I take a deep breath.I won’t let Gregory down.I nod.
‘For the record, please, Scarlett.’
‘Yes, the door was open.’
‘Fully open? Wide open?’ Katrina jumps in.
This woman is starting to piss me off. ‘No,’ I snap. ‘The door was ajar.’
DI Barnes gives away their position with a subtle nod, letting me know I’ve said the right thing.
‘Jackson kicked open the door and right away, he was shot in the leg. He fell to the floor.’ I need to concentrate now. It’s time. Gregory went after his father. No, Gregory told me to look after Jackson, then he went after his father. No, Gregory told me to look after Jackson and then he went upstairs.Damn it!My eyes are burning under the pressure of the room, the intensity of Katrina’s stare, the thought that I might let Gregory and Jackson down. ‘Gregory told me to look after Jackson and I did. I tied a tourniquet around his thigh.’
‘Where was Gregory?’
‘He ran; he left. He went upstairs.’
Katrina snarls. ‘He went upstairs? He just left you and Jackson with an armed man who’d already shot one of you? He just went upstairs?’
I look at DI Barnes, begging him with wide eyes for help, but he doesn’t jump in; he puts his head down. I’m alone.
‘He ran. Like I said. It was all so fast. Next thing I knew, Gregory was back, running through the lounge. Then there was fighting, shouting, tussling. They were in the downstairs bathroom.’
‘Who?’
‘Gregory, and his father, Pearson. There was banging and smashing, like glass being shattered. Then they burst into the lounge, wrestling, fighting, then into the gym. At some point, a gun slid into the lounge and they followed, struggling. Therewas a chain, something from the gym, I think, around Gregory’s neck. Pearson was strangling him.’
There was a chain around Gregory’s neck, his face was red, his eyes were wide, pupils dilated, as he fought for his life. They flipped over and over again, first Gregory on top, then Pearson. The chain stayed pulled tight to his neck. Jackson was shouting at me to do something but I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know how to help. I was useless and I was watching the man I love die.
‘The chain was so tight on his neck, his muscles were straining, his face was red. Pearson was killing him.’
Gregory thrust an elbow back into his father’s throat and took the opportunity to pounce. Towering over him, Gregory thrust his hands around his father’s neck, pushing his thumbs into the windpipe. He held his position through kicks and flailing limbs until Pearson stopped moving, lifeless, or so we thought. Gregory slumped back against the wall to catch his breath before checking that I was okay and moving to help Jackson. That’s when it happened.
‘There was blood. I know now that Gregory had been stabbed with something but when they were struggling, it wasn’t obvious who was bleeding. Maybe both of them.’
As Gregory tended to Jackson, I saw Pearson’s body twitch. I made steps towards it. I had Jackson’s gun in my hand.
‘He was dying. Gregory was dying. There was a gun on the floor. That’s what Gregory went upstairs for, I realise that now.’
Pearson suddenly sprang up. Grabbing the gun beside him, he raised it and aimed at Gregory.
I had no choice.
‘Somehow, Gregory managed to grab a gun from the floor and the rest was so quick. A blur. He?—’
I can’t do this. I can’t do this to him.
‘He. Gregory. He.’ I take a deep breath and exhale as subtly as I can manage. ‘He shot him.’
I shot him. A dry lump forms in my throat; my eyes are on fire. It was him or Gregory. That’s why I took the shot. But right before I did, Gregory wasn’t the only man I thought of.
‘Just so I can get this straight, Gregory’s dying and you and Jackson are watching?’ Katrina sits back in her chair and plants one hand firmly on her waist.
‘I. We. It wasn’t like that. Jackson was injured. What was I supposed to do?’
‘Right. And dying Gregory, who earlier left the room and wandered upstairs, suddenly found the strength to pick up a gun and shoot his father through the head?’
I wince at her blunt version of events.
