I shouted at him, “Beau. Go. I can handle him.”
He turned to me with anger flooding his features. “Hell no, I’m not leaving you in a barn alone with the psycho that has a Goddamn gun pulled and trained on your head. If you think that then you’re dreaming.”
Tears streamed down my face and I shook my head. “This is my deal, not yours.”
He kept his eyes on Devin, but spoke to me, “I ain’t fucking going anywhere.”
His eyes fell back to Devin. “Now, you want to put the gun down and tell me what the fuck is going on right now?”
“My brother is dead and this bitch,” he said pointing at me, capturing my attention again “is going to tell me what the hell I want to know or I’ll shoot you both, right here, right now.”
“Dead?” I whispered. “What do you mean he’s dead?”
“TELL ME WHAT I WANT TO FUCKING KNOW, CASSIDY. DO IT NOW OR PRETTY BOY HERE DIES WITH MY NEXT SHOT. DID YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH HIS DEATH?”
He held up what appeared to be a newspaper clipping. The heading read ‘Local businessman Andrew Peterson found dead in his home after federal charges of embezzlement and fraud were lodged against him. An apparent suicide note was found out next to the body.’
“He’s gone,” I whispered to myself in shock. I knew he couldn’t have survived what they’d done to him, but this confirmed it. My mind raced with a million questions. I squinted to try and see the date on the article, but it was too small. When did they find him?
He cocked his head towards me, confusion lacing his face. “What the fuck does that mean?” He pointed the gun at Beau’s head and I sent every prayer to God above that at least he’d walk out of this barn alive.
“He’s dead…” I looked at the ground afraid of what I’d see if I looked into his eyes. My breath was heavy and I felt lightheaded but I couldn’t move. One breath in. One breath out. I focused on my breathing. The way my chest rose and fell with each stunted breath. I was fastened to this very spot in time. The world around me froze as anger rose all over his face.
“You stupid bitch. Did you kill him?”
“No. You fucking bastard! You knew he was dead, but you still questioned if I had seen or heard from him? He tormented me and I lived in fear, and you fucking knew he was dead. Devin, it says suicide. How long ago Devin? How long have you known? What makes you think I had anything to do with that…” I shook my head vigorously and pointed at the paper in his hands. I was furious and relieved at the proof he showed me. Then he smashed it in anger back into his pocket.
“DID. YOU. KILL. HIM?” He shouted it at me this time and cocked the handle on the gun still aimed at Beau.
Anger rushed through my core. I hadn’t, but I wished I had. I wished it was me that had looked into his dying eyes as he begged for mercy. For someone to just end it because he was too much of a coward to stand the pain.
“NO!” I shouted. “I didn’t kill him, but that bastard deserved to die and I’m not sorry he’s dead. Not one fucking bit. Him dying was the best thing that had ever happened to me. It figures he’d go out that way, he was always a coward.” I looked up at him, right in the eye. I was egging him on, but what else did I have to lose? He’d already told me I probably wouldn’t survive tonight. Might as well make my last words count.
Beau looked over at me, pleading with me, and shook his head then motioned to Devin. “Cass. Shut up. For the love of God. Do not piss off the guy aiming a gun at my head.”
I ignored him. I didn’t listen and turned back to Devin, “What? Your brother was a cheater, a liar, a wife beater, and the lowest scum of the Earth and he deserved way worse than he got when he left this world.”
It took me a minute to hear the gun go off. I didn’t remember flying through the air as Beau pushed me to the side. The noise was deafening. It was like a bomb had detonated right beside me and the world was blurry. I was disoriented. I heard screams coming from somewhere, but I couldn’t tell where, and then I realized it was me. I was the one screaming at the top of my lungs as the world around me fell away.
My eyes trailed to where Beau lay on the ground. Blood pooling from his neck. His body laid lifeless.
His eyes found mine and he whispered, “Cass…”
His chest rose and fell and I breathed for the first time since the shot had gone off.
Everything came back to me in that minute. I crumbled into a ball on the ground. Visions of Beau dying in front of me tormented my mind and I sat and cried. Panic overcame me. Sweat seeped from every pore on my body. I felt nauseous, and the world spun as I looked around. So dizzy. And then everything went black. There was nothing there. Maybe I was dead, but it was finally quiet around me. I had found peace.
It wasn’t so bad dying. It was like slipping under a sea of white, cascading into a bed of fluffy pillows. I didn’t feel fear. No pain. Nothing.
It was better than I had pictured, but for some reason it was slipping away again. As I came to, I felt something touch my arm. Something or someone felt like they were
