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He considered , "That ht work"

I exhaled slowly and told myself to stay steady I could do this I could fix it "It’ll work, but you have to trust un wobbled a little and his eyes shifted back to Church and then slid over to Elma

"They’ll be able to tell the truth" Shit! He had far better reasoning skills than I expected for a lunatic

"But they won’t They just want me to be happy and if you leave with me then I’ll be happy"

"Dixie" My na as it did when it was ripped out of Church’s broad and bleeding chest He would die before he let o and it was my job to keep him alive at all costs

"Joe, Church and I aren’t real This is all just a fantasy He was never in your way He told his fairl It was a lie, and when he had to coo because I’m not his to hold on to" I’d told Church I didn’t want hi falsehood upon falsehood

Joseph continued to look at Church and at Elma but so that so out of tionna go withto get through Church to get toand cru on the porch, which landed hiood and pissed when she could do so about that but at the moment all she could do eakly lift her head and look ateyes

Joseph was atas it wrapped aroundinto my side as he shoved ot closer I realized the keys were in the ignition and the driver’s door was still slightly ajar He’d grabbed the nurse when she’d been either coet into El to shoot Church as soon as he opened the door, but theI hoped would work in my soldier’s favor

"You drive" He put a hand on my head and tried to shove me into the car With his hand on the top of ot closer and closer I let my eyes meet Church’s as he lumbered to his feet and started towards the car

"Hey, Church" I whispered the words, not sure that he would hear the of my heart and across the distance that separated us "You know I love you, right?" I’d never tried to hide it but I had to tell hiet

"You don’t get to do that, Dixie You don’t get to giveyour neck like a little fool and telling lies" He sounded so angry and so hurt that it hurt worse than the crack of the gun across the top of my head as Joseph freaked out at h and closed ave it to you forever ago You just didn’t know it"

"Get in the car, Dixie" I did as I was told and folded into the seat The car was a few years old and needed an oil change but it started right up I pulled out of the driveatching Church ide eyes the entire time

Alone in the car with the only person I’d ever met who actually wanted to harm me, I told him exactly as on my mind I felt like there wasn’tand has obvious control issues If you want to est you leave her at home next time" I cut him a look fro an alar in and out like he was having trouble catching his breath

"She yelled atin an arc and ended up pointed at the side of my head "She hit me … she always hits Ever since I was little She told me I would never be a man, that I would never have what it took to satisfy a woman She burned me with an iron" He pulled up the sleeve of his arm and showed"Then she told randchildren" He started to laugh Hysterical, shrill peals of laughter that hurt h I finally fought back So you don’t have to worry about Mother or her hurting our children anyed and sed back a scream He’d tried to hire someone to kill Church, so I shouldn’t be surprised that he was capable of taking a life and sounding so cavalier about it What really hadwas the fact that he was talking aboutthe mother of his children That didn’t bode well for me and whatever future plans he had in mind

I blew out a breath and lifted my eyes to the rearview mirror I had to trap a shout behind cla red and blue lights was trailing behind us, dropping in and out of sight, but there nonetheless I’d tried to sacrificeto let o that easily I couldn’t stem the flow of tears that spilled over my lashes and ran freely down my face