by Sydney Logan
Sebastian spins toward his son. “Don’t tell me what to do! Don’t you see what he’s done? He’s betrayed us, Kaden.”
Jacey’s entire body shakes. Our eyes meet, and I glance toward her jacket pocket. She nods once in understanding.
“I’ll ask again,” Sebastian says, venom dripping from his voice. “What did Melody offer?”
“Immunity and witness protection,” I tell him.
“In exchange for?”
“Vince Barnes.”
“What about me?”
I smirk and glance at Kaden. See, Kaden. He doesn’t give a shit about you, either.
“What about me, Silas?”
“Relax, Sebastian. You weren’t mentioned at all.”
“Relax,” he snarls, his eyes blazing. “I knew you were an idiot, Silas. I’ve known it for years, but you are . . . were . . . Kaden’s best friend, so I put up with your bullshit. Treated you like my own son. And this is how you repay me? You talked to the DEA?”
“I talked to Melody.”
“Same damn thing and you know it! How the hell could you?”
I jump to my feet.
“How could I not? You make promises you can’t keep, Sebastian! You did it with Lisa, and you did it again tonight. Once you have Jacey’s formula, or once she trains your minions, she’ll be of no use to you. You know it. I know it. Hell, even Kaden knows it. And now Jacey knows it, too. You won’t protect her. You can’t. You couldn’t even protect your own wife! You killed her!”
I’m not surprised by the punch to my stomach, but I’m still not prepared for it. The blow sends me to my knees, and I gasp for air as Sebastian kicks me repeatedly in the ribs. Kaden yells and Jacey screams when the steel toe of Sebastian’s boot connects with my head. Between my gasps and grunts, I manage to whisper her name.
“Silas!”
“Now, Jacey! Do it now!”
I see her reach into her pocket just as Sebastian lands one last swift kick to my head.
And then everything goes black.
I leap off the couch. “Stop, Sebastian! You’ll kill him!”
Out of desperation, I tear my eyes away from Silas’ broken body on the floor and look toward his best friend. Kaden’s just standing there, watching, as if he doesn’t know this is wrong. This is his best friend, and he does nothing?
“Do something!” I scream at Kaden.
I look back just as Sebastian lifts his steel-toed boot off the floor, and my stomach turns violently, because I know what’s about to happen.
Sebastian kicks him right in the head.
“Silas!”
He gasps and groans, but still manages to remind me that I have a job to do.
“Now, Jacey! Do it now!”
Maybe Kaden won’t do anything, but I will.
I reach into my pockets just as Sebastian kicks Silas in the head again. His tortured groan vibrates through me, blinding me with fury and rage.
“Dad, you’re gonna kill him!” Kaden screams as he rushes toward them.
Finally, you asshole.
It’s just the distraction I need.
While Kaden struggles to separate Sebastian and Silas, I grab the cell out of my left pocket and tap Melody’s name on the screen.
And from my right pocket, I pull out the gun. The same gun Silas used to rob Ruben’s store.
“Get the hell off me, Kaden!” Sebastian growls.
Father and son fight and roll onto the floor. Silas lies next to them, bleeding and unconscious. With trembling fingers, I grip the gun a little tighter in my hand.
I’ve never actually held a pistol before. My dad loved guns and loved to hunt, but I’ve always been a little afraid of them. But in this moment, with Silas’s battered body lying there, something snaps inside me.
I lift the gun and point it straight at them.
How hard can it be? Especially at this range. I could shoot them both. I might even kill them, depending on my aim.
“Jacey. Don’t do it!”
Sebastian and Kaden’s heads snap up when they hear Melody’s voice. Kaden only looks at her for a second before his eyes land on me.
“She won’t do it,” Sebastian spits out, his voice low and menacing. “Jacey, you and Silas really are the perfect match. Neither of you have the guts to actually do what needs to be done. When he wakes up . . . if he wakes up . . . I’ll give Silas his precious money and then I want the two of you gone. I hope Vince’s bounty hunters shoot you dead before you reach the state line. You could have been great, Jacey. With your talent, you could really have been something. But no, you had to listen to Silas, and you had to talk to the DEA. There’s nothing worse, nothing more disgraceful, than talking to the DEA. You’re both useless to me now. Worthless street rats who will never amount to anything and who’ll both be dead by dawn.”
My body shudders as his hateful words wash over me. Vince used to say the same things. That I was worthless. That I’d never be more than a meth cook. That my mother never really loved me. That she couldn’t wait until the day I turned eighteen so that she could kick me out.
Lies. Every one of them.
The lies stop tonight.
Taking a deep breath, I lift the pistol and aim it right at Sebastian’s chest.
“Jacey . . .”
Melody’s voice echoes in my ear. She can’t understand. Not really. She’s one of the good guys. So is Silas.
I want to be one of the good guys.
As long as Sebastian’s still alive, we’ll never truly be free. Silas will never truly be free. Me? Murder isn’t something the DEA or anybody else can ignore, so I’ll end up in prison, and I think that’s okay. Because I’ll be one of the good guys. I’ll be doing the universe a favor. One less drug dealer in the world.
And then Sebastian laughs. Maniacal, insane laughter that sounds like something from a horror movie. My entire life has been a horror movie, but I am determined to have a happy ending.
“I knew you couldn’t do it. And I hope Silas is dead,” Sebastian says with a deranged smile on his face. “He deserv —”
I pull the trigger. The gun snaps and crackles. Sebastian’s eyes go wide and his entire body goes limp before he slumps over Silas’s body on the floor.
I faintly hear screams and shouts and sirens as the room begins to spin. But there are three words I hear above everything else. Three words in my head that I hear, loud and proud.
Let freedom ring.
They say your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. I’ve always wondered what that might look like. Would you see only the happy moments? Or would it be a kaleidoscope of memories—both good and bad—that twist and turn until everything finally goes black?
I wonder what flashed through Sebastian’s mind. Did he see his wife? His son? His money? Did he see this big, gorgeous house?
Or did he see me . . . pointing a gun straight at him and pulling the trigger?
“Jacey?”
I’m numb to the commotion surrounding me. I vaguely hear Melody’s voice. I sort of hear Kaden’s strangled cries. I kind of pay attention to the paramedics as they strap Silas to the gurney.
I’m here. But I’m not.
I’m awake. But I’m not.
“She’s in shock.”
Is that what this is? Am I in shock? Maybe I am. After all, I just killed a man, which is the one thing I never wanted to do. If I’d been capable of murder, Vince would have been dead long ago. How easy it would have been to slip something into his breakfast. Or his dinner. Meth’s full of poison anyway, but if I’d been bloodthirsty enough, I could have substituted one of the ingredients for something that could have killed him as soon as he took his first hit.
He didn’t use much. It cut into the profits, he always said. But he did use, and it would have been so easy.
If I’d been capable.
Apparently I am.
Who knew?
“Silas?” My voice is just a whisper. It sounds so foreign to me.
&n
bsp; “He’s on his way to the hospital, Jacey. The paramedic says he’s going to be okay.”
As if my body had been waiting for that news, I feel my arms and legs go limp. Relief courses through me, and I begin to laugh. And cry. Doing both at once seems like the most natural thing to do, because I’m happy. And sad. So I laugh and cry, and Melody whispers something about needing to get me to a hospital, too. Someone in blue argues with her.
“She should be in jail.”
“I’m taking her to the hospital.”
I probably should be in jail, but Silas’s at the hospital, so that’s where I want to be.
“Hospital,” I say aloud.
The next thing I know I’m being led out of the house and into the backseat of a black SUV. I expect sirens and crackling radios, but instead, the vehicle is strangely quiet.
Everything’s foggy, but I see Melody in the front seat. And Silas is going to be okay.
And so am I.
Let freedom ring.
“What do you think? I know it’s a little small.”
What Melody doesn’t know is that I’ve lived in smaller places. Compared to Vince’s house, this place is gigantic. Compared to a jail cell, it’s a mansion.
Compared to the streets, it’s paradise.
“Two bedrooms. Fully furnished. My boss thought one bedroom would be enough, but I wanted you to have options. You know, just in case.”
Just in case you two aren’t sleeping together yet.
I look up at Silas. He’s smirking at me.
Poor guy. I’m gonna have to give in soon.
It’s not that I don’t want to. It’s just that our lives have been one rollercoaster after another over the past few weeks. Maybe now that we’re living a new life—with new identities, new jobs, and a new apartment—things will calm down and we can be normal.
To a lot of people, that probably sounds boring.
Boring sounds amazing to me.
It’s only been three weeks since that night at Sebastian’s house. Three weeks since I became a murderer. It’s a label, and I’ve had lots of those. It’s also a sin, but I try not to think about that too much.
I don’t remember everything. The memories flash in my mind, and sometimes they swivel and twist and almost make sense. Other times, it’s a lot of colors and sounds that do nothing but cause me to shake and cry.
Melody calls it PTSD.
Silas calls it a blessing.
“There are just some things you shouldn’t remember,” he says.
But I do remember some things. I remember the fight. I remember Silas’ body as he lay broken and bleeding on the floor. I remember shooting the gun. I remember Sebastian falling to the floor.
What happened next is still a little cloudy, but I know Melody took me by the hand and led me to the couch. I know DEA swarmed the place and arrested Kaden. I know Melody told the authorities that she saw it all, and that I acted in self-defense.
And I know they believed her.
I remember that the ambulance came and took Silas to the hospital. He had broken ribs and various cuts and scrapes all over his body. He healed quickly though, especially when he found out that I wasn’t going to prison, but Vince Barnes was.
Melody is a magician.
She has to be, because we’re here—smack in the middle of Anywhere, USA. Population 1,256.
1,258 now.
The DEA calls it Witness Protection.
Melody calls it a new life.
New life sounds better.
Silas and I have new names, a cool apartment, and some money to help us get started. Melody has our promise that we’re out of the drug business, and the only cooking we’ll be doing is at the local pizza place, where we both have jobs waiting for us. Staying in our hometown wasn’t an option. Even though Sebastian’s dead and Vince and Kaden are both in jail, they had a lot of friends, and those friends are unhappy that their distributors are no longer around.
So, for our protection, we’re here.
Anywhere, USA.
I don’t mind, and Silas is thrilled. If the last few weeks have taught us anything, it’s that we’re completely crazy about each other. We haven’t really said the words, but I know there’s love there, and not just because we went through this incredibly insane experience together. But because he’s a good person. Truly good. And with him, I feel safer than I’ve ever felt in my life.
I want to be those things for him.
He tells me I already am.
Maybe someday I’ll believe him.
“Amber?”
I turn toward his voice.
I’m Amber now.
He’s Danny.
We’re trying to get used to it.
“That’s always going to be weird, isn’t it?”
He laughs and wraps his arms around me. “Probably. We gotta do it, though.”
“I know.” I look around. “Where’d Melody go?”
“To get some coffee, she said. I think she just wanted to give us some privacy while we finished looking around.”
I nod, and he takes me by the hand and leads me down the hallway.
“It’s nice, right? The apartment?”
“It’s great, Si . . . Danny. I really like the kitchen.”
He grins and stops in front of one of the bedroom doors. “One’s a master and the other is like a kid’s room, I guess. Or a guest room. I don’t know. You can have the master.”
I peek inside both before turning around in his arms.
“You know what I think?”
“What’s that?”
I stand on my tiptoes and kiss him softly.
“I think we should both take the master.”
He smiles. “I was really hoping you’d say that.”
We walk into the bedroom, slip off our shoes, and climb on the bed. With a happy sigh, I close my eyes and lay my head against the pillow. He lays down beside me.
“Comfy?” he asks.
“Totally. It’s a great bed.”
I keep my eyes closed, even when I feel his finger trail across my cheek. The boy’s always touching me. I love it.
I love him.
I should probably tell him.
“I love you, Jacey.”
With a smile, I turn my head in his direction and open my eyes.
“I know. I just couldn’t call you Amber the first time I said I love you. It’d feel bogus, and it’s not. It’s the most honest thing I’ve ever said to anybody. And I’m going to be saying it every day, right here in our bed, so you’d better get used to it.”
I laugh. “Is that right?”
Silas moves closer until he’s hovering over me. I smile up into his bright green eyes.
“I love you, too.”
His crooked grin melts my heart.
“We’re going to be happy here, Jacey. I know it.”
“You mean Amber.”
“Yeah, that’s what I mean.”
He lowers his head and kisses me gently. Too gently, but it’s probably for the best. Melody is coming back soon.
Besides, we have all night.
And tomorrow.
And forever.
Lessons Learned
Mountain Charm
Soldier On
Pros & Cons
Songbird
Once Upon a December
Breathe Again
Listen to Your Heart
Force of Nature
Stupid Cupid
Sydney Logan writes heartfelt romances that feature strong women and the men who love them. In addition to her novels, she has also penned several short stories and is a contributor to Chicken Soup for the Soul. Sydney holds a Master’s degree in Elementary Education and spends her days surrounded by kids and books. A native of East Tennessee, she enjoys playing piano and relaxing on her porch with her wonderful husband and their very spoiled cat.
Visit her online at www.sydneylogan.com.
Check out more titles offered by Enchanted Publications!
www.enchantedpublications.com