Chapter 71
ASH GRABS THE GUN from the floor and shoots.
The flare catches Ty in the stomach, and the impact is horrible, the most terrible sound of flesh and pain.
Caro remembers that her dad used to say, Death is only easy for a lucky, lucky few, and Ty isn’t dead; this won’t kill him, will it?
She knows she said they should shoot but did she mean it, does she want someone to die?
Caro remembers how her dad saved a boy who had a firework go off while he was holding it, but is this the same thing?
It’s not, and now they’ve done this, she told Ash to do this to a human being—
The screaming is awful. Even though he terrorized them, tried to kill Hope, did kill Eve…
Ash can’t bear it. She’s weeping, pushing her way toward the door to help Caro with Page because they have to get Page out; no matter what, they have to do this.
Hope has gotten up; she is with them. Ash fired in time.
In a sharp split second, the three women meet each other’s eyes. It almost feels more merciful to do something, instead of leaving him like this, screaming on the floor.
Will we shoot the gun and light the fire? Will we cut the string? Will we end, at last, what began over a decade ago, with a girl killed in a canyon?
It is almost finished.
They could burn it all down.