“Mary’s dead,” Clark said.

“Listen to me, Clark. I know the kind of man you are. You’re not a murderer.”

Finn grimaced and pushed himself higher off the ground. He shouted at Clark behind him. “Be a man and swing the fucking bat!”

Stride watched Clark tighten his grip. The big man’s elbows bent as he twisted the bat back behind his shoulders. Stride stood up and stretched out his arms, steadying his Glock with both hands and aiming straight at Clark’s head. The wind buffeted him. Rain poured over his face and body.

“Put the bat down, Clark,” Stride said.

“You won’t kill me,” Clark said. “Not to protect a piece of shit like this.”

They played a game of chicken, staring each other down.

“Please, Clark,” Maggie pleaded with him.

Clark’s eyes flicked to Maggie. “You know what this man did to Mary. He deserves to die.”

“That’s not up to you or me.”

The storm swooped down off the hills like the invasion of an army. Wind shrieked and drove their bodies backward. Over the furious lake, veins of lightning tore across the entire sky. The world snapped from black to white to black. Stride felt the pressure and temperature dropping. An explosion was coming.

“We have to go right now,” Stride told Clark. “It’s not safe here.”

“So go. Leave me alone.”

“Put down the bat.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Clark, Donna called me,” Maggie told him. “She doesn’t want to lose you. She’s scared to death.”

Clark hesitated.

“She still loves you,” Maggie said.

“Do it!” Finn screamed.

Clark’s eyes burned into the back of Finn’s skull, as if he could see the bat landing there. Hear the awful crack. Watch the blood and brain fly. Stride knew what was going through the man’s head. Clark wanted to feel something again. Anything.

“This won’t give you what you want,” Stride said.

“Look at me, Clark!” Maggie implored him. “Listen! There’s something Donna didn’t tell you. She’s pregnant. The two of you are having another baby.”

Clark’s eyes wrenched away from Finn. “You’re lying to me.”

“I’m not.”

“She can’t be pregnant,” Clark said.

“It’s true. I swear. This is your second chance, Clark. Don’t give it up.”

Stride thought Clark was crying, but in the rain, he couldn’t be sure.

“Mary’s dead!” Clark shouted. “Someone should pay!”

“Yes, someone should,” Maggie agreed. “But not you. Not now.”

Clark took a step backward. The fight had fled from the man. His head sank, and his chin disappeared into his neck. One hand dropped away from the bat and fell to his side. The fingers on his other hand spread open, and the bat tumbled end over end to the sand. Clark backed away and raised his hands in the air in surrender.

“Thank God,” Stride murmured. His own gun hand sagged. Beside him, Maggie holstered her gun and crouched down in front of Finn.

Clark stumbled toward the surf. He was twenty feet away, ankle deep in lake water, his hands still high in the air.