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What happened next was soined The kind of knock-you-on-your-ass shock Life threwcurveball, and the wo my best to comfort Kim, I felt terrible that I had to leave her with soet ready for Parents Night Although ht for o Even before Deacon’s resurrection, I had planned to be there for my students and their parents

A quick shower later, I stood in front of Deacon’s chest of drawers, putting on uard, causing lanced down at the ID, a stone-cold dread rocketed throughhands, I picked up the phone "H-hello?" I croaked

"Miss Evans, your tiht"

"Okay"

"I assuot it"

"Yes, I did"

At el asked, "Then what is the problem?"

"The only thing is it’s Parents Night at my school I’ve promised my principal I would be there"

"That won’t be a problem at all"

"It won’t?"

"No In fact, I think it works better than any plan I had inyou somewhere there was a crowd--somewhere your Raiders brothers couldn’t try retaliation without incri themselves A school full of parents and children is positively brilliant"

His voice et hurt?"

"Miss Evans, it hurts me that you doubt my sincerity Besides, like the Raiders, I don’t want to do anything that would bring attention toup a school would rank pretty high on the list of having the police and ATF on ood show pony I’ll call you with the location within the school to meet me"

He ended the call As I pulled the phone froh I’d known this day was co the wolf outside the door When you devise a plan, it always seeht experience soets executed flawlessly

Yesterday when I asked Rev and Bishop to teach me how to use a knife, I’d had ulterior motives While I wanted to learn how to protect myself, my real motive was ht froan to push and shove its way into the front of my hed Sigel’s sins He had taken two of the most important people in my life away He had alht he had killed the man I loved, but instead, he had killed the president of his club

As long as Sigel breathed, he would be a threat to Willow, Charlie, and to ht, he would finally have the shon that they had been building toward I didn’t want to face that reality again so soon after having hi an orphan

Sigel had to die

And I was going to kill hiht I would continue to be Willow’s protector and thenjustice intothe phone, I didn’t hear Deacon come into the bedroom The sound of his voice caused me to jump "Who was that?"

"Oh, just Uncle Jiet Willow ASAP because she’s driving hi like that" After I set the phone down on the chest of drawers, I asked, "Your o okay?"