Page 160 of Family Affair

“You can’t hide behind the dumpster forever, dear,” Dan drawled in a sing-song voice. “Although I must admit you fit in well with the trash.” The crunch of gravel grew closer.

She eyed a couple of trash bags that missed their destination and now lay crumpled on the ground. A sturdy piece of broken plastic stuck out from a tear in one of the bags, mere inches from her leg. She reached down to pull the piece out and almost whimpered from the pain in her side.

It was the size of her palm, with a sharp jagged edge where it had broken off. Not a knife, but still a weapon she could use.

She straightened up, and the world receded. Shaking her head to clear it, she leaned against the rusty side of the dumpster and waited for Dan to come to her, gripping her makeshift blade in a bloody hand.

The footsteps sounded dangerously near. One, two, three, and Dan’s form appeared in front of her.

She slashed at him.

Surprised, he put up an awkward block protecting his face, and all her plastic did was cut open the skin of his hand. His blood sprayed her. He jumped back with a cry.

It’s only his hand, she assessed clinically.No real damage.

Her knees wobbled, alerting her to the fact that the battery life of her body was almost depleted.

Dan stared at her from a few feet away, his face a mask of ugly hatred and murderous intent. “I hope you like pain, Coco, because you’re gonna get a lot of it right now.”

“Stop, Dan. It’s over.” The low, raspy voice made them both turn.

A shadowy figure of a man was walking purposefully in their direction from the only way into this alley. A heavy pistol dangled loosely from the man’s right hand.

She wanted to run to him, to shout out his name, but a treacherous weakness settled heavily in her limbs, and she swayed. The effort of gripping the plastic knife suddenly became too difficult, and it slipped from her fingers to clatter on the ground. Still, she smiled. She knew that voice. She loved this man.

Dan cursed, and before she had time to blink, he had her in a headlock with the knife pressed to her throat, cussing again when she sagged in his hold, ordering her to stand upright.

Cade didn’t break his stride and kept walking toward them like he didn’t have a care in the world, like he wasn’t supposed to be locked up in a cell, like his brother didn’t press a knife to the underside of her chin.

He slowed down before stopping a short distance away and slowly, almost lazily, pointed his weapon at them.

“Drop the knife and move away from her, Dan.”

“Drop your gun and I may spare her pathetic life.”

Suddenly, the door to the club crashed open and people started pouring out. Coco saw Ross with a corner of her eye – he was the first to emerge.

“Oh, please, no,” he moaned in a broken voice taking in his brothers at standoff. “Come on, Dan, let her go. Please. It isn’t worth it.”

“Kill her, Dan!” Alex stumbled onto the scene, looking like a vicious dog chewed on him. His expression crazed, he didn’t wait for Dan to follow his command and lunged at her.

Pop.

Cade shot him.

Howling, Alex dropped on the ground and writhed at Dan’s feet.

“You’re a cold bastard. He’s family.” Dan’s big body tensed, as if he was seconds away from cutting Coco up.

“Drop the knife or you’re next.” Cade’s gun returned to point at Dan’s head with terrifying finality.

Someone – Rick? – ran out of the door and yelled “Alex!” before skidding to halt. More people emerged, security guards, club patrons.

The commotion never distracted Cade who stood still as a statue, unwavering, with the gun pointed toward Dan’s head. She couldn’t see much anymore with her dimming eyes. The pain in her side disappeared and everything was okay except for the cold. She was so cold.

She sagged and earned a bone crushing jerk from Dan. People shouted and someone shone a flashlight on Dan and her, illuminating her wrinkled torn dress and blood.

“She’s bleeding.” She heard Cade say in an oddly hoarse voice.

Dan’s blade pierced her skin.

The gun went off, and Dan’s hold on her abruptly eased. Without support, her legs buckled underneath the weight of her lifeless body and she simply folded in on herself.

Someone caught her before she hit the ground, but she never knew who it was with her vision winking in and out. Still, she caught sight of Rick Sheffield wheezing on the ground, his breath rattling, and Ross screaming, screaming for something just as the first sirens sounded in the distance.

She wanted to see Cade. One last time, just to look at him.

Instead, her mother’s frantic face, drenched in tears, appeared in front of her eyes, and then nothing…