CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Fragments of memory passed through Nora Avery’s mind as she drove through the snow to the home of her final target.
Tears streamed down her face. She wiped them away as quickly as they came.
The snowfall was already impacting her vision.
She couldn’t afford any more obfuscation.
She couldn’t have a traffic accident on the night she closed the circle and completed her task.
But the memories refused to disappear.
***
“Danny? I don’t like those boys.”
“What, my friends? Ah, they’re good guys. They’re just intense.”
Nora frowned. “They keep saying they’re going to kill someone.”
Daniel fixed her with his trademark grin, the one that always made her feel warm and safe and loved. “That’s just a joke, rabbit. They ain’t gonna kill anyone.”
Nora kept frowning. She didn’t feel warm and safe knowing Danny was going out with those boys. “I’m going to tell Mom.”
Daniel’s smile vanished. “Hey, you don’t need to do that shit. I’ll be fine.”
“I’m going to tell her you said a bad word too.”
“Man, fuck—”
Daniel stopped and ran a hand through his hair. He looked at the ceiling, wearing an expression Nora had never seen before. It was a cold expression, frustrated, but cold. In that moment, Nora was a problem to deal with, not a loving sister to care for and receive care from.
“Look, Nora, we’re just gonna go out for a couple of hours.”
“And do what?”
“Boy stuff.”
Nora glared at him. “I’m eleven years old, Danny. I’m not a baby.”
Daniel stared pointedly at her. “You want to know exactly what we’re going to do with our girlfriends?”
“Eww!” Nora exclaimed. “No!”
She reacted with horror, but her body filled with overwhelming relief.
Danny and his friends were just going to see some girls.
She knew that sometimes Danny met up with Keisha van Zandt and they made out and ran their hands over each other.
She’d peeked at them once when Danny told her to wait in the car and stopped by after picking her up from school.
If that was all this was, then it made sense that he didn’t want Mom to know. Mom didn’t like Keisha.
But he wasn’t going to get hurt. That was what mattered.
“Then be chill,” Daniel said. He was smiling again. “Be chill, and I’ll take you out for ice cream tonight. How does that sound?”
Nora might be eleven years old, but ice cream always sounded delicious. She bobbed her head up and down, threw herself into her big brother’s arms, smelled the cologne he wore far too much of but that smelled delicious to her, and told herself that she’d always have him.
***
But she didn’t always have him. That same day, only a few hours later, he was arrested for murder.
Nora knew right away that he didn’t kill that man at the jewelry store.
Danny would never do anything like that.
She knew it must have been one of those other boys, the ones who looked at her with mean, stray dog eyes.
But no one believed her. Mom and Dad said they did, but lately, Nora realized they didn’t. That’s why they never looked her in the eyes when they talked about him.
She took a deep breath. Tonight, it would end. Tonight, the last false witness would pay. Then Nora would wait until God took her to Heaven. She would see Danny again, and he would lift her into his big, strong arms and tell her how proud he was of her.
The last of her tears welled in the corners of her eyes and fell, cooling the heat in her cheeks. The snow was coming down heavier now, a sign of God’s approaching judgment.
Tonight. One more correction. Then the world would be right again.