“I guess that’s all I’m getting right now,” Sam says.
“Once this is over with, I’ll explain it all to you,” I tell him. “I’m just worried about Millie.”
As if on cue, from the entrance, Millie’s head pops out. She sees us and begins striding toward us, nervously looking over her shoulder before breaking into a run. My instincts pick up, and I start to jog her way. I get a few steps before screeching tires and the growling sound of gravel being spit into the air turns my attention to a black sedan parked near the entrance.
The driver flings it in reverse and spins it to face directly at us. Millie is between us and the car, and she screams as it speeds toward her, its engine roaring angrily. Before she can dive out of the way, the car lunges at her, gaining speed quickly and overtaking her.
There is a sick crunch as the wheels roll over her body. I can do nothing but watch horrified as a tire drives her head into the gravel. I realize I am pulling out my gun as I dive out of the way of the oncoming car. Gunshots fill the air as both Sam, and I empty our clips into the car as it passes by, barely missing us.
The sedan peels out onto the street, trying to make a U-turn. It swerves wildly, and Dean chases after it. It only travels a block before it rolls off the side of the road, crashing into a telephone pole. Sam takes off toward the car, and I stand up, gingerly.
I look only momentarily at the mangled body of Millie, and then my heart breaks when I see Xavier curled up on the ground, just a few feet from her. His mouth is locked open, and his eyes are wide. One hand reaches out and touches her fingertips.
I’m torn about where to go. Sam has his gun drawn and is approaching the window of the car, and duty wins over emotion. I run toward Sam, tears stinging the sides of my eyes.
I change my clip, and I approach the passenger door while Sam goes to the driver’s side. We each take measured, matching steps as we get closer to the front. If there is movement in the seat, we will both likely open fire, and we need to make sure we won't hit each other. As I creep up the side of the car, I notice that both tires have been shot out, one completely flat and the other missing entirely, the rim already dented by the road and the crash. Bullet holes dent the side of the car, and I wonder if I hit the driver.
I hope I didn’t. I need the answers more than I need the vengeance.
I reach the passenger window and duck my head down to see inside. Glass is shattered all along the seat from the windshield. The driver had gotten an impressive amount of speed going for the short distance he made it on two wheels before crashing. I am noticing details about the crash, filing them away, noting that none of the bullets seem to have pierced the skin of his legs or arms before I catch Sam’s expression.
His mouth is agape, and he is staring at the turned head of the driver. I can’t see the face as it is turned away from me, but Sam’s expression tells me he recognizes him. Rather than bother with asking, I run around the front of the car and to his side. What I see stops me dead in my tracks.
“Oh my god,” I whisper.
Sitting in the driver’s seat, his eyes glassy but lifeless, is Gabriel, from the grocery store. A small trickle of blood runs down the center of his face from broken glass, and the airbag is deployed to shove him back in his seat. A million questions run through my mind.
“Why is he dead?” Sam frowns, shaking me out of my own thoughts. “His airbag deployed, and we didn’t hit him with the gunfire. How is he dead?”
“Almonds,” comes a voice behind me, and I jump. Xavier closes the gap between us and peers inside. “I can smell almonds.”
Sam looks over from him to me, a pleading expression on his face. I shrug and shake my head.
“What about almonds, Xavier?” I ask.
“I can smell them. Bitter. Bitter almonds. It’s cyanide. This man killed himself.”
I look back down into the lifeless face of Gabriel. Something seems to be stuck on his lip, and now that I have that idea in my mind, I know what to look for. I lean in closer and see it is, in fact, part of a pill.
“He’s right,” I announce, looking back to Sam and Dean. “He has a part of a pill still in his mouth. He must have chewed that pill when he realized he wasn’t going to get out of here without being caught.”
“But why?” Sam asks. “Gabriel? I just don’t get it.”
“What’s that?” Dean asks, poking his head inside. “There is a necklace here. Do you see this, Emma?”
I lean back in and see a necklace hanging from Gabriel’s body and pooling on the airbag. I take in a sharp breath when I see it.
“It’s the key. The one that was stolen,” I say. “What is going on?”
I take a step back; the world reeling around me. Nothing is making sense. And yet, everything seems to be falling into place. I try to turn away from the awful site of Gabriel’s body, and my eyes cross over Millie again. A crowd is already forming at the edges of the park. I will have to get them to go away while we wait for the crime scene people.
Xavier walks back across the road, seeming not to notice the people who part for him. He goes back over to where Millie’s body has fallen and lies back down where he
