Take A Walk (A Hunter Hayes Fanfiction, Book 5 of The Hardships Saga)

Chapter Eleven

"I... I suppose, but..."

"But what?" he pressed.

"I want to stay with my dad. With- with my biological dad."

"And you don't want to stay with yours?" he asked Elle suddenly, and she gulped.

"I... I was going to move in with Drew."

"Ah. An avoider of conflict. You'd've liked your mother. She was the same."

"My mother?"

"No use talking about her now."

Cassie's face had gone neutral again, and the table resumed its meal. Spencer tugged on Drew's sleeve and whispered, "Why's everyone angry?"

"Because no one is getting what they want."

"But Nick gave Elle the salt, wasn't that what she wanted?"

"Not exactly."

Eventually, dinner was over, and Gabriel went outside for a smoke. Elle watched Drew silently, as he played with the kids on the floor beside the fireplace, and Cassie walked up behind her. "Elle, Da wants to talk to us," said Cassie.

"Why?" she questioned, and Cassie just shook her head.

"No idea. C'mon, let's get going before he gets upset."

"Temper issues?"

"Not really. Just not a patient man."

They left together, finding Gabriel on the veranda, and he turned to face them, cigarette in hand. "Do you smoke, Elle?"

"No," she said. "I'm a dancer."

"Same as your mother, then."

"Apparently I'm a lot like her," said Elle before she could stop herself, and Cassie stiffened.

"You are," he responded simply, then cleared his throat. "Right. Well, your boyfriend seems nice."

"He's very nice," said Elle cautiously. There was something wrong with this conversation, the alarm bells were already going off in her head.

Gabriel looked behind them, and said, "Sweetie, close the door, would you?"

Cassie turned around and closed the door behind them, and suddenly, Gabriel was talking in a very low and very quiet voice. "You see this, Elle?" he breathed, pulling something black and shiny from his pocket.

She studied it in the dark for a moment, then she felt her blood run cold. "That's... that's..."

"A gun," he said. "A pistol, to be precise. Holds exactly five bullets at a time. Want to know how many I brought today?"

Cassie and Elle were both frozen in place, staring at him. He smiled slightly, and pulled out a box, filled with bullets. He took one between his fingers, and stood it up on its base on the railing. "One for Hayes."

Elle's heart was racing. "One for the blonde, his wife," he continued. "One for the little dark haired one. One for the little girl. One for the little boy. One for the baby."

"You wouldn't," whispered Elle.

"And you know what? I don't have to. Because all I need is one." He took one more bullet from the box, and put it into the gun, before aiming through the window, at one person sitting on the ground.

Aiming at Drew.

"Da, this is mad," breathed Cassie.

"You lay a finger on him and I'll kill you myself," snarled Elle. "Put the gun down, you wouldn't have the guts."