Page 99 of Malice and Surrender
“My phone?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, what for?” I asked, pulling the phone from my pocket.
“You need to find the news for our area. Like from home.” Alex suddenly grabbed my arm, and I stared at his fingers as they gripped me hard. “Jace…I…Fuck, I’m sorry.”
“For what? Besides freaking me the fuck out.”
His bottom lip trembled, but he let go of my arm and gripped the steering wheel again.
Terrified now of what I would find, I unlocked my phone and scrolled to the news station from home. There was a live feed streaming. I turned it on and had no idea what I was watching. It was an aerial view from a helicopter as it hovered over a house I didn’t recognize. The house was surrounded by police like in a movie.
“Turn on the volume,” Alex said. I swallowed and wasn’t sure I wanted to know what this was.
“The terrifying standoff is still underway.
Police have been trying to negotiate with the hostage taker for over thirty minutes.
The man, believed to be Lyle Winston, was tracked down here through a neighbor who saw his image on the news earlier today.”
Lyle Winston? What was my stepfather doing at that house? Was this the other family’s place? Was this the same Lyle Winston? It could be a coincidence.
My mind raced as my heart pounded out of my chest, but I couldn’t look away. A cold dread seeped into every part of my body.
Suddenly, three pictures flashed across the screen, and I sucked in a strangled gasp as I stared at my mom’s face and two blacked-out rectangles with my brother’s and sister’s names underneath. Under their names were the words deceased victim.
“No, this can’t be real.” My hand went to my throat as I tried to get air into my lungs, but I couldn’t breathe.
“Police say they have no motive at this time,
but our crews on the ground say that the three victims
he allegedly killed were his wife and two children.
Police are still trying to find the oldest son.
Bang, Bang, Bang…Bang
Four shots have been fired inside the home,
and as you can see, the police are storming the house now.”
I couldn’t tear my eyes away. The world had become the small screen, the tiny thumbnail images of my family. Minutes ticked on, and the police slowly walked out of the house but didn’t bring anyone with them. Switching the screen over to my cell, I tried my mom’s phone, but no one answered.
“No, no, no.” Hands shaking, I hung up and tried my brother. “Come on, Chad, pick up, pick up, dammit.” Tears blurred my vision as I tried my sister.
“This is Shannon.”
“Oh, thank god—” I started to say but was cut off.
“You know what to do.” Beep.
My body trembled as I pulled the phone away from my ear and stared at the screen, counting down the seconds I had to leave a message.
“Shan, it’s me. Um, I saw this thing on the news. Look, can you just call me? Please, it’s important.”
A pain-filled roar ripped from my body as the tears poured down my cheeks. Alex grabbed my hand as he sped down the Interstate, but it wouldn’t matter. We’d always be too late.
