River’s End

don’t think so.” Oh God, Liv, oh God, don’t move. He gazed quickly at her face, saw the blank shock in her eyes, the thin trickle of red sliding down the slim column of her throat. “Step away from her, step back.”
    “Put the gun down!” He jerked Olivia’s head up with the fiat of the blade. “She’s dead, do you hear me. She’s dead if you don’t do it now!”
    “He’ll kill me anyway.”
    “Shut up! Shut the hell up!” He nicked her again, and she saw Noah’s hands jerk, then start to lower.
    “Don’t do it. Don’t hurt her.”
    “Put it down!”
    She heard the roar of their voices in her head, saw the decision in Noah’s eyes. “He’ll kill me no matter what you do. Then he’ll kill you. Don’t let him take someone else I love. Don’t let him win.”
    Her hand closed over the cold metal eyes of the scissors, drew them out in one quick, smooth motion, then plunged them viciously into his thigh. He screamed, high and bright, his knife hand jerking up, then dropping. She shoved her body away from his, yanking the scissors clear. Then held them out as he leaped toward her.
    She heard the bullet ring out, one sharp snap. Saw the bright blossom of blood bloom high on his chest and the puzzled shock in his eyes as he fell toward her. She didn’t step back. And she would never ask herself if she’d had time to do so. The killing point of the scissors slid silently into his belly. The weight of him bore her to the ground. Before she could roll clear, Noah pulled her up and against him. His arms that had been so steady began to quiver.
    “You’re all right. You’re okay.” He said it again, then once again as his hands ran shakily over her. “He cut you.” His fingers brushed gently at her throat. “Oh God, Liv.”
    She was crushed against him again, burrowed into him. Her head went light, seemed to circle somewhere just beyond her shoulders. “I thought he might have killed you. I saw the blood and I thought . . . No!” She jerked back, her hands vising on Noah’s face. “Daddy.”
    She pulled away and stumbled to the ground beside her father. “Oh no, no, no. Don’t. Please. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry, Daddy.” She had nothing but her hands to press against his wound to try to stem the bleeding.
    “Don’t cry, Livvy.” He reached up to touch her face. “This is the best way for me. My time’s running out, anyway. I needed to see you again. It was the last thing I had to do. You’ve got your mothers eyes.” He smiled a little. “You always did. I let her down in so many ways.”
    “Don’t, please don’t.” She pressed her face to his neck. “Noah, help me.”
    “If I’d been what I should have been, what she believed I could be, she’d still be alive.”
    “Don’t talk now. We have to stop the bleeding. They’ll find us soon.” Her hands fumbled with the scraps of cloth Noah gave her. “They’re looking, and we’ll get you to the hospital.”
    “You’re a smart girl, you know better.” His eyes were clouding over, but they shifted to Noah. “She’s a smart one, isn’t she, Brady?”
    “That’s right.” He pressed another scrap of his shirt to the wound in Sam’s side. “So listen to her.”
    “I’d rather die a hero.” His short laugh ended in a racking cough. “There’s enough of the old me in here to rather enjoy that. Is that son of a bitch dead?”
    “As Moses,” Noah told him.
    “Thank Christ for that.” The pain was floating away. “Livvy.” He gripped her hand.
    “When I was looking for you that night, when you saw me. I wasn’t going to hurt you.”
    “I know that. I know. Don’t leave me now that I’ve just gotten you back.”
    “I’m sorry, Livvy. I wanted you to look at me once, just once, and know who I was. In the end I kept you safe. Maybe that makes up for all the years I didn’t.” His vision wavered and dimmed. “Write the book, Brady. Tell the truth.”
    “Count on it.”
    “Take care of my little girl. Kiss me good-bye. Livvy love.”
    With tears flooding her throat, she pressed her lips to his cheek. And felt his hand go lax in hers. Her grief was one long, low moan.
    Noah sat with her while she cradled her father’s body and wept in the rain. She slept because Noah poured a sedative down her throat. When she woke, logy with drugs and grief and shock, it was midday.
    She heard the birdsong, felt the sun on her face. And, opening her eyes, saw him sitting beside her.
    “You didn’t sleep.”
    He