Stopped in his tracks, Monte froze with Caitie's corpse still laid across his shoulder. He began to turn slowly, with his eyes piercing the blackness of night and surveying the field. He rested the body on the hood of his car and went back to the trunk where he would retrieve a Mossberg 500 shotgun, he followed the faint cries until he came upon the tree which she hid behind and without hesitation pointed the pump action weapon to the sky and squeezed the trigger. The sound of the shot exploding through the barrel was almost deafening and she was forced to leap out like a frog.

"Monte! Stop!" She cried with tears in her eyes.

"Ruth?!" He yelled back in shock and lowered his weapon, "you followed me, why?"

Ruth laid at his feet as she took to the likeness of a leaf, shaking uncontrollably. Montgomery sighed, throwing the gun a good distance behind him and crouching to comfort her.

"Baby, it's okay, ssshhh" he whispered, stroking her hair.

After a few minutes, she calmed down, and gripped his shirt as she looked up at his face.

"What did you do, Monte?" She asked, sniffling.

"I.. I had to.." he began to say, "Cait, she wasn't going to stop and they'd come for you, Ruth."

"So what?! What do you think is gonna happen now after she disappears moments after coming to see me? They are coming for me regardless, babe."

"I know it's hard to understand, but you know the man I am. You won't be tied to any of this, I need you to believe me on that."

Suddenly, her frustration gave her the strength she needed to push him off her, and she screamed in his face as he fell on his ass.

"You killed that man, then you killed his lawyer, and now Caitie... and you just sit here telling me that I'm not to worry?! Believe you?! They're already onto you! For fuck's sake!"

Monte held out his hand as if he could shield her words that rained on him...