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The bright spring day brought unseasonably warm temperatures, and Kate was grateful she’d chosen her sleeveless navy dress. It felt a little roomier than usual, an expected casualty of not eating. She pushed her oversized, dark sunglasses up and fluffed her long, dark hair forward to hide some of her face before opening the passenger door.
As she and her attorney exited his car, she panned the crowd that had gathered around the looming courthouse doors, each waiting to catch a glimpse of the female cold-blooded killer.
The pink and white floral scarf Kate had selected to hide her identity, really only hid her emotions. She wrapped it tighter around her neck and dipped her head, stealing the photographers’ chances at a prize-winning front page photo. The bright lights from cameras flashed endlessly as she walked toward them, her attorney gripping her elbow and guiding her through the throng of gawkers toward the courthouse entrance.
As she and her attorney neared the glass doors of the towering Ramsey County Courthouse, Kate focused her gaze on her tan pumps and the swirls embedded in the concrete steps. She was relieved her parents weren’t there to see this spectacle.
Soon, she’d be standing before Judge Margaret Haley, the woman now in charge of Kate’s fate. Life in prison would be the likely sentence, though a future behind bars meant nothing to her. She felt nothing. Numbness was her newest companion. It helped her move through these necessary processes.
Kate’s focus was interrupted by a screech from a speeding car approaching from her right. She turned and blinked. A silver Ford Fusion was careening toward the courthouse plaza. It flew past so quickly, it was almost a blur.
Almost.
Kate locked eyes with Tau, sitting in the front passenger seat, the barrel of some sort of weapon under his chin, pointing it directly at her. Above the natural hum of the crowd and shouting from journalists, came several muffled popping noises that echoed across the plaza and into Kate’s ears. The wall of the courthouse and glass door before her were pummeled by quick zipping hits, causing glass and concrete to explode into fragments, shards, slivers, and rocks.
Screams from the crowd and the rush of feet racing for cover began just as Kate felt something rip open her face and smash into her neck. A stinging and burning sensation spread through her as her arms instinctively rose to stop the onslaught.
A warm liquid dripped into her eyes and she smeared it away, tearing at her scarf as she felt herself falling.
A set of strong arms wrapped around Kate and pushed her head downward. Then, another pop was heard as more hot pain hit her, this time in her side. Her neck and head lurched back, and she fell violently to the cold, hard stone. She squeezed her eyes closed, an instinct that did not improve her pain. When she opened them again, she saw feet. Feet—running. Scattering feet. Desperate to escape the gunfire.
Someone rolled her flat onto her back. She opened her eyes and looked up, as she choked and gasped for a breath. Heads hovered over her. She couldn’t make out faces. A voice near her left ear shouted things she couldn’t understand. More yelling. More jostling of her body. She tried lifting her head, but it wouldn’t comply.
The pain in her side was an excruciating fire that stole her air. She wondered how anyone could endure such agony.
Marco and Renzo endured this.
Burning tears formed under her closed eyelids, as she let out a howl, not only for her own pain, but for her husband and son’s. They’d felt this pain, too. They’d suffered this way.
She deserved this pain. It was all her fault. Everything.
She didn’t want to go on. She felt herself drifting into darkness. Then, returning.
Darkness. Silence.
Then, chaos again.
She preferred the silence.
Someone—a man—started pressing on her side, causing her to cry out. The pressure continued, but after a while, the pain began to diminish. She felt sleepy and hated all the faces so close to hers. All of the shouting.
The rigid cement pressed into the bones in her back, but slowly, numbness began to replace the pain in her side and her legs. Some of the faces moved away, allowing the vast blue sky to come into view. A bright cobalt glow and long rainbow-like sunrays, more vibrant than she’d ever remembered, captured her attention. A gentle breeze brushed against her cheek, as she focused her gaze on two puffy white clouds moving ever-so-slightly in a swirling motion. Her body relaxed as she watched them. Faces and voices faded.
A radiant peace wrapped around her like a warm bath. She smiled up at the clouds, lifting her bloodied hand toward the sky. Reaching.
Faces reappeared. Someone held her other hand, but she’d barely felt it. She devoted her gaze to those two clouds. She felt her body rise, as the image of her beloved husband, Marco, appeared in the white tufts above her. He smiled down at her with his big brown eyes and thick, black hair, one curl falling across his forehead. Next to him, her son, her beautiful Renzo. His tufts of brown curls bounced, as he smiled and waved her toward him.
She whispered weakly, quietly.
“Marco. Renzo.”
