Page 2 of Keep Me Safe
It gave me pause. “Amber.”
“Was she running?”
Anxiety made the air in the room go thin. The offices beyond the glass were quiet.Tooquiet.
I didn’t realize I was retreating until the table against my hip let me backpedal no farther. Even before I saw Scott and the small, silver handgun clutched at his side, I somehow knew.
Cold dread curled its fingers around me as he burst through the door and raised the gun toward Jim. His hand shook like he was completely out of control, which was exactly how I felt.
A smart person would run. They would seek shelter beneath the heavy conference table, or at least behind one of the chairs. Even standing motionless would be better since that was less likely to draw his attention.
But my mind buzzed with fear, and I refused to let it control me. I’d given up control too much in my life already, and it made me reckless now.
I had hardly enough breath to form the word. “Scott.”
His focus, including his gun, swung my direction. “I worked here eighteen goddamn years. Before you, before him. I helped build this place. You can’t replace me!”
Terror froze Jim into a statue.
“Please, Scott. Don’t do this.” My voice stayed calm, even as a tremor crept along my body. “You’re better than this.”
My words had no effect on him. His eyes teemed with hurt, with utter betrayal, and he looked so lost. Like he wasn’t all there anymore.
“You can’t fire me.” The barrel of his gun shifted back to Jim. “I need this job. It’s all I... it’s the only thing left.”
The urge to do something, to try to diffuse the situation somehow, was so compelling I couldn’t ignore it. My voice dropped down into a whisper. “Look at me.”
He did, showing me his wild, chaotic expression. “I’m not going to give you the gun.”
“That’s fine.” My tone was eerily calm. “I don’t want it.”
I moved without consideration and stepped out of my shoes, partly because I wanted to seem less challenging, but also because I didn’t want to die in them. My actions temporarily disrupted Scott, and his expression changed to confusion. Hisextended arm sagged a few inches, lowering his aim away from Jim.
“I’ve been where you are,” I said. “I know how hard it is?—”
Anger flashed through him, and his grip tightened on the gun, raising it back up. “You don’t have any idea.”
I swallowed thickly. “All right, tell me.”
It didn’t look like he was going to.
He stared at Jim with contempt as he considered his options. Did he even comprehend what he was doing right now?
Abruptly, a pained sound escaped him, and he glanced in my direction. “She left me, Kara. Twenty-two years gone, like they were nothing.” His violent shaking increased, amplifying how unstable he looked. “Without this, without her, I’m nothing.”
“You’re not nothing, Scott,” I said softly, “but I get it. I felt like that, too. I know what it’s like to put your soul into something, to change your whole damn life for another person.” The tremble in my voice matched his. “To give and give andgive, only to have it fall apart, no matter what.”
I didn’t bother to hide my pain. I wanted him to feel the connection.
Since his back was turned, he didn’t notice the movement beyond the glass. I barely caught it out of the corner of my eye but didn’t dare drop my gaze. It remained locked on Scott’s, where I could see all the turmoil churning inside him.
His shoulders lifted with a heavy breath and then dropped with resignation. The gun lowered hesitantly to his side.
“It’s going to get better, I promise,” I uttered in the silence, maybe more for my own benefit than his.
He tilted his head and looked at me like I was a fool. “No, it won’t.”
I opened my mouth to say something, but the door burst open so violently that it slammed into the wall on the other side.A security guard charged in, leveled his Taser at Scott, and fired before anyone could react.
