I ducked and brought Ava with me.
We hurried along the wall toward the back room door.
The bullets kept flying but Glen had no visible target to shoot at.
I busted through the door and pulled Ava to a storage shelf.
We stood there and waited.
It took all of a minute before we smelled smoke.
Ava looked at me. Her childhood… everything she knew… it was going up in smoke.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered to her. “We have to get out of this alive. Trust me.”
“Why aren’t we running?” she asked. “Why didn’t you shoot him?”
I gritted my teeth.
I looked at the back door of the store and waited.
“Trust me,” I said.
Glen made an appearance rushing into the back room of the store. When the doors opened and shut, smoke came through.
“It’s all gone!” he shouted. “Now come out and fucking face me!”
He had the bag of money tucked like a football. He spun around, holding the gun.
I looked down at Ava. I kissed her lips then put my lips to her ear. “You stay right here, sweetie. I have to go out there.”
“Why?” she asked.
I told her the truth. “I have to let Glen shoot me again.”
chapter twenty-eight
(ava)
NOW
I tried to hold tight to Jace as his words rang in my head. But he started to move. He was gone. He jumped out from our hiding spot and called for Glen.
Glen spun and had the gun pointed right at Jace.
“You tried to kill me once,” Jace said. “Here’s your second chance.”
“Where’s Ava?” Glen asked. “She took my life. She lived the life I should have had.”
“That’s not how it works, Glen,” Jace said. “Do what you need to do to me. You’re not getting Ava. She’s protected. It’s too late. You lost.”
Glen laughed. “You asshole. I never fucking lose. Ever.”
Smoke billowed into the back room, curling like crippled fingers, pushing its way to wherever it wanted to be. I couldn’t believe the store was on fire. I couldn’t believe Jace was face to face with a brother I never knew I had. But that brother was the man who killed my mother.
“I’ll just kill you,” Glen said. “Like I should have done a long time ago. And then I’m going to kill Ava. And your entire club. Nothing can stop me.”
For a split second, I had hawk eyes. I saw Glen’s finger start to squeeze the trigger.
I couldn’t let Jace die.
I couldn't imagine not having him in my life.
Holy shit… I was in love with Jace.
I ran forward and screamed, waving my hands.
“Ava! No!” Jace bellowed as I came into view.
Glen turned his head and the gun followed a second later. A sick smile crept across his face. Behind Glen I saw the back door to the store open. A man stood there with a gun.
“Get down!” Jace screamed at me.
His words were super slow.
I skidded to a halt and buckled my knees.
I heard guns go off and I shut my eyes.
I didn’t want to see the reaction on Jace’s face as I took my last breath…
chapter twenty-nine
(ava)
THEN
“Do you really have to go now?” I asked my mother.
“I do,” she said. She touched my hair and kissed me. “If that water keeps getting into the store we’re going to have a big problem. It’ll be okay. Everything is closed. I’ll just sing some songs and clean up the store.”
“Why can’t Dad do it?”
“You know him,” Mom said. “He took his heart medicine. He’s sleeping.”
“Let me come and help you then.”
“No, Ava. You rest. You have school. Don’t worry about me.”
“I love you though.”
“I love you too. All I want is for you to be happy.”
“I’m trying hard in school, Mom.”
“That’s good. But school, money, a house, that’s not happiness. You’ll know it when you find it. I want you to find it. Embrace it. Never let it go.”
I had no idea what she was talking about. But I loved when Mom talked to me like I was a grown up.
She kissed my forehead twice, then a kiss on each cheek. That’s how she always kissed me. In front of friends, it was totally not cool. But alone, it was the greatest feeling in the world. Knowing she truly loved me.
“I’ll be back before you know it,” she said. “I’ll make pancakes in the morning. Brain food.”
She ran her fingers through my hair and smiled big.
I hated that she worked so hard at the store. I hated that she had to go there alone to clean up water because of the roof. I wished Dad would have done more to give her more.
Mom stood up from the bed.
I don’t know why but I grabbed her wrist. My eyes filled with tears.
“What’s wrong?” Mom asked me.
“I don’t know. I just… I just love you so much.”
Mom sat back down on the bed. She hugged me. I think she cried too but I didn’t see the tears. She never showed me her tears. She was always the tough one.
She rocked me, yes, I was a teenager, and she hummed.
Slowly, I drifted off to sleep.
The last thing I remembered was her kissing my cheek and whispering that she loved me and that everything would be okay.
I never got to see my mother, feeling her hugs, or hear her voice ever again.
chapter thirty