Minneapolis
In the end, it was simple.
After a night of sleeping on it, she’d made up her mind.
She would take Jason’s gun. And she’d shoot Dan through the forehead. Cold and calculating. Just like her father. She’d do it today, while Lily was still at her grandmother’s house.
What she had said to her father solidified that in her own mind: Nobody could ever hurt her again. Nothing could be worse than losing Kate. Nothing. Not a lifetime in prison. Not incurring hatred from the man she’d spent most of her life loving. Nothing.
The cold hard fact was that Dan had killed her daughter and now Dan must die.
The headlines would be sensational: “Daughter of mob hit man a killer too.”
Sofia spent the rest of the day figuring out a plan. In between, she polished off a pack of cigarettes and drank several glasses of Bacardi 151. Around three, she downed four aspirin and a big glass of water and crawled between the sheets where she slipped into a restless sleep, sedated from the alcohol.
Waking close to sunset with a dry mouth but no headache, she downed another big glass of water and four shots and got dressed.
With trembling fingers, she loaded the gun like Jason had showed her so many years ago. Putting on the safety, she tucked the gun in her tote bag and looked around the motel room, wondering if she’d ever come back to it.
For a second she eyed the pad of paper on the desk, wondering if she should leave Jason a note. But then, gulping back her despair, she knew there was nothing she could say.
Maybe sorry, but the truth was she wasn’t sorry. That would be one more lie.
At least she could be honest in her final act.
When she pulled up, all the lights were off inside the house, but Dan and Gretchen’s cars were parked in the driveway.
Holding the gun in one hand, she loudly slammed the car door.
No use pretending she wasn’t there.
Her only fear was that if Dan had a gun, he’d shoot her first.
Standing at the front door, she tried the doorknob. It was unlocked.
Carefully, she pushed the door open. It made a soft creaking noise.
Inside the house was dark. A few slats of light streamed in from the windows. The streetlights had already turned on.
Stepping inside, she eased the door shut behind her, sealing herself in the darkness of the room. She paused, her back against the door, holding her breath, listening.
She heard clicking noises coming from the kitchen. Her heart thumped double time. And then she heard the sound of a small whimper.
The dog. Sugar. It was walking around the tile floor in the kitchen. Then she heard the jingle of its collar as it ran toward her, a white blur. She knelt down, the gun at her side as Sugar came up wagging her tail so hard her entire body wiggled. She gave a tiny happy whine.
“Shhhh,” Sofia said, not taking her eyes off the dark doorway to the kitchen.
Her eyes finally adjusted and she saw something white on the ground. It looked like a sock. On a foot. A gush of fear dribbled down her spine.
It seemed like all her senses were on overdrive. She could smell something foreign and metallic in the air and the slow drip of a faucet somewhere seemed earsplitting.
Heart pounding madly, Sofia crept toward the kitchen, holding the gun in front of her, hyper alert. Coming up to the doorway from the side, she ducked and slowly peeked her head around the frame at about waist level.
Stepping into the kitchen, she peered into the darkness.
Gretchen’s body lay sprawled on the floor. Blood pooled around her. A single orange beam from the streetlight filtered in the window illuminating her face. Her eyes stared straight up. Sofia’s stomach heaved. Clutching her middle with one side, her hand with the gun was shaking wildly now.
She froze, listening in the dark. The silence was broken by the soft humming of a familiar song that sent terror streaking through her. U2’s “With or Without You.”
Dan.
She jerked the gun toward the sound, slid the safety off, and abruptly stood, pressing her back tightly against the wall, inching toward the open doorway to the living room.
“Sofia. You came. Just like I knew you would. Are you going to shoot me?” His voice was calm. How did he know she had a gun? Could he see her? She looked down, her body was shrouded in darkness. She couldn’t even see her feet. If she couldn’t see him, he surely couldn’t see her, right? A long patch of light from the window was between her and the doorway to the living room. She’d been so focused on the foot on the ground, she hadn’t realized she’d stepped right through a patch of light to enter the kitchen. He must have seen her—and her gun—when she walked in.
Her mind was screaming to run, but she had to play it smart. Her eyes strained toward his voice but she could see nothing.
“Go ahead. You came here to kill me. What are you waiting for?”
She didn’t respond. Her mind was racing. What kind of game was he playing?
“Before you kill me, let me explain. Then you can shoot me. I know you can barely control yourself. Just let your nature take over, Sophia. You are a killer. Just like your father. Why hide it anymore? Nobody will be surprised that you killed me. It will make perfect sense. You’re crazy and thought I hurt Kate. You didn’t know that Gretchen actually killed Kate. … That’s why I killed her. I confronted her, told her to come home and we’d have a romantic night with Lily still at her grandmother’s. But I hate Gretchen. I’ve wanted her dead for years. When I found out she’d killed Kate it was the perfect excuse.”
Sofia fought the urge to look over at Gretchen’s body.
He was desperate. He was desperate and bluffing. But something about what he said made a strange sense …no. It couldn’t be. He was a liar.
“You killed Kate because you wanted her and she was disgusted by you.” As she spoke, she moved quickly, taking cover beside a cabinet.
“You’re wrong.” His voice was so certain and matter of fact that Sofia froze. “I didn’t kill her. I know that’s what you think. Gretchen told me you were here asking questions. But it was Gretchen. When she found out about my feelings for Kate, she couldn’t handle it. You know how jealous she is. She found out the night of the party. That’s why she left early. She went to find Kate. I didn’t know or I would’ve stopped her.”
He sounded so sure. So confident.
Dan’s voice seemed closer. Ducking, she moved toward the table in the middle of the kitchen, a large black lump in the dark. If she were really quiet, she could slip underneath it. For a second her body would have to cross over a patch of light streaming in from the window. She’d have to be fast. She’d do it in three. She began to count down. Three. Two.
The light flicked on. Whirling and partially blinded, she quickly focused on Dan by the back doorway. He was leaning against the doorframe, smiling. Small tufts of his balding pate stuck up and his hands and shirt were covered in blood. He was holding a framed photo.
Sofia raised the gun toward him and glanced at the photo.
It was a picture of Dan and his first wife, Carla. Sofia had seen it in Lily’s room before. In the picture, the couple had been on their honeymoon. Carla was beautiful. Her long blonde hair was bleached white from the sun and was striking against her deep tan. She had bare feet and wore a thin white gauzy sundress and a silver cuff. Dan was looking at Carla like she was the sun, moon, and stars. There was something about the picture that sent a stab of pity through Sofia.
But she swallowed that emotion. She had a job to do.
Eyes flicking over at the gun, Dan raised his hands in surrender. “Show them what you really are, Sofia. You can’t fight it. Your DNA. Your genetic predisposition. You were right. You are destined to kill. But first, you have to believe me. Gretchen killed Kate.”
She frowned at his words. He looked over her shoulder. She almost instinctively glanced behind her. It was a trick. But her arm with the gun lowered slightly. Her mind was fuzzy, spinning. He was playing with her head. He was a shrink. He was toying with her.
“Why, Dan?”
He shook his head slightly.
She lifted the gun again and pointed it toward him. Her arm was shaking madly.
“Tell me why you killed Kate, Dan.”
He clamped his lips together and shook his head.
“Tell me, Dan.”
He shrugged. “It doesn’t matter now, anyway.”
She walked closer.
“It’s all in Kate’s journal,” he said. “They took it that day. The morning after Kate’s death when you sent Gretchen and Lily back to the house, Lily took Kate’s journal. I saw it. I read about it. When I confronted Gretchen, she attacked me. Look.” He lifted his arm. His chest had a small, gaping bloody wound. “Listen, I’m probably dying anyway. I’ve lost a lot of blood. Do me a favor for old time’s sake and tell Lily I love her. Tell her the bracelet meant nothing. Tell her that I have always loved her more than anything or anyone in the world.”
Sofia’s head spun. Something wasn’t right. It didn’t make sense. Deep down inside, Sofia knew if she killed Dan it was over. Everything. She would have her revenge, but would have lost her soul by giving in to the deepest, darkest, most aberrant part of her. The part she now realized she had inherited—not from her father—but from her mother.
Sofia’s finger itched toward the trigger. It would take a gentle squeeze. She knew how it felt from going to the gun range with Jason. It wouldn’t take much. The trigger on this gun didn’t take much strength.
“Dan, you are going to die for killing my daughter. You can decide if you want it to be easy or terrible. But first tell me why you killed her. I thought you loved her like your own daughter.” Sofia’s voice caught saying this, but she quickly swallowed her tears.
“I did love her. But I love Lily more.” Dan closed his eyes. A few tears escaped.
“Then tell me how you could possibly have killed her. You killed her, Dan. My daughter is dead because of you. Tell me why.”
“I can’t.”
“What does that mean?” Sofia’s voice was steel, emotionless.
He looked up at her, his face filled with triumph, which confused Sofia.
It would only take the slightest pressure to pull the trigger. Just a small movement of her right index finger. Her arms were no longer shaking. Her aim was steady.
“Sofia, it’s over. Your fingerprints are on the knife that killed Gretchen. I saved the knife. Do you remember the white-handled one you used to cut up the limes for our gin and tonics? I’ve saved it. Hid it away in case I needed it.”
Sofia put her finger back up above the trigger, resting it on the cool metal. She needed time to think. She was confused. He’d planned this for a long time. He wanted out of the marriage but didn’t want his business to take a hit or for his daughter to hate him. So, he killed Gretchen and was framing Sofia?
Sofia couldn’t help but glance over at Gretchen’s body. In the light, Sofia saw a knife with a white handle sticking out of Gretchen’s abdomen. It was the knife she’d cut the limes with. Sugar now sat beside her owner’s body, whining.
“I’ll wipe my fingerprints off the knife after I kill you.”
Sofia took another step closer. Dan was now openly weeping. “I hate you. You and Jason and your perfect god damn life. Your perfect daughter. She always made Lily feel inadequate. I never knew this until it was too late. I would’ve never stayed friends with you and your family if I would’ve known this. My poor Lily. She never felt good enough. I never knew. I never knew.” His tearful voice was laced with fury.
A surge of rage zipped through Sofia. She could feel her face distort as if it were no longer under her control. A strange taste filled her mouth. Her vision turned white. Her mouth was moving and she couldn’t control it. He saw it. He watched and smiled. She would have to kill him now. She had no choice, she couldn’t control it any longer.
Sofia raised the gun one last time. She took another step closer. The gun was pointing at his forehead. There was no way she could miss. She was too close. She heard something behind her, some noise she couldn’t quite figure out. Glancing over her shoulder, she didn’t see anything.
Slowly, as slowly as she could, she squeezed the trigger. At the last second, she lifted the muzzle of the gun and the bullet lodged in the wallpaper a foot above Dan’s head.
He was wrong. She wasn’t a killer.
Her arm with the gun fell to her side just as chaos erupted.
“Freeze!”
“Drop the gun!”
“Put your hands up!”