Robert Ellis - Murder Season

He hit her again. He kicked her and jabbed the gun to her head. Something in the room changed. She looked at the windows by the front door and thought maybe someone had run through the moonlight.

Vaughan moved back to the center of the room, looked up at the ceiling, arched his back, and screamed like a madman. His arms shook and his entire body shuddered. He was panicking now, falling apart, shaky. He stared back at her and hissed. Then he grabbed his wallet and keys and ran down the foyer to the front door.

“You should wait for the police, Vaughan. You should stay inside.”

He turned back to her and shrieked. “Why?”

“Because I think someone’s out there.”

“Is that the best you can do?”

“I think someone’s outside,” she said quietly.

He laughed at her. Then he threw the locks, yanked open the door, and fled into the night.

The shots came quickly. There were five of them. One loud and made from close to the house. The next four from a slight distance. She ran to the open door and gazed outside. Tim Hight was standing over Vaughan’s dead body, pointing a gun at his head. She could hear Hight weeping as she rushed across the lawn. She could see him wiping his eyes as he stared at the corpse.

Lena pulled the gun out of his hand and tossed it onto the grass. Hight turned to her and buried his head in her chest. His body was trembling, the tears splashing off his cheeks like rain. She could hear sirens approaching in the distance. She could feel herself supporting Hight and shouldering his weight.

“Did I get him?” he whispered to her. “Did I get the guy who murdered Lily?”