“I’m sorry, Elena. I like you. I really do. But once you came to me with the evidence, I had to stop you from going public with it. I don’t want to kill you, but this is the only way to tie up all the loose ends.”
My life is just a loose end to her. I want to shout at her that I’m a person, just like the others she killed, with goals and dreams and a future of my own. But something catches her gaze along the beach, and for a second the gun dips down. This is my chance.
I rush her, slamming against her with my weight. A sharp cry escapes me as the pain in my side spikes from the impact. We go down and struggle in the sand, wrestling for the gun. But then she hits me in the ribs and I scream, pain crashing through me like a tidal wave. She whips the gun against my face, and I’m knocked on my back, momentarily stunned.
She kneels over me, pressing the gun to my temple. I dig my fingers in the sand, but my head spins and everything hurts, and I know this is the end, this is how she’ll make it look like I killed myself.
“Lynne—” I start, but then I see someone behind her, a dark figure against the dark sky.
“Lynne!” Adam says. “What—”
“Adam?” Her head turns at the sound of his voice.
No! What is he doing here? He shouldn’t be here!
Adam smashes into Lynne, forcing the gun away from my head. And suddenly I can breathe again, my mind clearing. I scramble to my knees, fighting to move through the pain. I have to get up. I have to help Adam. I have to save him.
Lynne brings the gun up to point at Adam and icy dread freezes my heart. I launch myself at her in a red haze of pain and anger. I steal the gun from her hands and slam it against her face, like she did to me only minutes earlier. She falls and I move in close, gun gripped tightly in my hand.
I want to hit her again, over and over and over. I want to unleash my rage on her, to make her pay for all the deaths she’s caused—but I stop myself. I’m not that person anymore. Adam convinced me I don’t have to be like my father. I can control my anger and keep it from taking over.
I am not a killer.
I take a long breath, aiming the gun at Lynne. “Call the police,” I tell Adam.
“Already did.”
“No!” Lynne yells and knocks my arm away. She brings me down in the sand, a tangle of legs and arms and bodies as her hands reach for the trigger. I feel her grasp it, and I pull back just as an incredibly loud bang goes off.
The air smells of gunpowder, and I don’t think I’ll hear anything ever again. The gun went off—am I shot?
Lynne goes limp against me. I roll off her and quickly check myself, but I’m not hurt. She doesn’t move, her glassy eyes staring up at the sky. A dark stain creeps out of her shirt and spreads to the sand, black on white, like the rest of the beach.
I scramble back and kick the gun away. Lynne is dead, but this time, I don’t feel the same shock and grief as when I saw her die before. Only relief. It’s over.
“Elena, are you okay? Elena!” Adam’s hands travel over my body, inspecting me for injury.
“I’m okay.” I grab on to his shoulders to steady myself and he wraps me in his arms. I bury my face in his neck, breathing him in to reassure myself that he’s really here, that we’re both still alive. “You came for me.”
“I knew you’d be here. And I said I’d protect you, didn’t I?”
“Yeah, you did.” I tilt my head up and he kisses me, his mouth gentle, sharing his warmth and strength until I can stand on my own again.
I pull back and check my mother’s watch. It’s 11:38 p.m., the time of my death. I stare at the watch, holding my breath, until the minute hand moves past, ticking over to 11:39.
We did it. We changed the future.
We’re free.
Tuesday
The last time I was in the hospital was after Mamá was killed. I don’t have fond memories of it, but this place is different. There are murals on the walls of dancing animals, and the floor is decorated with colorful stars. The elevator door is even bright purple.
Adam leans against the nurse’s desk, smiling at the girl behind it as they chat. They all love him here, which somehow doesn’t surprise me. They give him two blue volunteer jackets, and he slips one on.