Page 73 of Girl, Remembered

Whether he was right or not was up for speculation, but the comment seemed to have hit its mark.

‘What? You think that’s what this is about?’

‘Yes.’

Doyle swung her SIG. The butt of it caught Edis across the temple and he dropped to one knee with a grunt that turned wet halfway through. Doyle hit him again with an open-handed crack across the same ear, then hauled him sideways by the collar.

Three feet closer to the wall.

Right underneath the window.

Any would-be saviors on the other side of the window wouldn’t be able to line up a discreet shot.

Shit.

Spit flew from Doyle’s mouth as she screamed and hammered the butt of her gun into Edis’s spine. The former director flinched at every impact, and Ella knew it was now or never.

‘Now or never,’ she said. Loud enough. The disciple with the Smith & Wesson averted his gaze from Doyle’s attack.

‘Shut up!’ he said. ‘You’re not in charge here!’

‘Smith & Wesson,’ Ella said.

The disciple with Edis’s gun turned to her too. Behind her, Carving Knife had moved closer.

While Doyle beat on Ella’s former boss, all other attention was on her.

Blood pumped through her like a volcanic eruption. Adrenaline was making her shake.

Three weapons in the room, four including Doyle’s.

All they’d have is one second to get this right, and God, Ella hoped that Ripley – if that was who was outside the window – had picked up on her hints.

‘Three,’ Ella shouted.

Carving Knife wrapped a beefy arm around her neck. He placed his blade an inch from her face. Ella let him.

‘Quiet!’ he shouted.

‘Two.’

Smith & Wesson pointed the barrel of his gun right at her head. ‘Lindsey, this woman is talking.’

Doyle surfaced for air from her assault, sweat-soaked, hair tangled. She waved her gun between everyone in the room, including her disciples. ‘Shut up! I’ll kill you all! Every last one of you!’

Now or never.

‘One.’

Four weapons, four pair of eyes. Ella was their target.

‘Ripley! Now!’

Then the world came alive.

Gunfire emerged before the word now left her lips. Adrenaline commanded her body, commanded her to drive her heel into Carving Knife’s ankle and slip free of his grip. With her newfound freedom, she charged straight at a paralyzed Doyle – who’d frozen in the wake of this eruption.

Perhaps she was human after all.