash away most of the soil.
For a moment he ignored the pain. His lips curled into a tiny smile.
The rain had given him a second chance.
Eyes and mouth tightly closed, he moved his right hand. No pain there. No broken bones.
His teeth gritted, he brushed away the wet soil from his waist and thighs. No jerky movements.
He felt around for his back pocket, reached into it. His fingers tingled at the touch of his cool keys. He pushed past, and wrapped them around his phone. He pulled it out, and called the last person he’d talked to.
After the short call, the phone dropped to the ground. His eyes closed again.
Death still called his name. He refused to listen. He’d returned from the dead for a reason. He’d come to finish the job. Nothing would stand in his way.
END OF BOOK 2
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Other books by Dori Lavelle
Moments in Time series (Contemporary Romance)
To Live Again serial (Contemporary Romance)
His Agenda series (Dark Romance)
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