Page 63 of The Scrooge Effect

“But did I ever…find anyone new?”

“Nope. In fact,” he said, glancing down at his watch. “It’s about your time.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means you took a job that you never should have been on, and in approximately three minutes, you’re going to walk straight into gunfire and die.”

“What?”

“Yep, and not even a good death. Shot to the gut. You’re going to slowly die a very painful death. No one comes to rescue you. So…well, there’s really nothing positive to say.”

Leaning forward, I rested my elbows on my knees, burying my face in my hands. “I really fucked it all up.”

“You wouldn’t be the only one. At least you had this opportunity to see how it all ends.”

“Yeah, maybe I can fix it in the last thirty seconds,” I said sarcastically.

He shrugged, closing his eyes once again. “You had a few good years.”

But a few good years wasn’t nearly enough. I didn’t want to be the reason my kids fell apart, or that Harper had lost all her spirit. I had to make this better. I would not allow my family to fall apart because I was a freaking idiot. I still had time to fix this.

“Michael, I need to go home.”

16

LOCK

“We don’t have a choice,” I said, staring at the clock. It had been over an hour, and he still wasn’t stirring.

Pulling out my phone, I searched for Harper’s number.

“Whoa, what are you doing?” Scottie chuckled, jumping to his feet.

“It’s been too long.”

“Yeah, but—” He snatched the phone out of my hands and held it out of arm’s reach. “Think about this rationally.”

“I am, and rationally speaking, we need to call Harper.”

I took a step forward just as he took a step back, and then Brock joined in, crowding me from the other side.

“Guys, be realistic here. Our friend is hurt.”

“Yeah, it’s also two days before Christmas, and I’m not giving her the bad news,” Brock said, moving closer.

“I’m not asking you to.”

“No, but the minute you make that phone call, you know you’re putting us all in a sticky situation.”

“Phone calls from our wives,” Scottie claimed.

“Screaming and crying,” Brock joined in.

“Millions of questions.”

“Demands that we can’t possibly fulfill.”

“Bring him home alive!” Scottie mimicked a woman. “He’s unconscious! We can’t possibly promise to do that!”