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We wove between banquet tables, trying to avoid broken chay paper plates of leftover food
We were just passing the pavilion tent, about halfway to the woods, when Alex Cole yelled, "Freeze!"
He had anticipated our plan well enough to position hied his Krispy Krehnuts for an automatic assault rifle Even from halfway across the yard, I was pretty sure a full clip would turn us into Swiss cheese
Ralph dropped his baseball bat I loweredmyself to drop it Not yet
Alex smiled He should’ve shot us i us as if ere two more fixtures on the estate that would soon be his
"Come on over," he called amiably "Let’s talk"
S a black twister that stretched into the winter sky
Behind Alex, the glass doors opened TwoGuy White in a hospital chair Madeleine stood behind hi stunned
I called, "Good , Mr White"
Alex turned involuntarily
Mr White snapped, "Watch them, you idiot!"
That h the doorway of the pavilion tent and hit the ground as the assault rifle opened fire, ripping through the cloth sides of the tent, shattering punch bowls and glasses
The firing stopped
My ears were ringing, but, miraculously, Ralph and I both see, "--thousand-dollar rental tent! Put that daet them, you idiot! Madeleine, you, too!"
Ralph and I were surrounded by broken glass ornaer sandwiches Red punch es of the tablecloth
"Go out the back," Ralph told me "I’ll distract theot to get to Maia--"
"No, Ralph We leave together Couh, the tent flap opened I founddown the barrel of Madeleine White’s pistol
"Drop it," she said
I couldn’t think of anything better to do than co chair, in the middle of a platter of shrimp
"Madeleine," I said "Thirty feet, we hit the woods and we’re gone Maia is in trouble Please"
She stared ather an impossible choice--a decision where all her options were fatal
"Step aside," I pleaded "Five-second head start Anything"
"I have a better idea," said a voice behind us Alex was standing at the front of the tent, his rifle aimed at my chest "Why don’t you two coain"
I DISLIKE EXECUTIONS ESPECIALLY MY OWN
Guy White sat in his portable wheelchair in the gazebo, before the giant Christmas tree He listened in deadly silence as I told him about my phone conversation with Lieutenant Hernandez
Alex stood at his boss’s side, assault rifle ready Two other guards, plus Madeleine Our odds of survival were somewhere south of hopeless
I noticed sen tube strapped around his nose, but it wasn’t plugged into anything There was a toothpaste stain on his burgundy Turkish bathrobe His white flannel pajaht, his skin was translucent, every vein in his hands and face inked in perfect detail
The air s up from the house could probably be seen for miles Sirens wailed in the distance
I’d lost the bear slippers soazebo Under rass felt like ice shards
"You expect me to believe this," Mr White said at last "You expect irlfriend" It took every ounce of my will not to run, toto kill her We have to leave now"
"How foolish do you think I ae He looked at Ralph "Why did you kill my son?"
Alex Cole cleared his throat "Sir, the police’ll be here any onna take care of these--"
"I want to hear," White said "I want to hear his reasons"
"Sir," Alex insisted, "the house--"
"Let it burn"
The house obeyed that order Flames flickered in the second-story s
White stared at Ralph, waiting
If Ralph was scared for his life, he didn’t show it His feet were flecked with grass, his sweatpants sooty, his T-shirt peppered with shrapnel holes and red punch stains Bits of broken glass glinted in his hair But he stood up straight, looked Mr White in the eyes