Page 38 of Rune
“No, we—”
“I didn’t shoot your best friend, Carmen,” he cut me off. I was looking closely, but I didn’t see a hint of a lie. “But I was there. I saw it happen. I saw who did it.”
CHAPTER TEN
Rune
The second I saw the face in the picture, I knew it was her.
Sure, the picture was probably taken ten years before, both Carmen and her friend looking more chubby-cheeked, like girls tended to be while still in their teens.
But it was the same face.
Same birthmark high on her cheek.
The same eyes.
The last time I’d seen those eyes, they’d been pouring tears as I’d been punched in the gut, then knocked on my ass.
My head whipped in her direction as I landed.
And that was when I saw it.
The flash of metal pressed to her forehead.
The look of wide-eyed fear.
My stomach lurched.
“No!” I yelled.
But it was no use.
The finger squeezed the trigger and the bullet lodged in the woman’s head, killing her before her body even slumped to the ground facing me, lids open, eyes blank.
It was the moment that changed the course of my future.
That night, I fought for my life, dragged my bloodied and bruised body home, grabbed my brother, and hopped on a flight back to Navesink Bank.
I could never forget that woman’s face, the sounds of her cries, the way I couldn’t get to her in time.
But I never knew her name.
Never knew her history.
And that shit haunted me.
It was the nightmare that still woke me up in a cold sweat. The memory that crept up on me even in good moments, refusing to be buried.
Maybe it ate at me because I had no one to share it with. It was a night whose details I didn’t even share with my twin. I claimed it was to protect him. But I knew the truth. It was my own shame and guilt that kept me from telling him what I’d seen, how I hadn’t acted quickly enough, hadn’t saved someone innocent caught in an ugly war.
After all this time, she had a name.
Victoria.
Vicky.
“I don’t believe you,” Carmen said, looking up at me from her position on the ground.
