A gunshot split through the room. An ornament a few feet from me took the brunt. She was coming through the house. I needed to go forward. Meet in the middle and, hell, I don’t know … wrestle her?
My breathing was ragged, and I could barely stop myself from puking, so continuing to yell was not an option for a second. I paused behind a door. My sweaty hands were slipping on the gun.
“You were a terrible mother,” I yelled when I could eventually get words out again. “You couldn’t keep him safe. You didn’t look after him. You let your husband disown him when he came out. Even my mother didn’t do that.” I heard her scream and come towards me. “I bet he hated you,” I yelled as she came through the door. I swung the gun’s barrel straight into her head.
She went down. Holy fuck, she hit the ground hard. Her gun scattered along the floor, and I grappled for it. She was down for the count. A huge dent in her head seemed to indicate that I’d done my job. It was over.
Crouching down beside her, I waited for my breathing to get back to normal. “I mean what I said,” I spat at her. “People like you don’t deserve to be parents. It’s supposed to be unconditional love.” I took the guns and walked through the front of the house, opened the front door, and went out onto the street.
“Arden!” Jack Maslin yelled. He had a bulletproof jacket on and was pounding the street as he ran towards me.
“I’m putting them down,” I shouted, holding the guns. “I’m not going to use them; I will put them down and do whatever you ask.”
More police arrived at the end of the street; Jack held up a hand to keep them back. He stopped about twenty metres away from me. The other officers all formed a line behind him. The chopper was right over our heads.
“Okay, Arden, you do exactly that. One at a time, nice and easy, and then I want you to walk two metres to the side of them and put your hands on your head. Understand?”
“I understand,” I called out over the distance between us.
Neuberger panted up behind Jack. “Where is Katrina?” he yelled.
“Inside,” I yelled. “She’s unarmed. She’s … alive,” I added, perhaps a bit weakly.
They nodded. I put the guns down. “That’s good, Arden. Now move to the side and put your hands on your head and kneel, okay? We’ll come towards you slowly,” Jack yelled.
I nodded and did what he said. I kept my eyes rooted on Jack and Neuberger. They watched me intently. It was going to be okay. I was not going to fuck this up. Everything would be okay. They wouldn’t shoot me, thinking I was an accomplice. I was going to get out of this alive.
I had one knee on the ground when Katrina came screaming through the door and held the stun gun she’d taken off Dhapinder to my throat and pressed it down.
Chapter 26
Ow.
Ouch.
Oh, fuck, ow. Oh, shitting Christing fucking Jesus, everything fucking hurt. Fuck. Oh, God, I was in so much pain.
Why did everything hurt?
Where was I? Was I alive? What was happening? I think my eyes were closed. Or I was dead. Everything was white. Okay, maybe I was in heaven. Heaven sounded … heavenly. Maybe they had air conditioning and iced coffees that were zero calories.
Oof, that sounded good.
“I think he’s coming to,” said a Welsh voice.
“Thank God,” said a second woman’s voice in RP.
“Stand back, stand back,” said a man’s RP accent.
“ARDEN, CAN YOU HEAR US?” came a Dorset twang. Oh, ow, fuck, Jesus.
“Yes, Sonia, I can hear you. Fuck, don’t yell,” I croaked. My voice was raspy. Talking hurt. Talking hurt so much that I thought I would start crying.
I slowly opened my eyes. Above me were several concerned faces. Nigella, Verity, and Sonia were all peering over me. Guy was there too. Jack Maslin came in and out of focus.
“Wha … where?” I tried to speak, but the burning in my throat was too much. “Water?” I croaked.
Nigella helped me sit up slightly – ow – and a cup of water was pressed to my lips. I blinked and drank, and spent a few seconds taking in my surroundings. I was in a hospital ward.
