Page 23 of Dancing With Redemption

She sounded crazy, unstable, and obsessed with one too many people. Or happenings. Something. None of it made sense and it was hard to form linear thoughts at the moment, so she stopped trying.

“At least the old slut had the good grace to die,” the woman snickered, her eyes shifting from side to side. “Although, I might have helped her along a little. Don’t tell anybody that, though. But I guess you won’t, will you? If I can’t kill my nephew’s wife, you’ll have to do. Clarence, bring in Charlie, won’t you?”

Who the hell was Charlie? Not that Roxie really cared, but if she was about to meet someone else it would have been nice to be prepared. Roxie didn’t have to wait long though. As it turned out, Charlie wasn’t a who, but a what.

Clarence came in, some kind of contraption in his hands that would surely be ridiculously dangerous in this apartment. Roxie wasn’t sure what it was, but it had what looked like a faucet on top and a tank of some kind attached to the bottom of the faucet. There was a vague memory in the back of her mind, a blue flame, but Roxie wasn’t sure when the memory was formed or where. It might have even been a movie that she’d seen. Then the woman moved closer and Roxie saw that it was some kind of gas tank that was attached to the brass fitting. Fuck…

“Ah, I see Charlie has your attention. He’s my handy-dandy blowtorch. I’ve only been able to use him a few times since I got him. And he’ll take care of any evidence that might be left behind. Have you ever seen a blowtorch in action, my dear? No? Well, you’re about to. Clarence, you and Bobby can go. I’ll meet you downstairs in the car.” The woman waved the men out of the room and aimed a nozzle at Roxie.

A sound popped in the distance, followed by a dozen or so more.

“What was that?” The woman frowned and went to the door. “Clarence? Bobby? What’s going on out there?”

Roxie went still, straining to hear, but no more pops broke the silence. But neither did voices. There was only silence, until a louder pop and a gasp made Roxie turn her head. The woman was on the ground, the blowtorch still clutched in her hand. There was a large hole in the back of her head that Roxie stared at blankly.

I guess that’s what happens when a bullet goes through someone’s brain then,she thought with detached curiosity.

“Roxie? Are you okay, Roxie?” A voice broke into Roxie’s examination of the back of the woman’s head, and she smiled when she saw a familiar face in front of her.

“Kai?” Roxie was confused. Why was Kai here?

“It’s okay, Roxie, we have you,” Kai said with a smile in Roxie’s direction. “We need to head straight to the nearest hospital with her.”

“We do. Roxie, can you hear me, honey?” The voice she’d longed to hear for hours, days maybe, finally spoke and Roxie turned her head away from Kai.

“Lincoln?” She asked, her eyes narrowing to make sure it was him. She felt the relief of her wrists and ankles being released from the cuffs, but it didn’t compare to hearing his voice.

“It’s me, baby. We’ve got you.” He threw a blanket over her just before he picked her up. “I’m taking her in my car. Can somebody take care of this mess?”

“I got this, it’s the least I can do,” a voice that Roxie didn’t recognize said, and she looked around to see a handsome man with black hair walking in. He stared down at the woman’s body in distaste before he kicked a shoulder. “Yep, that’s her. At least this shit is done now.”

Roxie’s eyes closed but she understood on some level that this must be the boy that the woman was so pissed about. Has she said his name? Roxie didn’t know, couldn’t stay in the world long enough to remember if she had.

Everything went kind of fuzzy after that.

A few seconds of consciousness told her she was in a car, before she blinked and the world disappeared again. Another moment of awareness and she heard Lincoln’s voice explaining he didn’t know what had happened, he’d found her like this in a building that was on fire. After that, there were points where she felt pain, a sting here, an ache there, the sensation of more pins in her toes, another needle in her scalp, so many little moments of pain, but then there was oblivion, real oblivion. At least she was still alive. She was fairly certain of that much.