Twenty

"We do not celebrate the death of our enemies."

- Yitzhak Rabin

"No!" Cameron takes the gun that my father had from the car and aims at my father. Ernie and Jay grab guns too and aim at us. I shove Drew in the car and slam the door. I don't have a weapon. I hold up my hand to the sheriff. Surprisingly, he tosses me a gun. I aim at my father. This is my time. He's mine to kill.

He shoots at me, and I duck, barely missing the bullet. I shoot at him too, but he ducks. All the police are ducking in their cars. Wimps. I turn and see Cameron aiming at Ernie. Then Jay. Then Ernie. Over and over. He turns to me and his face is an expression of total panic. "Duck!" Again, I barely miss the bullet.

Jill gets Oakley in the back again, and gets a gun from another cop. So does John. They both start aiming at Ernie and Jay. And then I cry. Ernie shoots John. And Jay shoots Jill. I watch Drew in the car, watching his parents die. Drew is an orphan.

My dad doesn't shoot anyone. I'm his target. At first he wanted me back, but now he wants me dead.

Drew is crying in the car, but I can't do anything. If I do, Cam could be killed. I've lost everyone now. I can't lose Cameron Roberts. I shoot and shoot again and again, but not too much, just to make sure I don't run out of bullets. And then I see out of the corner of my left eye Ernie drop to the ground. Cameron has killed him. One down, two to go.

About fifteen minutes later, I see Jay on my right drop down too. One more.

My dad must've been a murderer at one point or gone hunting a lot, because he is good with a gun. After all, he's killed two of my friends, one of whom was my best friend.

My father rounds the car and gets closer to me, close enough to hear him. "You just don't get it, Eleanor!" he yelled angrily over the gunshots. He shoots at me again, but I duck, missing it by inches. I straighten up and shoot at him. He bends his body to the left, also missing the bullet.

"What don't I get?" I ask loudly, dodging another bullet.

"I left in the first place because of you! I came back the second time because the real reason I left was gone!"

What are you talking about?" I yell, and stop shooting to hear what happens. I have to keep swerving to avoid the flying bullets.

"After seventeen years of running from the police, being lonely and broke, I finally realized why I had truly left!" He shoots at me again, but I easily missed it.

"And what was that?" I shoot a few inches from his face on purpose, making it look less obvious that I'm so interested.

"It was your mother! She was hogging you all day! I never had the chance to hold you!" My eyebrows screwed up in fury.

"Mom didn't do anything! You were just jealous of her! Of course you got to hold me! She would have never let you leave without it!"

"I was the one who killed your mother!" My father screamed. "I came here and killed her so she couldn't get in my way!"

I feel my heart stop, then suddenly race more than ever. I aim the gun at his heart and pull the trigger. Bullseye.

My father drops his gun and his body reaches the ground. I lower my gun. Without warning, Cameron's arms are thrown around my shoulders. I'm shocked at first, but I put mine over his shoulders after a couple seconds. We spread apart a little and kiss.

It's longer this time, but we cut it shorter than we want to because the cops are watching. We walk over to the three dead targets. I immediately go into apology mode. "I'm so sorry, I didn't think he'd start to try and kill us. I didn't know what to do except defend my--"

"You did great," the sheriff says. "I'm so sorry that you've been put through all this." He eyes Jill and John's bodies. I feel the tears forming in my eyes. I blink them away and look at the sheriff again. "Thank you, sheriff." Cameron saves my life with those words. We walk over to the dead bodies of the Lacey parents. Their eyes are wide open in shock, but with bravery too. I bend down and close them. I lean against Cameron's shoulder.

"What's wrong?" he asks, stroking my hair.

"It's just that…" Should I tell him? Yes. I should. "I was hoping that after this was all over, Jill and John would adopt me… I pause. "I know," I say. "It's stupid."

"No," Cameron says, shaking his head. I look up into his deep blue eyes. "I understand. They were so great. I'm sorry."

I hug him hard.

I open the truck door and find Drew, curled up in a ball on the seats. I pick him up and carry him to the cops.

"Those two adults were Drew's parents" is all I say. The cops give Drew a small talk about how he'll need to go to an orphanage for a while until they can find somewhere for him to live. He takes this well. Cameron and I hug him and watch one of the police cars drive him away.

"We did it," Cameron says, kissing me on the cheek.

"Hooray," I say weakly. He hugs me.

"Eleanor," he says.

"Yes?"

"I have something to tell you."

My heart is pounding. "Yes?"

He leans down to my ear. "I love you."