One Fine Day You're Gonna Die Read Online Free PDF

decided to let Inge go to a Halloween party she was invited to and have an adventure of our own.”
    â€œGabe, I need to talk to my daughter.”
    â€œWhen you’re angry, all the music goes from your voice, Robin. Mummy’s a little upset, Kali. You can say hi to her, but remember we can’t tell her where we are. That’s a secret.”
    â€œHi, Mummy,” Kali says. She is at the center of this drama, but her voice is bubbly and unconcerned. “Gabe bought me a new game of Candy Land. We played it up at the lake, ’member?”
    Robin’s tone is urgent.
    â€œListen to me, Kali. You have to get away from Gabe. Start screaming and run.”
    There’s a bell-like sound in the background on Gabe’s end of the line. I raise a finger and mouth the word listen to Robin. She furrows her brow in concentration but shakes her head. She can’t identify what we’re hearing.
    Gabe comes back on the line.
    â€œ My turn to talk, Kali,” he says. “Mummy doesn’t understand that we’re playing two games tonight. You and I are playing Candy Land, and all of us are playing hide and seek. Mummy is It. It’s not fair for the person who’s It to tell us to scream and run, because as soon as she finds us, the game is over.”
    Robin’s composure shatters.
    â€œGabe, please…”
    â€œ Your voice is full of music again,” Gabe says. “I’ve never been able to resist your music. Kali wants us to sing a song for you. I want to do that too. We want you to remember how much we loved you.”
    Suddenly I know this isn’t a game. This is for real.
    â€œGabe, you’re not going to—”
    He cuts me off. “Kali, let’s sing for Mummy.”
    Gabe’s voice is a pleasant tenor, and Kali’s little girl voice is fresh and tuneful. They sing a duet: “You Are My Sunshine.” By the time they finish, Nova is in tears, and my throat is thick. Robin is frantic.
    â€œKali, listen to me,” she says. “This isn’t a game. Gabe isn’t your friend. He’s going to hurt you. You have to get away.”
    â€œShe can’t hear you, Robin,” Gabe says. “I have the phone, and you won’t be talking to Kali anymore because you cheat. You don’t play by the rules. I’m not surprised but I am disappointed. I had hoped that perhaps since this was the last time the three of us would be together…”
    My heart is pounding. I can barely form the words.
    â€œGabe, don’t kill that little girl.”
    â€œTrust me, Charlie,” he says gently. “It’s for the best.”
    â€œHow can killing a six-year-old child be ‘for the best’?”
    Gabe sounds very tired . “There are circumstances…”
    I find myself shouting .
    â€œWhat circumstances could possibly justify taking a child’s life?”
    â€œThere aren’t any.” Robin’s voice is fervent. “Gabe, stop this. I want my daughter. I won’t press charges. I give you my word.”
    â€œEven the music in your voice won’t sway me this time, my dark star. There’ve been too many words, and I remember them all— especially the ones at the end. You told me I ‘no longer meet your needs.’ I wept, but your eyes, ‘those silent tongues of love’ Cervantes wrote about, were cold. You were my whole existence, Robin.”
    â€œPeople fall out of love,” Robin says tightly.
    â€œI didn’t,” Gabe says. “When I promised to love you till the day I died, I meant it. In less than half an hour my birthday and my life will be over. I will die loving you, and that, my beloved, is a great gift.”

CHAPTER NINE
    R obin’s body is shaking, and when she speaks, there is a quiver in her splendid voice. “Stop this Gabe. I want my daughter back.”
    â€œWhy? So that one day you can tell her that she no longer meets