The back door made a click sound and the worst-case scenario was staring her in the face. She swallowed knowing her chances of helping Annabel were slim. She had one crack at this and he was the one holding the knife.
SIXTY-FIVE
Annabel
‘Damn!’ He holds the point of the knife to my jugular vein. ‘It’s over.’
We can both hear the helicopter now. It’s circling again and it must be low. The police have us surrounded. ‘Please, you’re hurting me.’ My face is cold and wet with fallen tears. Fallen for my daughter and Omar.
‘Nothing matters any more. You know that this is the end for both of us. All I ever wanted was you. I didn’t want to lose you to him.’ He pauses. His hands are shaking so much, I fear he will slip soon and slit my throat before he’s planned to.
‘Police, you are surrounded. Come out slowly and drop your weapon.’
He shakes his head, perspiration from him dripping down my cleavage. I’m not getting out of this one. I can see his reflection in an old mirror at the back of the boat. His eye is swollen and there’s blood smeared under his nose and on his cheek. I did that. It wasn’t enough. If I could go back a few minutes, I’d have left my feet tied and used the rope from my hands to throttle him first. That’s what I should have done, then, maybe, I might have still had time to save Cally. I swallow. Could I really have killed a man?
My gaze meets his in the reflection. I could kill him. This primal emotion that sweeps through me is like nothing I’ve ever felt. He killed my child. Too right, I want to kill him. I want him to suffer and die for all that he’s done to me and taken from me. For once in my life, I allow myself to feel the rage I so deserve to feel and I jab him in the ribs as hard as I can as I scream.
His grip is temporarily loosened. I’m a fighter and I will fight my way out of this. I will get justice for Cally and so will Ms Abidar for Omar. He will not win. If I die, he is coming with me. This man can’t be left to walk the earth. He’ll do time and maybe thirty years down the line, he’ll probably get out. Even the worst of killers seem to walk eventually.
There is a toaster on the side. It’s small and light but still, it’s a weapon. I grab it and bring it down on his head but this time he isn’t dazed. He grabs me, twists me around and I’m back where I started. ‘Time to face what’s out there, then we die. There’s nowhere to go, no moves left to take.’
My rage has been replaced by the shakes. I’m angry, I’m bereaved; I’m enraged and terrified. He’s homicidal, maybe suicidal. Most of all, he has nothing to lose.
He pushes me along the boat and up the steps.
‘Drop your weapon.’ The sound of the policewoman rings through my ear.
He’s not moving. I feel the blade pierce the delicate skin on my neck and I know the end has come.
SIXTY-SIX
‘Evan.’ Gina gets the man’s attention. He stares in her direction, his trembling fingers on the knife, then he glances at Wyre. A trail of blood trickles down Annabel’s neck. ‘Please let Annabel and the children go. You don’t have to do this.’ Gina was now looking at the man who mowed Jennifer down, leaving her for dead. That alone told her what he was capable of doing now.
‘I have nothing. I love her. All I ever wanted was her and she chose him. She had sex with that prick.’
‘Look, put the knife down and we can talk about this. No one needs to get hurt. Can we see the children?’
Annabel’s fists are clenched and she looks weak and tired.
‘The children have gone.’
Gina swallowed. ‘Gone? Where?’
‘It was an accident. I didn’t mean for them to get hurt. Cally ran out of the boat and fell overboard. Omar then fell in. I couldn’t save them.’
Gina swallowed. Finding the children dead was one of the things she’d dreaded the most but seeing what he did to Taylor showed them that he had it in him. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a team heading up the canal on foot, flashing torches at the water as they searched for the bodies. The bodies – thinking it made her struggle to swallow.
Annabel’s eyes were streaming now and she wriggled at the mention of her daughter’s name. He pressed the tip in further and she let out a slight squeal.
‘If it was an accident then there was nothing you could do, but you can help Annabel. If you love her like you say you do, let us help her. There’s an ambulance waiting.’ Gina paused. He was still and she hoped that she had him, but in these situations, she knew how things could turn in an instant. ‘Your eye is badly hurt. You need help. We can get it seen to.’
‘You think I give a toss about my eye!’ He began to clench his teeth and stared at Gina.
‘Please put the knife down. We don’t want either of you to get hurt.’
He shook his head. ‘For you lot to pounce on me and throw me into a cell for the rest of my life. No way. You must think I’m stupid. There is only one way out of this and it’s not your way.’
He went to cut Annabel’s throat and the woman desperately cried out.
