Just a Little Honesty (14 page)
Conan kept the gun in the air, but his hand was no longer steady. It shook a little harder the longer he held it, and his eyes flickered with the tiniest hint—the absolute tiniest hint—of remorse. After a full sixty seconds passed and he hadn’t made a move, I slowly licked my lips and met his gaze.
“You’ve had that gun to my head for a long time, and you still haven’t pulled the trigger,” I said, and I wasn’t giving him permission to; I only vocalized my observation. “What’s the problem? You can’t kill a little girl? Or maybe you’re too damn scared of what losing me will do to your son?” He scoffed at the absurdity, but tears welled in the bottom of his eyes. “You don’t want to kill Derek, and you don’t want to kill me. You just can’t stand the fact that he doesn’t need you anymore—”
But the gun clicked and interrupted my speech. He’d let go, he’d done it. He’d given himself permission to kill me, but something hadn’t gone as planned. The gun simply clicked, and nothing but that tiny sound left the barrel.
Conan pulled his weapon back, readjusted the safety switch, lifted it again, and then he shrugged.
“Let’s end this,” he said, but before I could mutter a tiny cry, the room filled with an explosion. For a second, I thought I saw the door burst open, but then the sound of gunfire pierced my ears, forcing me to bury my head in my arms. But no pain followed the sound; I hadn’t been struck.
I looked up from my hands and realized that his bullet hadn’t hit me, that it’d somehow missed my body. But as I looked back to meet his stare again, his eyes glazed over, and he stood—nearly paralyzed—in the middle of the room. He slowly dropped his head to look at his chest, but his weight began to pull him down.
Conan’s body slowly drifted forward and then descended with a thud on the bathroom floor, spilling his blood all over the wet wood.
I stood perfectly still, tears spilling from my eyes as I stared straight forward. The door
had
opened, and he’d come to my rescue.
I let a few moments pass as I watched him stand at the threshold wielding a gun.
“Julie,” he whispered as he looked down to Conan’s lifeless body. He dropped the gun at his feet and stepped over the bloodied man next to him. He reached forward and wrapped my naked body in a towel, never noticing for a minute that I was anything but scared and shaken.
“He’s dead,” I cried, and I never tore my eyes away from the lifeless murderer beneath me. I’d never—not once in my eighteen years—watched a man’s life fade from his eyes and vanish into thin air. I’d heard horror stories; I’d seen plenty of movies. But I’d never…
never
seen it for myself.
Conan’s blood clung to my feet as I tried to step over him.
“He’s dead,” I said again, tasting my tears as they brushed my lips. No matter how many times I said it, or how hard I stared, Conan’s body didn’t move.
“It was you or him,” he said, and his voice didn’t waver in the slightest.
“If you hadn’t come back—”
“But I did,” Derek said, lifting my face to meet his stare. A huge wave of relief swept through his eyes, and he kept his grasp firm on my arms.
“Is everybody okay?” I asked, trying to push through the door.
“They’re fine,” he assured me. “Just a little tied up. It was either save them or save you.”
I stared at his blue eyes for a few long seconds, and after I found the strength to move, I lifted myself up to my toes and pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek. He closed his eyes as if to savor the moment, and he held me even tighter.
It hadn’t seemed to faze him for a minute that he’d just killed a man; he’d just ended his father’s life with nothing more than a bullet to the back. All that seemed to matter was that he’d saved me, and I could feel his relief radiating from his hold.
“Thank you,” I said, dropping my head to cry against his chest.
“I’d say anytime,” he said, loosening his grip to look at me. “But let’s not do this again, okay?”
I nodded, and he did too.
“Let’s go get the others,” he said, pulling my towel tighter. But before he turned out of the room, I reached forward and took his wrist.
“Derek,” I said, looking from his father to him. My tears spilled harder than they had all night. “You didn’t have a choice. He was reckless.” I lowered my head and closed my eyes. “You’re nothing like him—”
“I know,” he said, and he stepped back to face me again. He pushed a tuft of wet hair from my eyes and lowered his gaze. “Julie, I know.”
He pulled me to his chest and hugged me again.
“Come on,” he said, rubbing a hand across my back. “There are three people out there who are dying to see you alive.”
I nodded, and he loosened his hold.
And together we walked out of the bathroom, leaving Conan’s dead body to waste on the floor.
Dear Reader,
If you enjoyed reading
Just a Little Honesty
and have a moment to spare, I would greatly appreciate a review on the site where you purchased the book.
Thank you!
-Tracie
https://twitter.com/traciedpuckett
https://www.facebook.com/traciepuckettnovels
Other books available for download:
The Webster Grove Series
Just a Little Series
(6) Just a Little
Surprise
(7) Just a Little Honesty
Coming Soon: Just a Little Reminder
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