Gun Games - Faye Kellerman [116]
“I’m sure his best wishes are with you.”
“Nah, that doesn’t sound like Jeff. And I doubt that Nick is horrified.”
“I’m sure he’s concerned about your condition.”
“That’s true. Neither he nor Jeff wants a lame racehorse. I know, I know. So young yet so cynical.”
Marge patted his shoulder. “Tell me about this morning.”
“I forgot to put in my contacts when I left the house, so I went back to the house, which made me late in meeting Yasmine. I’m, like, texting her, telling her I’ll be late, but she’s not answering me. And that’s a little weird because she usually does answer me. So I get to Coffee Bean and she’s not there. Yasmine is chronically late, but usually not this late. And I still can’t reach her, so I’m, like, getting a little nervous. So I call her, which I usually don’t do because we text. But she doesn’t answer, and now I’m getting really nervous.
“In the back of my mind, I’m thinking that her parents found out and she’s in real trouble. And I’m feeling awful and nervous. So I leave Coffee Bean and I’m outside the door. I call her again. And then the fucking ground starts ringing. I look down and it’s her phone. I also found the watch I gave her. I’m thinking she wanted me to know something was wrong. Why else would she leave it, you know? So now I’m really starting to panic.”
Marge nodded.
“I’m thinking maybe her parents dragged her out of the place or she got robbed or mugged or whatever. So I pick up her phone and watch. And I decide to go back to her house to check up on her. I just want to make sure she’s okay.”
He put his hand over his mouth.
“I’m getting a little ill thinking about it.”
“You want to stop for a moment.”
“No, let’s just get this over with. So I’m thinking, do I go back or do I look for her? . . . It’s like all in a space of a minute. And then I just flash on Dylan and Cameron. It was like the most nauseating feeling in the world. I start running for the bus stop because Cameron told me she lived near there. And in the distance I see this group of kids walking together. And I see Cameron’s long blond hair. And I’m thinking holy shit! And I start running and running. You know, pure adrenaline. And I catch up to them and bust inside the inner circle. And that’s when I see Yasmine. And I also see that Dylan has a gun to her back—a .22 Smith and Wesson.”
Gabe blinked several times.
“The bastard looks at me and says something like I raped Cameron so he’s going to rape Yasmine. Which is absurd. I never touched the bitch. And then I hear the click and feel the gun at my head.”
Again, he put his hand over his mouth.
“Dylan’s gun?”
“No, no. Some other dude with long hair. Dylan still has a gun on Yasmine.” He swallowed hard and turned to Marge. “If you show me a photo thing like the one with Dylan, I could pick out all of them. I looked at their faces enough.”
“I can do that.” Marge said. “What happened after someone put a gun to your head?”
“It was weird.” Gabe stared into space. “I became supercalm . . . not like my life was flashing before me, but all the panic just . . . evaporated. I was completely focused on how to get Yasmine and me out of this.”
“What did you do?”
“First, I guess I tried to stall . . . acting supercool while he accuses me of raping the bitch.” He paused, and then pointed a finger in the air. “I remember. I told him that I didn’t go home with Cameron because I had an audition with a record company. Dylan bought it. Deep in his heart, every dude wants to be a rock star. And she’s calling me a liar and I’m like ignoring her in the way guys ignore girls who are shit to them. And Dylan can tell that I don’t care what he thinks even though I’m like shaking inside. I kept thinking to myself, I have to get the gun away from my head.”
“How’d you do it?”
“I stopped suddenly and ducked, throwing the dude behind me off balance. As soon as he pitched forward, I grabbed his wrist and twisted, got the gun away. My dad taught me how to do it. It was simple. And with all that adrenaline inside, it was really easy. That gun was