Page 252 of Remorseless

Seconds ticked by, but Meggie refused to give up.

“Call 911, Rule. Then call your daddy,” she wept.

She wouldn’t allow her baby girl to slip through her fingers. She could barely get any reassuring words out for her sobbing. Rebel was pale and lifeless and…

Suddenly, water gushed from her mouth, and she gasped.

“Come on, Reb. Breathe,” she begged. “Breathe for Momma. Breathe. Please, God. Please.”

Rebel coughed up more water.

A blow landed on Meggie’s cheek before hands grasped her hair and jerked her away from Rebel.

“Leave heralone, Mom,” Rule snarled, ignoring Meggie’s struggles. He shook her, then backhanded her. She sprawled to the ground.

Adrenaline punched her. She rolled away, evading Rule’s attempt to kick her in the head.

“She needs to die!”

Popping to her feet, Meggiestumbled back. “Son, listen to me. Please! Stop.” She held her hands out, hoping to stop Rule. He was lost in insanity, finally breaking after months of signs they all thought manageable. “Rule, don’t hurt me. Let me see to Rebel,” she begged.

He kept advancing.

“Your father will kill you. How do you think you’ll—”

A punch interrupted her question. She landed hard, hitting the side of her head against the concrete. If she hadn’t scrambled back again, Rule would’ve kicked her.

“Rule, stop!”

Her son ignored her cry, charged forward, fury and hatred in his eyes.

Meggie crab walked backward, evading his grasp. She couldn’t allow him to knock her out.

He was hot on her heels, but she stumbled to the bar and hurried behind it. Bar tools, mostly for decorations, lay on the counter. After pressing the alarm to send alerts of a pool emergency, she grabbed the ice pick, cursing herself for allowing Rule to corner her.

She didn’t want to use the ice pick, especially against her own son, but no way would she allow him to kill her.

“Stand down, son,” she said, breathing hard, tears and desperation mingling in her voice. She kept one hand in front of her. The other held the ice pick in position, ready to wield it.

“You’ll never hurt me,” he swore, his eyes a depthless void. “I can walk to Rebel and strangle her, and you couldn’t kill me.”

Meggie’s nostrils flared, hot tears rolling down her cheeks. She didn’t want to kill her own child. She wanted to frighten him, but he was beyond that. “I’ll do what I mustto survive and to save your sister. Now, move.”

He smirked. “No.”

Drawing in a deep breath and girding her resolve, Meggie lowered the ice pick and barreled into Rule, knocking him aside. But he caught her, clutched her arm, and spun her around.

He grabbed her throat and punched her in the stomach. “Cocksucking slut.”

Shoving her, he sent her spiraling. He snatched the ice pick from her hand and raced toward Rebel.

Meggie screamed again. Spying a small table, she grabbed it, hurried behind Rule, and swung, hitting his back.

“Fuck!” he moaned, turning on her, even wilder.

The ice pick arced between them, jabbing into her shoulder. He yanked it away, but somehow, Meggie evaded every other attempt to stab her as she tried to stay present and not allow him to back her into another corner. He’d kill her.

“Mom!”