The most shocking thing about Erika’s confession wasn’t the list of things she’d done. It wasn’t even about her plans. The thing that really shook Morgan to his core was the complete lack of sanity—the total absence of morality—in her eyes. The idea that she used to be a normal human being felt like a foreign concept, and he struggled to see her as anything else. It made little sense to him that the more she opened up, the more distant she seemed.
Every inch of him wanted to lunge out, to raise his pistol and fire. It surprised him that a lack of confidence wasn’t what kept him from doing so. In fact, the only reason he didn’t shoot right then and there was because she was holding his son. And a fall like that, for a kid of that age? He dreaded to think of his chances.
All he could do was placate her.
“You’re not alone though,” he said. “Somewhere down the line, these events hardwired it into your brain that you have to go through this world by yourself. I mean, I understand why you think that way, but you’re wrong.”
Erika swayed the gun for a second to wipe her eye with her wrist.
No chance to seize the opportunity.
“There are people out there. Good people, looking for someone to love.” Morgan saw Mason twitch from the corner of his eye, but he didn’t let it distract him. “You have love inside you, Erika. Everyone does. Imagine if you met the man of your dreams tomorrow. He’d love everything about you, from your beautiful eyes to that interesting accent of yours. What’s not to love?”
Erika cocked her head, softening but still skeptical. “You think so?”
“Come on. A woman like you? There are tons of guys desperate for that. But you know, I have to say it…” Morgan took a deep breath of freezing air. It felt like lead in his lungs. “Imagine if he found out what happened here today. Mr. Right could come along at any minute, so do you really want to tell him you once murdered an innocent baby?”
As he said it, he saw the events unravel in his mind. She’d fire. Robin would fall, and they’d all run forward. As if in a movie, the camera would pan out and there would be an awful, empty silence. His entire life destroyed in seconds.
“I wouldn’t tell him,” Erika said. “And I don’t believe you.”
Morgan sighed. “Maybe you wouldn’t have to. He’d find out. Especially if you went ahead with it. You think I’d keep something like that a secret if you hurt my son? Your face would be all over the news for months, if not years. Even if by some miracle you managed to get away from us, everyone would know who you are. You’d have to live on the run for the rest of your life. How hard do you think it would be to find a man then?”
Gripping his pistol, Mason edged forward.
Erika shifted uncomfortably.
It gave him an idea. “On the other hand, you could drop the gun and hand over the baby. You could walk away and we’d tell the police you’re innocent. You could start over, maybe even go on a date with Mason. I’m sure once you show your softer side, he might come to like you. Isn’t that right?”
Mason froze, looked at Morgan with raised eyebrows, and then fixed his attention back on her. He didn’t move his gun. “Yeah, that’s right. I guess we could spend some quality time together. See where things go.”
The wind picked up, brushing them all aside by an inch. Morgan shivered but ignored it. He had enough goose bumps as it was without a bitter breeze pricking at his skin. He didn’t think it possible, but he was sweating too. It froze on his face. “See,” he said. “Endless possibilities right at your fingertips.”
Erika shuffled back. A rock slid out from her foot, and she barely recovered her balance.
“You’re lying,” she said.
“No. No, I’m not.” Morgan inched forward and dropped his gun to the ground. “All of that could be yours, or you could spend the rest of your life in prison. It seems crazy to take the darker path, doesn’t it? Look, I just want my son back. I can let everything else go. So how about you just hand him over and start your brand-new life right now. What do you say?”
While Erika’s eyes danced between the two of them, Morgan raised his hands to take his son. His words were lies, of course. Well, except for wanting Robin back—that much was true. But the tone of his voice must have worked wonders, because Erika slowly lowered the gun to her side. Robin began to fidget in her arm. It looked as though she might drop him.
It was the longest wait of his entire life. Morgan kept his hands out, praying silently that she would do the right thing. He understood she’d had a lifetime of bad luck, but that didn’t mean she had to end it on a note like this. He watched her eyes as she thought it over, her pupils telling the process of doubt, acceptance, and then back to doubt again.
Then it happened.
A wry smile crept onto her mouth. She looked like a grinning ghost in the moonlight.
“You must think I was born yesterday,” she said.
Without further hesitation, she raised the pistol to Robin’s head. Mason rushed forward, his arms outstretched, the Beretta nested in his hands. Morgan’s heart fell through his stomach as he watched the events unfold. His legs went weak, but he lunged anyway, desperate to pry his only child from the arms of Erika Givens. It was all he could do not to scream, to beg and shout and cry all at once as he reached out for Robin.
That was when the gunshot lit up the night.
After that, it was over.