Seasons in the Sun by Kristen Strassel Page B

move. Neither did Tristan. I didn’t know what to do. I was so close to the guns, and this crazy person holding Taryn hostage, I was terrified to do anything.
    “All of you need to go.” Ray said quietly. “We’ve got this, I promise.”
    “But my sister …”
    “Tristan, we’ve got this. I promise you. Take Callie and go. Please.”
    I tore my eyes away from Taryn being held hostage in that maniac’s arm to look at Tristan. He looked pale and childlike.
    “We need to go.” I put my hand on his arm, my voice barely above whisper.
    Matt continued to wave the gun in Tristan’s direction, mocking him. I refused to acknowledge him.
    Tristan finally rose to his feet, still reluctant to walk away from his twin. I leaned against him, to support him, to try to move him away from the table.
    “I love you, Taryn,” He said as he convinced himself to walk away. I followed, having to walk double time to keep up with him. He didn’t look back to the table, probably afraid he’d change his mind if he did.

Chapter Seventeen
    I followed Tristan up to his bedroom, a carbon copy of Taryn’s without the girly mess, and crawled up on the bed next to him. He sat with his back against the wall, elbows on knees, head on hands. Empty.
    He made no attempt to draw me closer, but I didn’t shy away. I ran my hand lightly along his arm, hoping he realized I was even there. It was all I could do, be there.
    “It’s going to be okay.” It felt stupid even as I said it, but what else do you say at a time like this?
    “What if it’s not?” He whispered, barely moving his head enough that I could see his eye peaking through the hair that had fallen in his face.
    “It will be.” I willed myself to smile at him, hoping he could believe it.
    “I can’t lose her, Callie,” he slid his head so I could see both eyes without lifting it. “She’s all I’ve got. My family is falling apart, which is probably my fault, and now we’re here and this is happening and that’s my fault.”
    “It’s not.”
    “We wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t such a screw up.”
    “Maybe this guy would have found her regardless. Tristan, you can’t blame yourself for this. Not even the worst thing you could do would be the reason Matt acted like this.”
    He rolled his shoulders back, lifting his head and tilting his face towards the ceiling. All the blood had drained from his face. He sighed as if maybe he was asking the heavens for help.
    “I can’t explain how it’s different, being a twin, but I know it is. We share everything. We always have. If she’s gone, a piece of me goes too.”
    I rested my head on his shoulder. Nothing I said would make this less painful or terrifying.
    Time had entered its own dimension. The room began to dim as night fell. Every so often we’d hear an outburst from downstairs that would make us both jump off the bed and then nothing, which was even more nerve wracking.
    “I should go down there.” Tristan started to get up, I did my best to stop him.
    “No! Ray will take care of it. He said they’d been watching Matt all summer.”
    “Who the hell is ‘they’?”
    “I don’t know, but he was in the military, and since this is the President, The Secret Service would be involved. Maybe that’s who all those people were?”
    Tristan stopped, more from defeat than reason. “Why should we believe any of them? What if they’re all working with Matt, not against him?”
    “No. That wouldn’t make any sense.”
    I held on to his arm, as if that was enough to keep him from leaving the room. Miraculously, he stayed. Again the silence stretched time painfully. If only we had any idea what was happening downstairs. If only I knew my parents were safe. If they knew I was safe.
    Explosions that sounded like firecrackers broke the silence. Gunshots. The sound ripped through my body. My mouth went dry and I could barely move enough to look at Tristan. He squeezed his eyes shut as his mouth fell open, almost in a