Angels Fall

kept squeezing, squeezing, until the buzzing stopped."
    "You didn't have any choice." Reece's voice was absolutely calm. "She pushed you to it. She attacked you, threatened you. You had to protect yourself, your family."
    "I did. Yes, I did. She wasn't even real. She was only a dream."
    "I understand. My God. she was literally holding a gun to your head. You haven't done anything wrong yet, Rick. You haven't hurt anyone who didn't deserve it, done anything that wasn't absolutely necessary. If I'd understood all this before, I'd have let it go."
    "But you didn't let it go. No matter what I did. All I wanted was for you to leave town. Just go away and  get on with your life so I could get on with mine."
    "I know that now. I'm on your side now. You can just let me and Brody go, and this all disappears."
    "I wish I could, Reece. That's the God's truth. But you can't change what is. You've just got to work with it, and protect what you have. Guess one of those pills was enough, after all. Now, I want you to move away from him. It's time I woke him up."
    "It you do this, you don't deserve your wife and your children."
    "Once it's done, they'll never have to know." He crossed to her, grabbed her by the back of the shirt and dragged her away from Brody.
    As he turned back, Brody pumped his legs, rising up, chair and all. He swung his body hard into Rick's and sent them both sprawling.
    "Run!" Brody shouted. "Run now."
    She ran, terrified and blind with it, following the order as if a switch had been flicked inside her. Spitting out the pill she'd cheeked, she yanked open the front door. She heard the crash, the curses, the crack of wood as she flew outside.
    And she ran with a scream shrieking in her head when she heard the gunshot.

    "DID YOU HEAR THAT?" Linda-gail pushed up on her elbow in bed. "I heard a shot."
    "I heard the angels sing."
    She laughed and poked Lo in the side. "That. too. But I heard somebody shooting."
    "Now who'd think you'd ever hear somebody shooting in the backwoods of Wyoming?" He pulled her back down, digging his hands into her ribs to make her laugh.
    '"No tickling or I'll… Did you hear  that  ? Is that someone shouting?"
    "I don't hear anything but my own heart begging yours for a little more sugar. Now come on, honey, let's—"
    This time it was Lo who broke off at the crash outside the cabin. "Stay right here." He leaped up and, buck naked, strode out of the bedroom.
    When Reece burst in, he could only cross his hands over his privates and say, "Well, Jesus Christ!"
    "He's got Brody. He's got Brody. He's going to kill him."
    "What, what? What?"
    "Help. You have to help."

    "Reece?" Linda-gail fought to wrap a sheet around herself as she came out. "What in the world's going on?"
    No time, Reece thought. Brody could already be bleeding, dying. As she'd been once. She spotted the rifle in a display case. "Is that loaded?"
    "That's my granddaddy's Henry rifle. Just a damn minute," Lo began, but Reece rushed to the case. She gave the lid a jerk, found it locked. She spun, grabbed the bear pole lamp and shattered the glass.
    "Chrissake, chrissake, my ma's going to kill us both." Even as Lo made a dash for her, Reece yanked the rifle out, whirled around with it.
    Lo stopped dead in his tracks. "Honey? You want to be careful where you point that thing."
    "Call for help. Call the state police!"
    Leaving them both gaping behind her, Reece streaked for the door.
    Reece prayed Lo's reaction meant the rifle was loaded. That if it was, she could figure out how to work it. She prayed harder still that she wouldn't have to.
    But it wasn't fear, that familiar burn in her throat: it wasn't panic, with its sharp, fluttering wings in her belly. It was rage she felt, the hot, bubbling gush of it pumping through her blood. She wouldn't lie helpless this time, not this time, while someone she loved was taken from her. Not this time, not ever again.
    She heard Rick shouting her name, and forced back the tears that wanted to blur her eyes. Brody hadn't stopped him.
    So she stopped, closed her eyes and ordered herself to think. She couldn't go running back to the cabin. He'd hear her, see her. And he would end it. He might very well end up killing Lo and Linda-gail as well. Circle around, she decided. She could do that. He'd think she was still running, or just hiding. He wouldn't expect her to come back to fight.
    "No place for you to go, Reece," Rick shouted. "No place I can't find you. This is my land here, my