Page 117 of Cannon

“Hey, little man,” I whispered, keeping my voice gentle despite the fury building inside me. “It’s Uncle Cannon. You’re safe now.”

His eyes filled with tears, but he didn’t move.

“Your brother’s waiting in my car. Come on out, Jo. I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”

Slowly, like a wounded animal afraid of being hurt again, he crawled toward me. When he was close enough, I scooped him up, his tiny arms wrapping around my neck in a death grip.

“I got you,” I murmured, feeling him tremble against me. “Go join your brother in my car, okay? Lock the doors and don’t come back inside no matter what you hear.”

I set him down, watching as he ran on shaky legs toward the stairs. Once he was safely downstairs, I turned toward Reese’s bedroom door at the end of the hall. Each step felt heavier than the last, dread mixing with anger in my gut.

I knocked once, my knuckles barely grazing the wood.

“Reese? It’s me.”

Silence stretched for a moment before her voice floated through the door, brittle and high like a cracked bell.

“Cannon? Is that really you?” She sounded almost childlike, vulnerable in a way that made my skin crawl.

“Yeah, it’s me. Let me in.”

“Are the boys with you?” Her voice hardened slightly.

“They’re safe. They’re outside.”

“Good. Keep them out there. This is between us.” A pause, then: “Come in. It’s unlocked.”

I took a deep breath, steadying myself before turning the handle. The door swung open to reveal Reese sitting on the edge of her bed, mascara streaking down her face in black rivers, hair wild around her shoulders. But it wasn’t her disheveledappearance that made my blood freeze. It was the gun dangling loosely from her right hand.

“Close the door,” she said, her voice eerily calm now.

I did as she asked, keeping my movements slow and deliberate, eyes never leaving the weapon. “What are you doing, Reese?”

She laughed, the sound hollow and wrong. “What does it look like? I’m ending this nightmare.” Her red-rimmed eyes fixed on mine, desperate and accusing all at once. “You left me. After everything we’ve been through, after what you did for me, you just… left.”

“I didn’t leave the boys,” I said carefully. “I’ve always been here for them.”

“But not for me.” Her voice cracked. “Never for me. Not the way I needed you to be.”

I took a cautious step forward, gauging her reaction. “Put the gun down.”

She lifted the hand gun and aimed it toward me, stopping me dead in my tracks. “Reese, you’re gonna kill me?” I asked.

“Why not? If I can’t have you, no one will. I’ve always loved you, Cannon. Always. You were my rock. Why can’t you see that? Why can’t you let me be that to you.”

“Reese, you need help. I love you because you’re family. You mean so much to me but I don’t love you romantically. We can go to therapy and work through this,” I tried to reason with her.

“I can’t live without you. I won’t live in this world seeing you with another woman,” she barked as she slid her finger over the trigger.

“If you kill me, you will go to prison. Who will look after the boys? Huh? You want them growing up like us? Abandoned by our parents? Think this shit through.”

Reese’s hand trembled, her grip on the gun wavering as tears streamed down her face. “You’re right about the boys,”she whispered, her voice suddenly hollow. “They need someone stable. Someone strong.”

Her eyes met mine, and for a moment, I saw clarity break through the madness. “I’m no good for them without you, Cannon. I’ve never been good enough on my own.”

“That’s not true,” I said, taking another careful step forward. “You’re their mother. They need you.”

She shook her head, a sad smile twisting her lips. “No. What they need is you. Someone who won’t break.” Her eyes softened with a terrible resolve. “Promise me you’ll take care of them.”