I snatch the gun up from the snow as Mrs. Nelson collapses beside me. She’s got a hand on her light brown coat, and the fabric is slowly turning dark. She’s been shot in the chest. The color drains from her face, her life trickling out into the snow in a growing circle of red around her body.

“Mrs. Nelson?” I whisper. “Margie?”

She opens her mouth, but no sound comes out. A little blood trickles out of the side of her lips. Lying there on the ground, disarmed, she doesn’t look like the evil woman who was pointing a gun at my face. She looks like the kindly grandmother who cooked fresh, home-baked meals for my son every single night and was always on time so he never came home to an empty house.

Bile rises in my throat. I didn’t mean to do this. I didn’t mean to shoot her. She might die because of this. But it wasn’t my fault. I had to do it. It was her or me.

Somehow that doesn’t make it easier.

I close my eyes for a moment and take a deep breath. I don’t have time to freak out about Mrs. Nelson. I have to keep moving. She might not be a danger to me anymore, but my son is still with that maniac.

I’ve got to save him.

Hang in there, Josh!

I limp around the side of the car, clutching the gun in my right hand. I feel comforted that I have it, but Shane may have one too. And truth to be told, I don’t know how to fire this thing. I understand that you pull the trigger, but that’s about the extent of it. I certainly can’t aim worth a damn.

But as I start into the woods, a small figure emerges from between the trees. It takes a second to recognize that it’s Josh. He’s all alone, and he’s sobbing hysterically. But he looks unharmed.

“Mom!” he manages. “Mommy!”

I shove the gun into my coat pocket so he doesn’t see it. He races into my arms and clings to my body for dear life. “Josh, what did he do to you?”

“Mom!” He raises his face, which is streaked with tears. “There was an accident! I think Shane is hurt!”

What?

“A snowdrift fell on him from a tree!” Josh hiccups. “He’s over there!”

My ankle is screaming in pain, but I allow Josh to tug me deeper into the woods. Just when I can’t stand it another second, I spot the snowman in the distance—the one Shane and Josh had been building together. Josh tightens his grip on my arm. “That’s where he is!”