Elaine
The gun was still aimed in my direction, a cold black promise that I could feel even without looking directly at it, but Rose wasn’t paying attention to me. They were talking, those two—Carla and Rose—whispering and plotting as if I were a coat on a chair and not a breathing, thinking person.
I began to inch away, each tiny step feeling enormous. My heart thudded in my ears like a trapped thing. It was hard to believe that Carla—Carla—could be so desperate for Kave that she’d be willing to kill someone to get him. The thought turned my stomach. And Rose… Rose, who’d always seemed so mild and harmless, why was she helping? What could possibly be in it for her? My head spun with questions, none of which I could say out loud. No matter. Right then the only clear thing was survival: I
