Glimpse by Stacey Wallace Benefiel Page B

promise.”
    “Since when does your dad know about us?” Avery said, taken aback.
    “He just told me on the way over here.  I know it seems like a long shot, but he could help your mom too, he could—”
    My eyes snapped shut, automatically blocking out Claire’s room and Avery, forcing me to focus on the scene playing out in my mind.
     
    I watched as Mrs. Adams parked her car in the lot behind Adams Insurance and turned off the ignition.  She popped the trunk, got out of the car and walked around to the back of it.  Lifting the lid part way, she eased a black duffel bag from the inside, scanning the street to see if anyone was looking at her.  Downtown was deserted.
    She slung the duffel over her shoulder and walked to the back entrance of the building. She tried the knob. The door was locked.  Looking around again, she dropped the bag to the ground and unzipped it. She pulled out a crow bar.  Wedging it in between the door jamb and the lock, she anchored it back.  The metal of the door jamb bent and the lock popped open.  She slid the bag into the hallway and went inside, closing the door behind her. She put the crowbar back in the bag and pulled out a gun. 
    Tiptoeing down the short hall, she came to two saloon doors and looked over the top of them.  Mr. Adams was asleep on the couch. 
    She crept up to him, aimed the gun at his forehead and cocked it.  “Get up.”
    Mr. Adams eyes shot open and focused on the gun aimed between them.  “Becky?”
    She reached down and grabbed her husband by his shirt collar.  “I said get up!”
    He put his hands up in front of him and stood.  “Becky, what are you doing? Let’s talk about this. We can talk about this. I didn’t know you were off your meds. That was a definite bad on my part.”
    She waved the gun at him.  “Oh, now you want to talk to me?  That chance has passed.  You are finally going to get what’s coming to you.”
    “ Don’t do this.  You’re not thinking straight.”
    “ I’m thinking more clearly than I have in a long time.  Here’s the plan. You’re going to sit in the chair behind your desk and then I’m gonna blow your brains all over the back wall of your stupid office that you couldn’t even give me a key to.” Her hand that was holding the gun began shaking.  She steadied it with her other hand and took a deep breath. “Then I’m going to get in my car and go pick up our son at his little girlfriend Claire’s house. We are going to get the hell out of this miserable town and never ever have to think about you again!”
    Mr. Adams sat down in the chair, his hands stayed raised, the gun still pointed at his head.  “Claire isn’t his girlfriend, Zellie is, and she’s just like Grace.”
    “ What do you mean? She has visions too?” Mrs. Adams narrowed her eyes at her husband. “I don’t believe you, Avery wouldn’t…he knows that would hurt me.”
    “ It has nothing to do with you. Avery went and fell in love while neither of us was paying attention. We’ve been awful parents to him. I’ve neglected him and you’ve treated him like an adult since he was ten! He needs to get away from Rosedell and I’m going to take him.”
    He stood up. “Now, you’re going to put down that gun and you’re going to let me drive you to the hospital.  You need some help.”
    His cell phone began ringing from the front pocket of his jeans.  He let it ring.
    Mrs. Adams waved the gun toward his pocket.  “Take it out and slide it to me across the desk.” She pointed the gun back at his head. “Sit down, we’re not going anywhere.”
    He pulled the phone out and slid it to her, she flipped it open, and shut off the phone, tossing it on the floor.
    Mr. Adams sat down and put his hands out flat on the desk. He looked his wife in the eye.  “Just tell me what I can do.”
    She backed up, continuing to aim the gun at his head, and slumped down on the couch. 
    “ Grace knew that Erin was going to die, Mike.  She