All the Pretty Girls - J. T. Ellison [136]
She stepped carefully, slowly, advancing on Reese’s position. He looked startled, confused, and suddenly heard Baldwin’s voice from behind him.
“You’re covered on all sides, Reese. Drop the knife and we can walk you out of here alive.”
Quinn, ignoring Taylor’s instructions, kept talking and moving forward slowly, trying desperately to save her children. “Reese, you can’t do that. You can’t kill your own brother. Reese, listen to me. Jake Junior is your brother. Jillian is your sister. Do you understand what I’m saying? They’re your brother and sister, Reese. You can’t kill them.” The light shone briefly in Quinn’s eyes, tears pouring down her face. “Please, Reese. Please.”
Reese was growing more and more agitated. Taylor could see the edge of the knife tip disappear, and a thin trickle of blood ran down Jake Junior’s neck. Jillian started to wail. The sight was too much for Quinn.
She bolted, covering the last twenty feet in scant seconds. Taylor tried to grab her, but she was too quick, like a deer startled from the brush. The gun was out in plain view now, leveled at Reese.
“Quinn, don’t!” she screamed, but it was too late. Quinn stopped a few feet short of Reese, took aim and pulled the trigger. Reese was down before Taylor’s voice faded from her throat. The children ran to their mother, throwing their arms around her legs.
Taylor rushed for Reese. He lay quietly on the ground, a hole in his upper chest, blood spilling out like a fountain. Taylor could see that he was losing blood too quickly, they weren’t going to be able to save him if help didn’t get here soon. She keyed her radio, called for a bus to rush a shooting victim.
Baldwin was feeling around Reese’s body, making sure he had no other weapons he could use. Baldwin pocketed the knife Reese had been holding and nodded to Taylor, he was clean. He kept his weapon trained on Reese, though it looked like there was little chance that it was necessary.
Taylor turned back to Quinn, who was still holding the gun at chest level. “Give me the gun, now, Quinn. Let me have it, that’s right. Good girl.” Quinn looked at Taylor as if she were a stranger. The gun was limp in her hand, and she didn’t fight when Taylor lifted it gently from her. Once she no longer had the gun, Quinn broke down. She wrapped her arms around her children, crying with relief. Taylor stood, pulled the clip from the gun and emptied the bullets into her hand. She shoved them in her pocket and put the gun in the small of her back, tucking it into her jeans.
Quinn pulled herself together and spoke to her children. “Stand with that lady for a minute. I need to talk to your uncle.” The children obeyed, too terrified to do anything but, and sidled close to Taylor’s legs. Taylor absently patted them on the head, watching Quinn.
Quinn came closer, standing over Reese for a moment, waiting for him to meet her eyes. He finally managed to focus on her. She looked to Taylor and Baldwin for guidance.
“Don’t touch him, Quinn. You hit him in the chest, his lung’s already collapsed. I don’t know if he’s going to make it.”
“I just need to talk to him for a moment.” There were tears coursing down her cheeks. She knelt beside Reese, her voice quiet but determined.
“Reese, I am your mother. I am so sorry. You’re right, we should have told you.”
Reese’s voice was wheezy, full of pain. “No, you’re wrong. It was Whitney. Whitney was my mother.” He coughed and a bubble of blood appeared on his lips. He was badly hurt.
Quinn shook her head. “No, that’s not right. It was me. They kept us both in seclusion after the kidnapping, but I was the one who was pregnant.”
Reese tried to speak again, groaning with the effort. “But…Nathan…told me…told me he raped Whitney…not…you.”
“Oh, Reese. We were identical twins. He didn’t know who was who. We never told him.”
The faint wail of sirens reached their ears, growing steadily louder. Taylor